Sunday-tripping: Richmond, VA

Partially due to reconnecting with a high school friend who lives there and partially due to a blurb in the Washingtonian, Evan and I decided to enjoy our Sunday off by exploring Richmond, VA.  Within Virginia (or maybe I should only speak for Northern Virginia), Richmond has a reputation for being a bit rough or gritty.  That reputation has kept me/us at bay for many years.  Evan had several college friends from the area so he went there a few times and both Evan and I went to Richmond almost ten years ago to see one of our fellow study abroad classmates compete in a wrestling match.  That was the extent of our very limited knowledge.  After today, I'm glad to say that we will no longer be swayed by rumors because we had a lovely time!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Highlights:

1) Brunch at The Magpie (now closed)

I made a reservation using www.opentable.com and it's a good thing because despite not seeing a lot of people on our way in, the place was full by the time we left.  The Magpie is a lone business nestled amongst homes.  It sticks out in a good way and I imagine the location was chosen to encourage other  businesses to move in.  

The decor is lovely and ornate while also being homey and intimate.  It's very small with only a few tables and a bar for seating.  

The food was fabulous!  We saw a family on the way in who mentioned that dinner was wonderful so they had returned to try brunch.  We might do the opposite since we tried the brunch and are now very curious about dinner. 

Since I rarely drink I was unprepared for how potent my Magpie mimosa would be.  I was loopy from ten minutes into brunch until ten minutes after we paid our check.  

I got catfish (the fish of the day) and grits with poached eggs and Evan got the Old Faithful with bacon.  My fish melted in my mouth it was cooked so beautifully.  And as someone who's only recently opened her mind to grits, they were the perfect complement to my fish.  I found Evan's potatoes and bacon very salty but I know he enjoyed them.  I ate some of his moist beer bread to try to soak up the alcohol in my system!

2) The Art of the Flower at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

While reading the Washingtonian article on Richmond I was thrilled to read that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts had a special exhibition featuring Van Gogh, Matisse, and Manet.  The Art of the Flower showcased both Dutch and French artists and their still life representations of, you guessed it, flowers. No pictures were allowed inside the exhibit but you can trust me when I say it was most enjoyable.  

I found the Dutch painters to be more focused on realism and truly, with some of the paintings it felt like you could reach through and touch the water drop on the blade of grass or the fuzz on the peach in the foreground.  The French artists seemed to be less interested in realism and more interested in surrealism and texture.  I love the Impressionists and the post-Impressionists.  LOVE.  Entry into the museum is free but this special exhibition requires the purchase of tickets.  Totally worth it.

Afterward we took a quick look at some contemporary art before making our way outside to the sculpture garden.

Here are some of our favorites:

The sculpture garden:

  

3) Carytown 

From what we observed Carytown is a hipster haven!  We enjoyed exploring some quirky shops and we even stopped at Carytown Cupcakes for a belated dessert.  We each enjoyed our cupcakes - Evan got french toast and I got blueberry lemon - BUT I'm partial to our local cupcakes. 

We also serendipitously ran into my friend J while in Carytown so that was a nice surprise!

All in all, it was a great way to spend a spring Sunday.  We definitely want to go back and explore some more and hopefully we can spend some time with J too.