Richmond Getaway

I have concluded that a lot of people writing those guidebooks just don't know what they're talking about! I had done extensive reading before our trip and some things just didn't seem to match up. But before getting into that, here's what we did:

We left on Thursday, August 23 at 10 am and drove to the Barboursville Vineyards northeast of Charlottesville where I had made reservations for lunch. Despite the cloudy day, it was a very pretty setting--rolling hills of grapevines and the historic ruins of the house "designed by Thomas Jefferson" (where did he find the time?!). Once in the restaurant, Steve and I had to decide if we wanted a 2, 3 , or 4 course meal with or without wine at each course. Since it was just lunch, we opted for two courses--and since it was a winery, with wine. The waiter started us off with a complimentary half glass of sparkling wine, which went down really easy. After gnawing on lots of bread, we were brought our first course--a risotto with sundried tomatoes. And a glass of Chardonnay. We ate and drank every bit. Our next course varied--Steve had the beef tenderloin and I had the rockfish on a bed of polenta. With another glass of wine--a Cabernet Sauvagoun (spelling?). I could not finish the wine although it was excellent. The food was fine, too. After eating, we got up to walk over to the winery to use the restroom and purchase wine. I was feeling my wine and walked right into the door. Sheesh. I bought some wine, we explored the ruins, and then headed on our way to Richmond.

We checked into our hotel at Richmond, unpacked, and then wandered around. I talked Steve into going to "Unhappy Hour" at the Poe Museum. The main advantage of this was you got to visit the museum for free. There was a cash bar, appetizers, and a singer setting up, but we just looked around the museum and went on our way. We were still pretty stuffed from lunch. We walked around some more, and then went to the Richbrau Brewing Company restaurant for dinner. I had read about it on the Internet and was hoping for a simple dinner. We mistakenly started with onion rings--heavy and greasy--and I knew that I was in trouble because we had ordered fish and chips and they were just as heavy. Steve and I left most of our food behind.

We walked around some more--it was dark by this time. We explored a little of the Canal Walk which was close to our hotel.
I talked Steve into walking back towards the Poe Museum in an attempt to find a restaurant I had read about called Zuppa's. We found it and I decided I wanted dessert since it was my birthday. Steve was not thrilled, but tolerated this by sitting at the bar with me and having a chocolate milkshake. I tried the S'mores sundae which wasn't as good as it sounded--although the waitress declared it "the best!". Everyone working at Zuppa seemed really happy and the food on the menu looked good, so I would definitely go there again if ever in Richmond.

I decided the next morning to at least try to behave myself with food and had a small yogurt, a little Kashi, and some fresh fruit that I had purchased. I got Steve a lowfat orange muffin (I never told him it was lowfat!). We ate and then went on the Canal Walk right away before it got too hot (the day before had been cloudy and humid but the temperature was not too high, the 80's I think). It was alright at first, but by the time we finished at the Civil War Museum, we were both soaking from sweat (and Steve was on the phone with Comcast again, but that's another story and another blog!). We opted not to tour the museum mostly because neither of us had cash on us (the fee was 7 or 8 dollars per person, I think).

We walked back to our blissfully cool room at the hotel and dried off before reclaiming our car from valet parking and driving out of Richmond on the Plantation Road. We visited the Berkeley Plantation since all the guidebooks claimed that this was the one to see. We wandered around the grounds a bit, but it was so hot we returned to the air conditioned gift shop until it was time for our tour. The tour guide was or is a high school teacher and I thought she did a pretty good job of informing us about some of the more interesting history of the house and its occupants. We started with a movie in the basement and then she took us through the front door into the house. We only toured the first floor which Steve and I found disappointing and Steve grew impatient with some of the weird little info she passed along. At the end of the tour, we headed right to the car and headed out to find lunch. I was famished! We finally located a Subway but it took awhile. Here we were, right outside Richmond, and we couldn't find anyplace to eat! Steve and I had our usual subs and I was happy that they had the fat free chips I liked. You know it, that sub tasted really, really good because I was so hungry!

Back to the hotel to return the car, and then we walked to the Virginia State Capitol building and wandered around there. The people working there must have been really bored because they talked to us a lot! Especially the security guard. It was a beautiful renovation that had just reopened in May. The older part of the capitol had all sorts of old portraits and statues of famous Virginians like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The man at the front desk was disappointed upon finding out that we were from Maryland. It seems that Maryland has the oldest capitol building in the country that has been in continuous use--Virginia is second. We "whupped" them he said!

We had reservations at 6 for the Acacia restaurant in Carytown so we got our car back again and drove to the restaurant. It was located in an old church building that has been weirdly renovated into stores. The restaurant was on the front porch, the foyer area, and the hallway! Yet somehow it seemed very nice. We had a very good meal with great service. The most notable thing was the artsy dessert. I wanted something homey and ordered a apple tart a la mode. It wasn't homey at all--good, but not "comfort food". It was a sheet of pastry with a baked, sliced apple on top. On another part of the large square plate was a scoop of ice cream with caramel sauce drizzled over it. Another section of the plate had four nut covered balls which turned out to be melon balls of apple, rolled in caramel and nuts and tasting like little bitty caramel apples.

I'll have to make my own apple crisp another day!

After dinner at Acacia, we visited a chocolate store which was the best chocolate store I've ever been in but unfortunately, it closed minutes after we got there. I did buy some white chocolate sauce that I will have to find something fun to do with.

I had Steve walk with me in search of another "foodie" location, Millie's Diner. Unfortunately, I didn't look up the address before we started out and after walking about 12 blocks and overheating again, we gave up. Turned out, we were only two blocks from it!

We returned to the hotel and watched part of one of the Lord of the Rings movies and went to bed.

Saturday morning while Steve was once again contending with Comcast on his cellphone, I walked the long walk to Millie's Diner just to see where it was and then I visited the Farmer's Market. I overheard a man say to his wife, "This is a farmer's market?" and I have to say I felt the same way. True, there were a few produce stalls, but the majority of it was flea market finds. I was not impressed.

Steve and I then went to Perly's Restaurant for breakfast, another recommendation from Southern Living (the other was Acacia), and we had their famous biscuits, omelette, and hash browns. Steve was a little crabby about how long it took but overall, he was a very good sport this weekend!

We drove back to Maryland and home. We got back around 1 in the afternoon and back to reality.

I really enjoyed some of the more offbeat experiences of the weekend--the unhappy hour at the Poe Museum, the friendly people at the Capitol, the story at the Berkeley Planatation of the girl who wed at 15 and died 11 years later of consumption but not before giving birth to 10 children. I liked walking around the area our hotel was located in--Shockhoe Slip. I really enjoyed the Canal Walk, too. The lunch at the winery was overpriced but a very nice way to celebrate my birthday.

Some things didn't work out that I had no control over. Steve wrangling daily with Comcast. The bedding in the room either overheating us or freezing us. No hot tub at the hotel. The fish and chips that I would have gladly skipped. The incredible heat and humidity.

I don't know that I will try to engineer my birthday so completely next year, but it WAS a memorable experience!