Touristin'

On our last day in Richmond, we tried to get it all in. As soon as work finished, we hightailed it to the Capitol Building.

It's a beautiful structure, and we climbed all the steps to the top before we saw the little sign that said that the entry was now at the bottom of the hill.

The security people were very nice though, and let us in even though they were 5 minutes away from closing time. We even had a tour guide take us around! He was very knowledgeable, but I guess that's his job to be.

After getting our history on, we headed to the downtown area, to Weezie's Kitchen - don't forget it's St. Patrick's Day and it needs to be celebrated! Actually I had completely forgotten it was St. Paddy's, but it was nice to see all the green. Weezie's is almost like a diner, and I was not wowed by their service (or their prices) but their food was okay. I chose the Meatloaf, smothered in mushrooms and gravy, with a side of mashed potatoes and veggies.

After we ate our fill, we walked down the street to the Byrd Theatre. This place is great: tickets are 2 dollars, always, and they have an organist that does a little show before the movie starts.

We also had the chance to see a local dance school do a special St. Paddy's day show, with their students doing traditional Irish Dancing. Had no idea there was a big Irish population in Richmond (or at least big enough to warrant an Irish Dancing School.)

To support the theatre we bought some appropriately sized popcorn, and attempted to enjoy The War Horse. That was tough. I think I really would've enjoyed it as a play, but as a movie it felt way too long and complicated.

To reward ourselves for sitting through that entire movie, we enjoyed some of Bev's Homemade Ice Cream across the street from Byrd. I chose a "Girl Scout" Cone: Samoas!

All in all, Richmond was a great place to visit. A short visit.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

You can't visit Richmond, VA without stopping by the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. This Botanical Garden has an interesting story in itself - a niece that bequeathed her land first to her "companion" and then to the city so that they could create a Garden and name it after her uncle. First the city doesn't know what to do and it takes years after the companion's death before they're able to create and institute the Garden, and oh boy, did they institute! They use the place for everything: outdoor concerts, places for the elderly to volunteer, classes for children and adults... it's a pretty cool place, indeed.

We got to look around during lunch and after work. Some picture highlights:

I think that orchids look like aliens. I'm just saying.

After we drove around in search for a new place to eat. I didn't write down were we went, so you only get pictures of the food. Don't worry, you won't miss much if you don't go there. First: fried green tomatoes:

They were not good. Not at all reminiscent of Idgie and Ruth and all that goodness. I spoke with Mary Lee and she told me I'm not supposed to ever eat Fried Green Tomatoes north of Alabama or something like that.
I also had what promised to be an interesting burger, with cheese and grilled pineapple, as well as sweet potato fries.

I was very disappointed with dinner. The good news is that I ate less, so in a way, it helped my diet. Silver lining, y'all!

South, but no quite

So, in Richmond, VA with Mariel until Sunday. Luckily we flew down so the comute was pretty quick. When we arrived there was still some afternoon left, and so we dropped off our bags at the hotel and went in search of Maymont "An American Estate." This was one of those really old mansion with gardens that was donated to the State after the death of their owners, who had no children.

The place is pretty breathtaking, and is now used as a huge park. Unfortunately we were too late to tour the house, but not too late to tour the grounds. The Mansion in question:

After we drove around looking for some good eats and ended in a part of town that didn't look too savory, but it was worth braving in order to eat at Croaker's Spot. We didn't know it was somewhat of a chain (there's another one in North Carolina) but it's the kind of chain you're proud to eat at, so it's all good! ;-)

I had me a generous serving of blackened salmon, these fillets were super flavorful and came with mashed red potatoes, steamed broccoli, and a block of corn bread.

I ate it all. Not a bad way to begin to get to know a city, if I do say so myself.