A Stop in Historic Richmond, VA (GART - Stop 1)

Sorry for the delay in posting my first blog of my Great American Road Trip but I've been having fun actually spending time with people! Unlike the Grand Tour of Europe, I will not necessarily post every day, but most likely will post when I've completed a new stop (perhaps a little more in between if I'm anywhere for awhile or saw something mind blowing). This posting is about my travels from Philadelphia to my first stop (Richmond) and what I did while visiting.

Starting odometer mileage: 92,989

Odometer mileage at destination: 93,248

Miles driving: 259

Total miles to date: 259

States driven through: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virgina (circled around DC)

I awoke Saturday morning to see 2 inches of heavy wet snow all around Philadelphia and was happy that I had the forethought to load the day before nearly everything in my car that I needed for my road trip. Additionally, I was ecstatic to be getting away from the snow and the cold and heading toward the warmer southern states. I readied myself, said "ciao" to Tom, hopped into the car, and by 9am was making my way south on I-95 jamming to music. I was heading toward Richmond, VA where I was to visit with one of my dearest high school friends (Paige) and her husband (Rich). Let me say, that I really love driving. Getting out on the road and feeling the pavement under my wheels, there's nothing like it. There are things I hate about driving. Mostly, other drivers. They really do not know how to drive anywhere; for instance, he person who weaves in and out of traffic, the driver who decides that turn signals are optional, the person who drives 10 miles below the speed limit. These and others all try my patience. I've decided if I start to feel murderous towards others drivers, I'll just take a break. Now onto my trip from Philly to Richmond.

Before reaching my destination, I made a Starbucks stop in Delaware, a pee break in Maryland, and a bit of refueling in Virginia. By 1:30 pm, I was pulling up in my friends' driveway. I greeted Paige and realized that I had not seen her in the 30 years since we left high school. While we had communicated over the years, we physically were not in each other's company. It was time to make up for lost time. Originally, the plan was to have some lunch and then perhaps go to a museum or some other cultural/historic site before dinner. Alas, the plans changed a bit...or, you know, a lot!

After meeting and greeting the two beautiful cats of the household (Krache and Byrne), the three of us headed out for a...ummmm...hoppy kind of beverage. You see, Richmond has a bevy of microbreweries and Paige and Rich were eager to share them with me. What started out as a historic look at Richmond, ended up being more of a pub crawl. And it was incredibly fun! 

Brewery #1: Strangeways Brewery. This funky brewery has some of the strangest eclectic artwork and some crazy and delicious beer flavors. The names alone are a reason to visit this place, names like Phantasmic East Coast IPA, Woodbooger Belgian-Style Brown Ale, Gwar Blood, and such. We tasted a couple of brews and then decided to get some food. On our way to a late lunch, we drove down Monument Avenue where several monuments to some losers...um, sorry, Southern heroes from the Civil War (i.e., Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson) and (oddly) tennis great Arthur Ashe and Montane Maury (an oceanographer) are placed. We also drove by the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University and the State's Capital - so we did a little historical sightseeing. Lunch was at Bottoms Up Pizza where Paige and I shared a State Fair pizza (Guldens brown mustard, sausage, caramelized onions and roasted red peppers). YUM! Then it was onto Brewery #2: Triple Crossing Brewing, so named because of the three owners and the brewery's location. My favorite beer of the night was here: The Proposition (a DIPA beer). They also have Nightmare Canyon, Diabolical Tutor, and Falcon Smash. Fun! The last stop on the pub crawl before heading to dinner was: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, which is probably Richmond's best known and loved brewery. Due to the fact that they were releasing a new brew (The Milkman - a chocolate milk stout), the brewery was packed and it was a party with live (and quite loud) music. Finally, we ended our night with dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant, Mekong, which strangely is also known for its beer selection and a brewery next door which was recently opened up by the owner of Mekong. They do like their beer in Richmond.

We concluded the night with relaxing back at Paige and Rich's house and watching Robin Williams: Live on Broadway (2002) (video). It's still as hilarious today as it was 12 years ago and was a sad reminder of the great talent that has been lost with Robin's death. Then it was off to bed. 

I awoke the next morning where we chatted a bit, before having breakfast, and then I headed out at 10am for my next destination (Charlotte, NC).  Okay, I'm a moron because I neglected to bring my camera with me on our pub crawl and my cell phone was dying so I couldn't take photos. I had to steal the couple of pictures that Paige took. So my online GART photo site is a little lame, but feel free to check it out. It won't take you very long.

Stay tuned for all the exciting events from Charlotte.