Virginia
Photo credit: Witold Skrypczak / Alamy
He's been dead for more than 150 years, but Edgar Allan Poe continues to intrigue. As a writer, he's noteworthy. As a person, he is just plain fascinating. He drank too much and married his 13-year-old cousin. He was moody and wrote macabre stories before dying mysteriously at age 40 after being found delirious in the street. The Poe Museum in Richmond collects a heap of the author's letters, first editions and personal belongings, including his cane and his childhood bed. Creepy. There's also a room containing 43 drawings by James Carling intended for an 1882 edition of "The Raven." The museum opened in 1922, in a house just a few blocks away from where Poe lived and the office where he worked, at the Southern Literary Messenger. Admission: $6