In January, I was very excited to attend the Poe Museum’s annual Poe Birthday Bash. I’d been in 2018 and couldn’t wait to go again. Flew into Richmond on the Friday night before the event to stay at the Berkeley Hotel in the Shockoe Slip business district. I like to stay there since it’s a 12 minute walk to the Poe Museum or a short Uber trip. (You can read my review on the Berkeley here). Friday night was a frigid, windy 36 degrees and walking to the restaurant 2 blocks away was unpleasant. Even sitting in the Irish pub’s window seat was cold! As I ate dinner, I was worried the flight, hotel, and travel was going to be for naught with the weather. However, the next morning it was a fine 37 to 39 degrees out – cloudy but not windy. I bundled up with a scarf and heavy coat and set off for the museum.
This year’s crowd wasn’t as large as 2 years before due to the cold weather. However, this was a dedicated, lively, and tuned in crowd. It was easier to talk with people and certainly made it more fun. I posed out front with the banner that’s such a thrill to see every time and checked in. Hopped on a trolley to travel East Main Street where a good part of his early life was spent. We rode up and down and our guide, Chris Semtner – the museum curator – told us about Edgar’s childhood, days at the Southern Literary Messenger, exploring the woods now knows as the Hollywood Cemetery, and his last private reading of the Raven. Chris passed around photographs of what the landmarks looked like and it was easy to imagine the scenes.
Details of the tour and about his life are included in my video review below.
Disclaimer: It should be James Monroe and not “John”.
This farmhouse was built in 1838 by Thomas Talley family, whose daughter, Susan Archer Talley, was a poet and a friend of Poe’s sister Rosalie. Poe and his sister spent many evenings there during the summer of 1849. Susan Talley, writing under her married name Susan Weiss, described Poe’s final private reading, given here just two weeks before his death. – poemuseum.org
The Allans sat in pew #80
Seated in front of me was a passenger who introduced herself during the tour as LeeAnne Ball who has a podcast called Spirited History. She let us know that it leans more heavily on history. They were covering the event and airing the show in early to mid-February.
Spirited History
A weekly podcast that explores rich historic locations throughout the US that are kept alive by the communities that love them. We feature the sites history and some of the spirits that are reported to linger.
After the trolley tour, I bought my items in the gift shop. Chatted with a few vendors, and then headed over to hear the Curator’s Talk. When I visited before the tour was downstairs and you could not go up the staircase which is fascinating in itself since it came from his boyhood home. I enjoy this particular session because you can see how extensive and peculiar at times their collection is. We saw a lock of hair from the daughter of Poe’s employer at one time, paintings an enthusiast had gifted to the museum, and best of all one of the famous Poe Toaster’s cognac bottles. I sat right by it and was thrilled. Again, the crowd was more intimate so questions were easy to ask and it was fun to find out that a couple had already traveled to Baltimore and planned to visit Philadelphia. Following the Poe path so to speak. Definitely goals for me one day.
T he best thing about the birthday bash is you can come and go as the day goes on. The majority of people I see are hard core and they stay all day. I sat in the big tent in the Enchanted Garden and listened to various speakers. Howard Kollatz, Jr, was the first emcee the event had ever had and he did a good job. Very entertaining. Edgar Allan showed up for his birthday reading and speech and cut his cake and all of the guests can enjoy a piece. After a little more museum wandering and drinks from the bar, I sat down to watch a theatre company’s performance.
The Coldharts presented what they call A Manic Lullabye inspired by the childhood and short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Katie Hartman opened the piece with a spoken and sung number that had disturbing levels of intensity. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay put at first because I wasn’t sure where the piece was going. A bit frenetic and overly strange. Soon, you learned she was embodying Edgar as a student at a boarding school. Their story revolved around his despair about being sent away and his comfort in his grandiose vision of himself. He soon became disturbed though by another student bearing the same name who seemed to haunt his every step. The Coldharts tell the story with only 2 actors – Katie and Nick Ryan – and they pulled you into the piece. Their characters interacted with the crowd introducing horror along with laughter. It was well done and I’d enjoy seeing them again if they pass through Atlanta.
I lasted 6 ½ hours at my first Poe Birthday Bash in 2018 and made it 5 ½ hours this year. One of these days if the weather holds out I plan to go the majority of the distance, meaning the full 12 hours of the event. We’ll see, however in the meantime it’s always a pleasure to stay at the Berkeley and visit the museum.
