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10/19/12

Weekend in Richmond, VA: What to Do, Where to Eat?


This past Monday I had an incredible chance to visit Sabra's hummus factory in Richmond, VA {I will write about it next week!}.

Since my good friends Jenn and Luis moved to Richmond a few months ago, I decided to take this opportunity to spend the weekend visiting them before touring Sabra's factory and see what Richmond is all about.

Richmond, VA is about 2 hours driving from Arlington, VA and has a lot to offer: food, museum, a ZILLION thrift and consignment stores, cute neighborhood, beautiful old architecture, and friendly people.

The thing that surprised me the most about Richmond was how many smokers live there. Anyone can explain this?

But let's get back to the positive ;)

I arrived at Jenn and Luis's place around noon, and my first question was where should we have lunch? Although I had quite a few restaurant recommendations from my Twitter friends, I was also looking forward to trying one of the places my friends go for wings: The Lube. The main focus of The Lube is its wings with a multitude of different sauces. I chose Dusted Chipotle BBQ and was not disappointed. What better way to catch up with friends than over a plate of wings dipped into blue cheese or ranch dressing??


Jenn's friend Liz was visiting at the same time and suggested we check out Richmond's Folk Festival. There were a ton of people, several music stages and booths and booths filled with festival food. I was almost disappointed we have already had lunch.

We listened to and saw an incredible tango performance before walking to a few other stages and checking out the arts and crafts section. I also completely randomly ran into a fellow salsa dancer who lives in Richmond: what are the chances?





And then Jenn and I could not resist a funnel cake!!!

We had a quiet night in with me catching up on a few Showtime shows and dancing a few bachatas with Jenn. We were to full for dinner, so snacked on watermelon and ice cream.
 
The next day we had big plans: BRUNCH! I had several recommendations for Millie's, and despite being warned about a long wait, we decided to take our chances. 
 
We waited an hour! Good thing I cut up the leftover watermelon and a mango for us to snack on before we left Jenn and Luis's apartment. If you know me, you know I can't stand waiting. We occupied ourselves by playing hang man, saving Jenn from a giant bug, and day dreaming about food.
 
Once inside, we could not wait to order. Unfortunately, Millie's doesn't have paper menus. Instead, all the options are written on a blackboard. I wans't a fan of this to say the least. Nonetheless, decisions were made.
 
We started with a round of mimosas, which were shockingly served in tall glasses with ice. This was not a great start. But I absolutely LOVED my brunch dish:

Crab and Scrambled Egg Enchilada
with spicy tomato and lime sour cream sauces



After brunch, Liz drove back home, while Jenn, Luis and I went to check out Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The museum building is GORGEOUS and there was no admission: a great start.


Below are some of my favorites:





We also saw a glass blowing demonstration:


Before Jenn and Luis dropped me off at Marriott Hotel for my Sabra Tastemakers experience, we headed to Carytown to do a bit of shopping (alas nothing was purchased), and of course to get a snack: cupcakes from Carytown Cupcakes. I chose the red velvet cupcake and loved the cream cheese based icing.



This was such a great weekend with friends. I can't wait to go back and visit again in the spring.

Have you been to Richmond? What were your favorite parts?

Have a great weekend!!

7 comments:

Aparna said...

Richmond is the home of Philip Morris, right? Maybe that explains the smokers?

Carytown is SO cute! You really have to do some thrift shopping there next time - some amazing deals!

Olga @ MangoTomato said...

Oh, I did not know about Phillip Morris: that would make sense.
We checked out at least 4 different thrift stores, but nothing stood out. Next time will try again for sure!

Colleen Levine said...

Yes, you must have missed the big Phillip Morris smokestack when you drive into town! I was actually in Richmond a week earlier for the Virginia Wine Summit -- had a great meal at Pasture and definitely want to go back.

Zomppa said...

How fun! Richmond is a great place to stop - and great food too!!

Anna Berman said...

What a wonderful way to spend a weekend!

Rachel Georg said...

I used to live in Richmond. Next time you're there you should go to the fan and check out Kuba Kuba and Home Team Grill. Amazing food and great atmospheres.

Olga @ MangoTomato said...

Thank you, Rachel! Someone else mentioned Kuba Kuba as well: there just wasn't enough time ;) I had dinner at Can Can and LOVED it!