{"id":51973,"date":"2015-09-12T11:33:49","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T15:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/?p=51973"},"modified":"2025-09-02T00:48:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T04:48:05","slug":"richmond-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/51973\/richmond-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"When in Richmond, Discover Its Fascinating Past and Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

It could’ve been the rosemary moonshine cocktail that I\u2019d been sipping, but in the moment I was delighted and not at all surprised that wine guru\u00a0Jason Tesauro (the\u00a0original\u00a0Modern Gentleman<\/a>) was serenading me with Beat poetry. This is Richmond, after all,<\/em> I thought.<\/p>\n

That was night three of the city’s inaugural Fire, Flour & Fork<\/a> food festival,\u00a0which\u00a0showcases Richmond\u2019s burgeoning food scene as well as its rich history and collaborative spirit.\u00a0In the previous days, I had tried my hand at creating my own Bordeaux blend, seen Robert E. Lee\u2019s tiny boots in the archives of The Valentine museum, and eaten my way through town \u2014 so by the time I got to a one-man, on-request poetry slam, it seemed abundantly clear that in Richmond, VA, anything is possible.<\/p>\n

Seamlessly weaving foodie and outdoor adventures with tranquil gardens and a whole lot of history, Richmond seems the ultimate city for the Renaissance person, its own cadre of Renaissance citizens only adding to the city\u2019s all-around goodness.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to spend a weekend in Richmond.<\/p>\n

The Past is Present<\/h2>\n

History is everywhere you look in Richmond, and the city honors both stately landmarks and less savory elements in equal measure. A 6.2-mile Richmond Liberty Trail<\/a> connects important landmarks\u2014from the church where Patrick Henry gave his \u201cGive me liberty\u201d speech to the former White House of the Confederacy\u2014and the Richmond Slave Trail<\/a> is a shorter version, focusing on the city\u2019s role in the slave trade.<\/p>\n

\"Richmond

The Valentine<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0a piece of history in its own right, does a beautiful and thought-provoking job of weaving together these various elements of Richmond\u2019s past\u2014and present and future. Opened in 1898 to showcase the collection of local mogul Mann S. Valentine, Jr., the history and cultural center underwent a massive renovation in 2014. It now showcases everything from traditional 19th-century living spaces in the John Wickham House (where the Valentine family lived) to a display case of the very Meat Juice that generated the Valentine family fortune (yes, its story is as bizarre as its name!).<\/p>\n

\"The

But it\u2019s the This Is Richmond, VA<\/em> exhibit that captures the complete picture of the city. \u201cWe grouped seemingly unrelated objects to help us examine what Richmond is and what has influenced it,\u201d explained executive director Bill Martin as he led us past display cases of tobacco paraphernalia, vintage advertisements, and the bizarro costumes of local thrash-metal band GWAR. When we got to a simple portrait of an African American woman, standing in an idyllic lane, Martin paused to talk about the significance of \u201cAunt Betsy\u201d\u2014a significance as layered as Richmond itself: Dating from 1857, it is not only a rare antebellum slave portrait, but its nostalgic tone foreshadows the romantic images the south would use to rationalize slavery after the war. What\u2019s more, Aunt Betsy was a nurse to the Wickham children, in the very home the museum now occupies.<\/p>\n

\"Poe

While The Valentine presents a broad picture of Richmond, the Poe Museum<\/a> focuses on one of the city\u2019s favorite sons with equal aplomb. Housed in the oldest dwelling still standing in Richmond (the Old Stone House, built 1754), the museum features various ephemera from Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s life, including his childhood bed, his walking stick, and a lock of his hair (which seems fittingly \u201cPoe-tic\u201d). It\u2019s the outside, though, that makes this museum memorable. Inspired by the gardens in Poe\u2019s poems, the Enchanted Garden is surrounded by salvaged bricks and granite from buildings where he once lived or worked (including the brick dwelling that was torn down in the West Village). The result is both a patchwork ode to the poet, and a delight to any history lover.<\/p>\n

Roses and Rapids<\/h2>\n

\"Lewis

Poe\u2019s Enchanted Garden is one of the eight fragrant stops on the Richmond Garden Trail<\/a>, which also includes the Sculpture Garden at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts<\/a>, as well as a handful of vast green spaces. At Maymont<\/a>, the 19th-century estate of James Henry and Sallie Dooley, we strolled through Italian and Japanese gardens before visiting a menagerie of rescued animals, including bald eagles and a black bear. The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden<\/a> features such wonders as a treehouse and a tea house, but I was most fascinated with Bloemendaal House, which once housed the Lakeside Wheel Club, a 19th-century bicycle playground.<\/p>\n

