Sunday, June 2, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend Trip Day 1: Richmond

For this past Memorial Day Weekend, the boys and I took a mini road trip throughout Virginia stopping in Richmond and Charlottesville. I think mini road trips are a great way of escaping your home for a few days and recharging your batteries; all while not breaking the bank. Also, sometimes we are focused so much on traveling to other locations that we never stop to see what our own state has to offer. I am know I am guilty of this and why I choose to stay in Virginia over Memorial Day Weekend.

No road trip for us would be complete without a stop at Sonic. I love their slushes. Anytime there is a Sonic, people know that we need to stop. Here is a Buzzfeed article on why you need to visit Sonic.


After getting my Route 44 Watermelon Strawberry Slush (I mean go big or go home, right?), we drove the last leg to Richmond. As I detailed here, we stayed at the Richmond Marriott. The hotel was overrun by volleyball tweens, but that was not what ruin the stay. Overall, the hotel product is average, but that could be overlooked if the customer service was not below average. All this combined makes me want to stay at the Hilton Garden across the street, next time.

We then decided to grab lunch at The Village Cafe. The Village Cafe is located in the VCU area of Richmond.



The decor of the cafe is eclectic. It seems that they put everything and anything on the walls.



What won me over was the pitcher of ice tea they gave me:


Yes, that was all for me. I love ice tea! The food was college comfort food. I wish we had a place like this by where I went to school. Home cooked food at reasonable prices.

Pizza fries: Yummy in my tummy!


Meatloaf with mash potatoes and gravy. The meatloaf had green peppers in it, which ruin it for me. I hate cooked green pepers. Yuck! The gravy was spot on. Mash Potatoes were like how grandma made them. The hands down winner was the coleslaw. Everyone with me loved it and is still being talked about.


Peach cobbler with ice cream: The peaches were canned and you could taste it. However, the crust was really really good, but it was ruin by way way to much ice cream.


They also make milkshakes in many interesting flavors.


After lunch, we walked all the way down to the Virginia War Memorial.


The Memorial sits on top of a hill and gives you amazing views of the river.


The Memorial is a perfect combination of glass and stone. The names of all those Virginia residents, who sacrificed their lives to protect our country are etched into the glass.


From the War Memorial, we walked by the canal/river to take a boat ride (website here). For $6, the boat takes you on a 45 minute ride and explains the importance of the canal/locks to the birth of our nation. Rides are taken on replicas of the canal boats that traversed the locks in the past. Rides leave every hour, on the hour, but make sure you check the last ride of the day, as it changes monthly.


The ride is a great way to get know Richmond past and present. If you are luck, the turtles will be sitting on the trees.




 After our tour, we walked a few blocks to the State Capitol. The building is beautiful. The State of Virginia spent $100 million to renovate and prepare the Capitol for the Queen of England's visit in 2007.


Across the street is the Federal Court of Appeals, another beautiful building.


For dinner, we drove over to Buz and Ned's for some good old Barbecue.



Eat inside or outside at picnic table. Either way, one needs to order at the counter and pick up the food when ready. No table service. 


There motto is "This is NOT Fast Food, Good food takes time." The wait for food was not super long, but the wait was noticeable. However, the wait was worth it. The brisket was tender and flavorful  I wish they put a little more sauce on it though:


The bourbon apples are a most have. Order a side like I did. The corn on the cob, my friend got, was tasty as well. However, neither of us like the coleslaw. It had a major spicy after-tone to it. The coleslaw at the Village Cafe was much better.


Then we went out and I have no pictures to share, but good times were had.

End of Day One of the Memorial Day 2013 trip!!!

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