A Tourist in Our Own City
This past week, we had a few friends visiting from out of town and it was the perfect excuse to be a tourist in our own city. And by be a tourist I really mean have an excuse to go to all of my favorite places in Richmond and eat all my favorite foods.
On Thursday morning, we started the day with coffee + breakfast at Lamplighter.
I’m obsessed with their bagel sandwiches so we took our friends there to fill up before a river adventure. (If you’re not in Richmond and you want to recreate this at home, try this bagel sandwich recipe.)
We’ve gone tubing down the James river a few times in the past so we already had tubes and we had done the route before. We started at Pony Pasture and went down to Reedy Creek. Tyler has a GoPro so he got some great pictures!
It turned out to be a pretty gorgeous day for the river. We were afraid that it might rain but it ended up being really sunny and I think we all got a little sunburnt. (Some of us more than others. Those of Irish and Norwegian descent didn’t fare so well.)
Floating down the river ended up taking a little longer than we expected so by the time we got back home, we were starving. After a few snacks at Postbellum and drinks at The Cask Cafe, we settled on Pizza at Stuzzi.
On Thursdays, Stuzzi has $3 “Grandma” pizzas at the bar. Their happy hour seems to have a million rules and restrictions so it’s a little hard to pull off but somehow we managed to jump through the necessary hoops to score this pie. It’s more of a deep dish style pizza with a garlicky chunky tomato sauce. I’d actually never had it before but I really liked it!
We were all pretty stuffed and happy by the time we left. After dinner, we went to Garden Grove for a drink.
I’m actually not much of a beer drinker so I love that Garden Grove always has one “sparking beer” that tastes more like a wine. I had glass of the Watermelon Sparkler which was kind of tangy. It wasn’t my favorite of all the beers I’ve tried there but it was a fun seasonal flavor!
On Friday morning, we took a little trip to Church Hill. Alex could be a Richmond tour guide because he’s read so many books about the city so he gave us plenty of facts and commentary while Annie and I just took pictures. Priorities.
Alexa made it to Richmond just in time for lunch so we grabbed a bite at Carytown Burgers & Fries.
I have tried a lot of black bean burgers and Carytown Burgers & Fries is at the top of my list! Don’t be fooled by the name- they actually have a few other locations in Lakeside and Short Pump.
In the afternoon, we headed over to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
We had some wine and then walked around and browsed some of the modern art. The museum is pretty incredible and admission is free. Plus, their Friday night happy hour is a popular spot and they have tons of tables so it’s nice for groups. Great drink prices in a gorgeous atmosphere. What more can you ask for, really?
This little staycation was so much fun and it reminded me why I love Richmond so much. There’s plenty to see, plenty to do, and obviously plenty of good to eat. If you want to come visit, let me know. 😉
I love stay-cations here in Akron, Ohio! My husbands uncle lives in Richmond and we have been down to the James river with him. How cool!
That’s so cool!! And being from Ohio, I’ve been to Akron a few times!
i did a staycation in July here in DFW. It was the BEST and I cant wait to do it again 🙂 it seemed like you had a lot of fun.
Yes! It’s the best of vacation without the hassle of traveling, haha. I love Dallas so I bet that’s a fun place to staycation!
Stay-cations are the best! Looks like such a gorgeous weekend!
I love it! Richmond is such a cool town. I like doing the same thing in Williamsburg. I get really excited when people come to visit and I can show them around!
I’ve never taken one, but a staycation sounds so fun. That black bean burger looks awesome too. I have yet to find a good veggie burger in my area. I imagine tubing would be SO relaxing.
Love this and I want to go to that cool brick wall just for pictures!
I’ve never taken a stay cation, but this really makes me want to try it out. It would be so relaxing to not even have to leave the house and go out and enjoy our town and the people around without a regular week of work. That garlicky tomato pizza looks like it was worth jumping through all those hoops. 🙂
This is such a great idea! I still dont know much about my new town – my husband and I are kind of isolated – so doing something like this is a great idea!
This post made me happy! 🙂 Being a tourist in your own town is such an awesome way to be reminded of all the amazing things we have to do (and eat! haha) here in RVA! Looks like you had a fabulous time and hit some great spots! Thanks for sharing them with us!
Love this! –>> “And by be a tourist I really mean have an excuse to go to all of my favorite places in Richmond and eat all my favorite foods.”
I always love that excuse. 😉