Last July, I had my sights set on attending the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, DC, and since I was already headed south from Philly, decided to add on some extra days to explore another city that I had never been to: Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. It had been on my list for a while primarily for the Edgar Allan Poe Museum and because I had seen pictures of quaint residential streets with ornate porches. I spent a jam-packed day and a half there which included an excursion out to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Here’s all I saw and did in the Richmond area.
Getting There and Getting Around
Richmond has an Amtrak station and airport, but since I was doing a multi-city trip and to make the most of my time there, I found it easiest to make a road trip of it. Google Maps put the drive at about 4 hours estimated, but I hit a ton of traffic in the last leg of the drive making it 5 hours from Philly. Once in Richmond, I found it extremely easy and ideal to have a car. There was plenty of free street parking available near things I wanted to do. Once parked, downtown was pretty walkable, but given that it was late July and the “real feel” temperature was 111 degrees, I limited my walking.
Stay
Having my car also gave me a little more flexibility on where to stay. Hotels in the immediate downtown Richmond area were pricey the weekend I went, so I ended up staying about a 15 minute drive outside of downtown at the Best Western Plus Executive Hotel, which was perfect for a budget traveler.
Things to Do
Edgar Allan Poe Museum
The top of my list for Richmond was visiting the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. I’ve been a Poe fan for a long time, and had been to the Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia and his grave site in Baltimore, so the Poe Museum in Richmond was next on my Poe bucket list. Poe lived his early years in Richmond with his adoptive parents John and Frances Allan. Poe never lived in the house in which the Poe Museum currently resides, but was a resident of the neighborhood. The Museum is in the “Old Stone House,” circa 1740, which is the oldest remaining house in Richmond. The Museum does a great job of walking through Poe’s life and career, from his early days in Richmond through his mysterious and untimely death at the age of 40 in Baltimore. The museum has a great gift shop too, where I couldn’t help but buy a set of Poe tarot cards and a raven refrigerator magnet that says “Don’t quoth me on that!”
Virginia State Capitol
In the heart of downtown atop a manicured hill is the columned Virginia State Capitol building, completed in 1788. Jamestown and Williamsburg both preceded Richmond as the capitol of Virginia, until it was moved to Richmond in 1780 at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson during the American Revolution. Richmond also served as the capitol of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Hollywood Cemetery
It’s rare that I don’t visit at least one cemetery in a trip. Aside from me being into history, genealogy, and the macabre, I just feel like cemeteries tell so much about the story of a city and its residents. No two are the same! I visited Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, located overlooking the James River. This historic cemetery includes the final resting place of two U.S. presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler, as well as Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States.
The natural setting of the cemetery was wonderful to take in as well. I drove in, and ended up parking my car a few times to explore parts of the cemetery on foot. If there was any plus to going in the stinking heat of summer, I was there just in time for all of the crepe myrtles to be in bloom, giving the cemetery beautiful splashes of pink and magenta. The section overlooking the James River offers some of the best views of the city’s skyline too.
Maymont Estate
A few minutes from the cemetery is the Maymont Estate, a historic mansion and gardens that sit on a 100-acre estate. Maymont Mansion was built in 1893 for James and Sallie Dooley and is unique as far as old houses go because it has never had any occupants since. Shortly after Sallie’s death in 1925 it was opened to the public as a museum. I didn’t go in the mansion during my visit, but the grounds are open to the public with a suggested donation of $5, so I donated and wandered the beautiful Italian and Japanese Gardens.
Arthur Ashe Statue on Monument Avenue
Since the intention of this trip was going to the DC Open tennis tournament, it was even more perfect when I realized that Richmond has significant tennis history too as the hometown of Arthur Ashe, a groundbreaking tennis player who was the first black man to win Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open.
Monument Avenue is a scenic tree-lined divided road in a charming residential area. It was once lined with monuments honoring the Confederacy, including statues of J. E. B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Matthew Fontaine Maury. The statue of Arthur Ashe was added in 1996, which shows him surrounded by children with a book in one hand and tennis racket in the other. Following the civil unrest around the country in 2020, the Confederate statues came down and have been permanently removed, so that all that remains on Monument Ave is Arthur Ashe.
Scott’s Addition Historic District
A few minutes north of the Arthur Ashe statue, north of West Broad Street, is a little section of the city called Scott’s Addition. It’s a formerly industrial area that has since become one of the most trendy neighborhoods in Richmond and a craft beer fan’s paradise, highly concentrated with breweries. I hit a few while I was here but there were just too many to try them all in such a short trip! More to come on Richmond brews in a separate post.
Day Trip to Monticello
As if Richmond didn’t have enough history to satisfy a history dork like me, I took a little trip outside of Richmond to visit Monticello, the home of President Thomas Jefferson. The 1769 mansion and plantation sits on a mountain in Charlottesville about an hour drive northwest of Richmond. It was an easy drive on one highway with not much traffic. The views from Monticello were stunning – not hard to see why they are called the Blue Ridge Mountains! I did a house tour and a few themed grounds tours that were also included with my ticket. What stuck with me the most was how well Monticello does at recognizing the achievements of Thomas Jefferson while at the same time acknowledging his slave ownership and telling the stories of the slaves that worked the plantation.
Eat
Secret Sandwich Society
On my first afternoon in Richmond after visiting the Poe Museum, I stopped into Secret Sandwich Society for lunch. If you couldn’t tell from the name, this trendy restaurant and bar serves up delightful sandwiches named after historical figures. I ordered the Adams sandwich, which is slow roasted pork shoulder, honey butter, pimento cheese, Society Pickles & jalapeño on a toasted potato roll. Say no more! So good.
Mekong
Upon the recommendation of a family friend and fellow craft beer snob, I stopped into Mekong for dinner, and was not disappointed. Delicious Vietnamese food and an overwhelming line of craft beer taps. What more could you need? I thoroughly enjoyed my Mi Xao Don Thap Cam – egg noodles sauteed with shrimp, chicken, pork, broccoli, snow peas, carrot, onion, celery, baby corn, water chestnut, bamboo shoot and mushroom.
LUNCH.SUPPER!
After a little brewery crawl through the Scott’s Addition neighborhood, I stopped into LUNCH.SUPPER! for a hearty meal. I ordered pimento cheese and pork rinds as a starter, and then a bowl of my fav dish shrimp and grits as an entree. Delish!
At one of the breweries I visited, I spent some time chatting with a longtime local who told me “Richmond is having a bit of an identity crisis,” which I think sums up my impression of it perfectly. It’s a city that holds on to its conservative roots and history while at the same time welcoming newer trendy neighborhoods and progressive ideas. For a history dork and beer lover, it’s definitely a city that I would go back to explore more.
C to Shining C 