Monday, March 24, 2014

Spring Break Road Trip (Part 2)







































About 10 minutes away from the Homestead, right across from the Jefferson Pools, in the town of Warm Springs, is the nice Milk House Market that carries lots of Virginia products (above), and makes nice sandwiches.


























Our next stop was Staunton, VA, a cute little town with some good antiquing, a great chocolate shop, a nice health food store that served food as well, and a camera museum. Worth pulling off the highway for, for sure.
Delicious chocolates from Cocoa Mill, above, and the Camera Heritage Museum, below. 



























In the health food store, we noticed they carried Polyface products, which is a renowned "beyond organic" farm, that we wished we had known we were driving past. It is in Swoope, in the Shenandoah Valley. After our hour in Staunton, we hightailed it for Richmond, and checked in to the amazing Jefferson Hotel.
It's very grand, and the rooms are nice and comfy with great beds and huge tubs. It has an indoor pool, and a great gym. And they gave a sweet welcome basket to Clara--that had a stuffed version of their mascot, an alligator, which harks back to the days when they actually had real alligators in their fountain.
































We ate in the hotel restaurant called Lemaire--the food was excellent--Clara had a great burger with a fried egg on top--and we learned about Virginia wines--the sommelier introduced us to some and we were totally impressed.





























The next morning we woke up and explored--since we had such a short time in each place--2 nights--one full day--we had to prep and ask before we got to each place, so we could make the most of our time there. Some friends had suggested the Shockoe Slip area--which was great. We had a nice coffee at the Urban Farmhouse and Cafe (all organic), and then explored the men's stores Ledbury and Shockoe Denim.

 We didn't eat at Bistro Bobette but everyone said it was great!

 (That's Ledbury above.)






































Then we moved on to the neighborhood of Carytown, where we checked out Need Supply, a very cool shop for both men and women, that many of our friends know of because they shop their site. And down the street we found a great kid resale shop, Clover, that was airy, and had their clothes displayed in a way that made you want to look through the racks, rather than all junky and crammed the way most of them are. There was also plenty of space for kids to hang out while parents shop.






























We checked out the Belmont Butchery, which was such a great butcher shop, and you can also pick up snacks, wine, and good Richmond suggestions there.

 But one of our favorite stops was the BBGB family bookstore. They're quite a walk from Carytown, although we see from their website that they have just opened up a satellite branch in Clover. Cool! We loved talking to the owners Jill and Jenesse--not only were they just the nicest, they had the best book suggestions. Not planning to come through Richmond any time soon--they have their books for sale online!

Not in Carytown, but right by the Patrick Henry Park, in the oldest and most historic neighborhood called Church Hill, is Sub Rosa Bakery--which we loved.  Owned by a Turkish brother and sister team, who use organic, local, and Virginia products--the pastries and bread are fantastic. I know they had a fire since we were there, but they have reopened. I'm not sure if they still have their plates and bowls from their ceramicist friends (above) but that was a nice touch.




































Across the street from the bakery is The Roosevelt, where we went for dinner. The pimiento cheese and homemade chips were delicious, as were their cocktails, as was everything.


























The next morning we checked out of our home in Richmond, the Jefferson, and we were sad to leave it. On our way out of town we stopped in at the local organic grocery market, Ellwood Thompson's, and picked up some Virginia wines that we had learned about and wanted to bring back (part of why we love road trips! Easy to load up the car!), and snacks for the road. What an amazing market--from their rain water collecting to their recycling (even corks!)...they are a supermarket we wish we had in our neighborhood.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Yolanda! Great tips we are arriving in Richmond on our road trip down to Florida - using all your tips!! Can't wait!!

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  2. Nice article http://onlinetourandtravels.blogspot.in/

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