A love letter

President Obama was hanging out in my old 'hood yesterday and I'm sorry I wasn't there to hang with him. He didn't stay long, which is a shame, because the capitol of the Old Dominion is a lovely place to visit. The following was written almost a week ago:

I write this from the cool comfort of the very cool Helix Hotel in Washington, DC. The hotel is cool no matter what the weather and it's a real find; I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a hip spot to crash. I just took my second shower in 12 hours and what a joy that was -- it had been perhaps 80 hours since my last one!

My time in Richmond, Virginia, was certainly different from any other visit there, although being in Richmond during a hurricane-caused power outage was not new: I experienced both Agnes and Camille while living in Richmond. But living there and just visiting are different experiences. Most people don't head toward a hurricane; but, as you know, I've never been most people.

Even without power -- and without a much-anticipated visit to the Westhampton Pastry Shop for the best creme horns on the planet -- it was a pleasant stay that made me once again realize what a gem this Southern city is.

Saturday night we found a cluster of open restaurants in what is likely the largest mall in the Richmond area. Now I am NOT a mall person -- I almost never go to any of the malls in CT -- but this one is amazing. It's an outdoor mall, with covered walkways and lots of open air courtyards. Sitting in one of them, waiting for a table on a balmy summer evening, was a most pleasant experience.

Likewise, DRIVING to the mall was pleasant: six-lane, well-paved roads with traffic-synchronized stop lights and left-turn lanes at every intersection: trust me, Richmonders, you don't know what a joy that is. Come to my neck of the woods and drive down crowded, pot-holed roads where every light works on its own schedule so that you may well wait at every single one. It's a hol difrent sperience.

Another of Richmond's pleasantries is its people: friendly, helpful and kind; slower to anger perhaps and more polite too. These are generalities, sure, but I believe they hold true.

So why do I live in the New York area? Because, Richmond, for all its charm and sweetness, is not New York. Many Southerners would acknowledge that proudly, but my life would be far less complete without Broadway and off-Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center, American Ballet Theatre and the Joyce Theatre -- and all the other cultural attractions of the Big Apple. And then there's New Haven and the best pizza in the world, as well as all the goodies Yale has to offer.

But let's face it: if I still lived in Richmond I'd likely be very happy, for it truly is a lovely place to be. For me though, the Northeast is where it's been, where it's at and where it'll always be.