But garden strolls are not all Richmond has to offer. The waterplay options on the James River are endless, and include whitewater rafting on the country\u2019s only Class III and IV rapids to be found in an urban center. Eight-plus miles of mountain biking trails wind around the river, and the short loop we took was both scenic and historic. After a turn around Belle Isle (which once held the Confederacy\u2019s largest military prison) and some other exploring, we ended up at the 1865 Bridge, which overlooks the remains of Civil War-era bridges and recounts Richmond\u2019s fall to the Union though quotes and timelines.<\/p>\n

Fire, Flour, Fork (and Flavor)<\/h2>\n

\"richmond

It\u2019s no surprise that the Fire, Flour & Fork first took place only a month after Colman Andrews, co-founder of Saveur and theDailyMeal.com dubbed Richmond, the \u201cnext real American food city.\u201d With its innovative, collaborative chefs and a celebration of local flavors, Richmond is having a food moment right now. Fire, Flour & Fork was founded to celebrate that moment, both \u201cthe innovation that is happening now, and relevant parts of Richmond\u2019s food history,\u201d said Maureen Egan, co-founder of Real Richmond Food Tours<\/a> and co-organizer of the festival.<\/p>\n

The epitome of that past\/present focus was the \u201cMonumental Moveable Feast\u201d that took place on the last morning. Some of Virginia\u2019s top chefs cooked up a traditional southern brunch using recipes from Richmonder Mary Randolph\u2019s 19th-century cookbook. That collaborative spirit resonated throughout the weekend, with local chefs partnering with visiting ones, events showcasing Richmond\u2019s riches (such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts<\/a>), and proceeds benefiting local nonprofits.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"dining

The same collaborative spirit\u2014and a hearty dose of southern hospitality\u2014is evident in the restaurants themselves. Pasture resurrects traditional family meals with small, locally sourced dishes to share among the table. Rappahannock<\/a> is also about tradition. Brothers Travis and Ryan Croxton, who hail from a long line of oystermen, serve up oysters and other farm-to-table fare in their rustic restaurant.<\/p>\n

Although it has a historic setting in an early 20th-century building (look for the weathered bromide ad on the side of the building!), The Roosevelt<\/a> calls itself an \u201cuntraditional celebration\u201d of Southern food, serving up dishes like catfish with salsa verde and creative drinks like the Belle Isle Banshee (belle isle moonshine, dolin blanc, becherovka). Also good for creative cocktails is The Savory Grain<\/a>, a lovely vintage-inspired spot with a menu of comfort food favorites, including a popular option of side medley as entree.<\/p>\n

The Daily Kitchen & Bar<\/a> has a more modern feel. With its bright green palette and low-lit trees, the eco-friendly restaurant has an earthy feel, and its organic, health conscious menu is full of delicious and unique combinations, from lemongrass ginger sodas to the \u201cFig and Pig\u201d (figs, pulled pork, and fig balsamic reduction) pizza.<\/p>\n

Where to sleep<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Quirk

Opening downtown in September 2015, the pet-friendly and imaginative\u00a0Quirk Hotel<\/a>\u00a0(from $289\/night) has bikes, a rooftop, art gallery and on-site farm-to-table restaurant. The Berkeley Hotel offers Old World charm in the historic Shockhoe Slip district. Many of the spacious guestrooms (from $169\/night) have views of downtown Richmond.<\/p>\n

How to Get Here: <\/strong>See oM\u2019s Richmond Transportation Guide.<\/a> Amtrak\u2019s Palmetto gets you to Richmond in six hours. The Palmetto journeys from New York all the way to Savannah, with plenty of accoutrements that ring of a time when travel was a gentler experience. Megabus<\/a> is a less expensive alternative.<\/p>\n

For more ideas on things to do in town, read oM’s guide to Richmond’s urban adventures<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos:\u00a0Bill Dickinson<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It could’ve been the rosemary moonshine cocktail that I\u2019d been sipping, but in the moment I was delighted and not at all surprised that wine guru\u00a0Jason Tesauro (the\u00a0original\u00a0Modern Gentleman) was serenading me with Beat poetry. This is Richmond, after all, I thought. That was night three of the city’s inaugural Fire, Flour & Fork food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":52031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,750,747,753,1869,930,748,480],"tags":[280,483,142,125,130,212,110,133,282,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-51973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-weekend-getaways","8":"category-bike-2","9":"category-bus-2","10":"category-car-2","11":"category-editors-picks","12":"category-richmond","13":"category-train-2","14":"category-virginia","15":"tag-cultural-getaway","16":"tag-family-friendly","17":"tag-festival","18":"tag-food","19":"tag-green","20":"tag-hiking","21":"tag-historical-sites","22":"tag-outdoors","23":"tag-romantic","24":"tag-weekend-getaway"},"acf":[],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":52031,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/8131023185_8d3218376f_k-e1465237575169-300x169.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offmetro.com\/ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}