It was a quick trip to Richmond this weekend. The most I had
seen of the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia was from the rush of the car,
sliding down the spaghetti interstates around it as I have driven back and
forth from North Carolina to the DC area, over the years.
This weekend, we bought tickets to The Altria Theater to see The
Piano Guys. For those of you who know them, I know, you’re thinking: we
lived in Utah for seven years together and never saw this Utah group, and now
we are driving three hours away from NC to see them live. What can I say?!
Weirdness. And that does not stop here. Not on this trip.
We stayed at Quirk
Hotel (that is right, no “the”, and no I am not making up the name) on Broad
street, in the heart of the Arts District, as far as we could tell. The hotel
is a mixture of unexpected and well, yes, “quirky” with a touch of avant-garde
and echoes of Vegas boutique hotels. The accent color is pink and you see it
anywhere from the pink shirts of the reception staff to the pink refrigerator
in your room.
We were “upgraded for free” to a loft room – no idea why and
how that happened, and this was the first loft room we have ever stayed in: the
living room part of the room was “downstairs” and the bedroom and bath “upstairs”
as you enter. Everything about this hotel was unique in some way, and a little
surprising.
Example of art in our room. I still don't know whether those are sleeping animals or shells.
The night we arrived, we ate dinner at Bistro 27, a restaurant we could walk to from our hotel. The food presentation
was amazing, whereas the taste was not completely out of the ordinary. It was
delicious, just nothing surprising or out of this world in any way. At least in
my dish or seabass topped with crab and mussels over roasted garlic potatoes.
Quite a strange fact about choosing this place, though: we had many places to
choose from on Broad street, where our hotel was, but we chose this one. 27 is
the birth day of my husband, and this was his birthday trip. We both only
realized this after we got back.
Tiramisu at Bistro 27
The Altria theater is unique in its own right: think Middle
Eastern mosque architecture and décor in the middle of a Southern American state.
A beautiful building, inside and out, loaded with history, and an equally
beautiful and ornate concert hall and stage. Quite a feast for the eyes. The
minute details of the mosaic tiles were impressive.
Details of the interior of The Altria Theater
The Piano Guys are another anomaly that matches the oddity
of this trip: there is only one “piano guy”.
The other ones are a cellist, and some sound and video engineers. They were
amazing – their mix of classical and modern and religious music was interestingly
unique and their command of their instruments truly amazing.
The following day, we had breakfast at 821 Bakery Café. We were the only ones in the joint without tattoos
on our faces, it seemed. A crowd of hippy, artsy youngsters is this joint’s
frequenting crowd. Definitely made us feel young. The food was delicious, with
lots of vegan options, too. The art on the walls was original and surprising,
like everything else we had seen thus far.
Then, we headed to the Poe Museum, to travel back in the time
of the 19th century writer, father of mystery literature and
detective novels. The weather was exactly what you would expect to have when
you’re reading Poe or about him: dreary, wet, cold, noisy drops, lots of mud,
dripping decrepit brick walls barely holding up, right up against an aged stone
home. The museum is made up of several buildings that house artifacts that
either belonged to the author (like his bed, his sister’s piano forte, letters
he wrote, his traveling trunk, etc.) or first-edition writings. There are a few
eerie details you will learn about in this museum, as you probably can imagine.
And he still, to this day, will remain a mystery.
The Poe Museum is full of mysterious details such as this
We drove around Richmond next – we could not so much as
walk, in the torrential rain at 40F. You can almost taste the history in this
city. Every corner of every street reeks with it. You see warped 1800’s brick
and stone walls right next to new, steel and glass, modern apartment buildings.
Cobble stone streets right under the spaghetti highways. It also seemed to be
the city of murals. Almost every building has a story to tell in a beautifully painted
wall. If I have one regret is that we didn’t stay longer. I would have loved to
stroll the streets, to walk the galleries and museums, visited the islands with
their parks in the James river, and try out a few more food places, too. But I
think we will be back: we have seen enough to stay curious.
The mural at 821 Bakery Cafe
All in all, we were gone for 27 hours from home and we
packed a feast for the eyes, ears, and stomachs in that short of time. You’re
thinking I am making up the 27, but I am not. Feel the quirkiness now?! So do
we.
A metal sculpture adorns the walls of the Police Department on Jefferson Street. Click the picture to see the whole album from this trip.
