8 Hours in Richmond

With BT having Columbus Day off, we decided to take advantage of our extra day together and spend some time exploring Richmond.

We arrived around 10 am on Sunday morning.  First stop:  Belle Isle Park.

Right outside of downtown Richmond and accessible only by pedestrian bridge, Belle Isle is an awesome place to do some exploring.

During the Civil War, it served as a POW camp for Union soldiers.  Now a days, people use it for its trails, mountain biking, and just chilling out on the many rocky areas throughout the island.  

It also houses an old hydro electric plant.  Which is super creepy looking.  

We walked a loop around the 54 acre island and then it was off to next stop!  

Next, we had planned to check out the farmer's market, but when we did a drive by and saw only two vendors set up, that got scratched from our list.  

Stop number two was the Edgar Allan Poe Museum!  

Doing our best Poe imitation.

The museum is one of the oldest houses in Richmond and just a few blocks from Poe's childhood home.

I'll be honest, I didn't even know Edgar Allan Poe was from Richmond and the only poem I knew of his was The Raven.  Never was much into reading anything other than cook books...

We chose to do a self-guided tour.  There were no pictures allowed in the exhibit rooms, but you could snap a picture with the famous, crazy writer before entering.  

In the middle of the four buildings which make up the museum, there is a beautiful courtyard where they hold weddings and events.  We tried shooting a panoramic and handed the phone off to each other so we could both be in the shot...it turned out a little wonky, but still super cool.

Self-timered selfie with the Poe bust.  Ridiculous.  

The museum was very interesting!  It contained many old artifacts, pictures, letters, and original writings of his (his handwriting was tiny!).   It took us about an hour to browse through everything.  Well worth the $6 admission.  

By now our tummies were growling so we headed to the hip(ster), W. Cary St. area for some lunch.  Previously, we had dined at the New York Deli, home to the (then) broken, old school photo booth.  

From our last trip up there.  

We popped in to see if it was up and running.

It was!!!

I can finally cross that one off of the Life List!  

We were, obviously, not prepared for the first photo.  Haha!

OK.  NOW it's time for some grub!  I let BT choose and he knocked it out of the park with Opa Opa!  Greek on Cary.  We started with some dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and a couple of Greek beers.  

BT ordered the beef platter.  

And I had the hummus gyro.  

This was, by far, the most deliciously creamy and flavorful hummus I've ever had.  I would make a trip to Richmond JUST for this hummus.  

With our bellies full, we strolled around Cary St. which has a ton of vintage clothing and other unique stores.  

No luck with finding any clothing, but we did have way too much fun at World of Mirth toy store.  

The place is filled with one of a kind gifts and toys.  

It's no secret that BT is a sucker for ice cream, so when he spotted Bev's Homemade Ice Cream shop, I knew we were in trouble.  

Mint chocolate in a waffle cone for him.  

Amaretto gelato for me.  

And hello diabetic coma!  

Next stop on the tour de Richmond, the Capitol building!  

Neither of us had any idea that you could actually go inside and tour the building!  We arrived shortly after 4 pm and they had just started the last tour of the day.  We chose to stay behind and do a self-guided tour.  I mean, how would we manage to take childish pictures with other people around us?!?  

I LOVE the sunshine yellow paint color!  It's a very beautiful building.

Congressman BT.  It has a nice ring to it!  

From the Governor's mansion to the big house?

He's just a bill.  On Capitol Hill.

We're pretty sure that we kept the security people thoroughly entertained with our shenanigans.  

One last stop before heading home!  Richmond has no shortage of craft breweries, and I somehow stumbled upon one that looked very enticing; Center of the Universe Brewing Co. which is located just north of the city in Ashland.  

It's a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the trip!  We pulled up to a food truck right outside  the building and a few people playing cornhole in their outside "biergarten" (with fresh hops growing on the terrace!).  The inside was large and open with a bar full of people.  There were plenty of open tables a couple of comfy leather sofas, and a shelf full of board games!  

We, of course, opted for a flight of everything they had on tap.  

Sling Shot

Chin Music

RVA Ale

Main St. 

Ray Ray's 

Monkey's Uncle

Pocahoptas

Oktoberfest

We grabbed a seat on the comfy couch, got an intense game of Connect Four going and got to tasting!  

He beat me.  Twice.  

There wasn't a single one that I didn't enjoy and I think BT felt the same way.  As much as we would've loved to stay, we still had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, so we grabbed a growler of Monkey's Uncle to enjoy once we were home safe and sound.  

Much like our trip to DC, I'm ashamed that I've never explored all of the amazing things there are to do right in our own backyard!  We had such a blast touring the city.  Then again, you could drop us in the middle of the desert and I'm pretty sure we'd manage to have fun, so that's not saying a whole lot.

Until next time!