Making the Most of a Day Trip to Richmond Virginia

Is it just me, or does February often feel like the longest month of the year? No matter the month, a day trip is a great way to take a break from the daily routine. Recently we decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm winter weather and make the drive to Richmond, Virginia. It’s just over 100 miles from the DC area—roughly a two hour drive on a weekend. The city is a funky combination of history, art, and a thriving food and beer scene. Then top if off with miles of hiking and biking trails, the 100 acre family-friendly Maymont, and seasonal water activities on the James River. With that in mind, my husband and I had simple goals for our recent day trip to Richmond—try a few new restaurants, find unique street art, and take advantage of a sunny, winter day to connect to nature. To make the most of our day trip to Richmond, we started with breakfast, strolled the nearby neighborhood for street art, explored the grounds at Maymont, took a 3 hour food tour in Carytown, and found more street art. By the time we left the city around 6:30 p.m., our stomachs were full and we managed to log around 18,000 steps! 

The Richmond Food Scene

​I know I’m not the only one who thinks that the best way to start any day is with a hearty breakfast, especially when someone else is doing the cooking! Luckily, Richmond has lots of tasty restaurant choices for breakfast. Family favorites include places like The Fancy Biscuit, Perly’s and Joe’s Inn. In the end, we went with a recommendation from a tried and true source, Roadfood, and ended up at The Early Bird Biscuit Co. Roadfood has been our go to resource for finding regional favorites since I first bought the book back in the early 90’s as a gift for my husband. He recently returned the favor with an updated edition, which I love flipping through before heading off to a new place. Don’t worry though, they also have an online  tool for searching their website by city and state. So when my husband checked online and found The Early Bird Biscuit Co. with its “legendary” rating, we knew we wanted to try it. We were not disappointed! Know in advance that the Fan location, a small, homey restaurant, has a limited number of tables. Luckily, our timing was perfect and we were able to snag a place to sit down and enjoy our biscuits. The menu features daily specials, and we settled on an amazing biscuit with housemade blueberry jam, plus the breakfast sandwich special, featuring their omelette-style eggs. The lunch biscuits also have received rave reviews, but we’ll have to save that for a return trip. 
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Roadfood, 10th Edition: An Eater's Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Local Hot Spots and Hidden Gems Across America (Roadfood: The Coast-To-Coast Guide to the Best Barbecue Join)

​We finished breakfast and coffee around 11, which was perfect because our food tour wasn’t scheduled to begin until 2:30 p.m. Discover Richmond Tours offers several specialty tours, including the popular Arts District Food Tour. Unfortunately it was sold out the day of our visit. No regrets, however, as our Carytown Food Tour for the day was an intimate group—only 4 of us plus our amazing guide Elise. During the 3 hour tour, we had a chance to explore the authentic Carytown neighborhood, eating our way from one end to the other. Along the way, Elise entertained us with stories and history, stopping by places like the historic Byrd Theatre, which recently celebrated its 90th birthday! I always wonder at the start of a food tour if I’m going to walk away hungry, but the answer is always a resounding no!  We started off at the New York Deli, considered Richmond’s oldest restaurant, and the birthplace of the Sailor Sandwich (a pastrami, swiss and knockwurst combination). As the owner shared some of the restaurant's history, our first taste was delivered to our table. I was certain that after eating the Chicken & Waffles, described as “a Jalapeno-Cheddar waffle topped with fried chicken & a sunny side up egg drizzled with sriracha honey,” I would be stuffed for the rest of the tour. Luckily, we had a little room left for the next five stops, which included  Mussels and Frites from Can Can Brassiere, dessert from Carytown Cupcakes, a relaxing stop for two types of tea from The Tottering Tea Cup, and a tasty tomato soup and sandwich combo from Home Sweet Home. We learned that Home Sweet Home is a good spot for a very late night grilled cheese. I can definitely see why; our food taste included a grilled cheese with homemade mac and cheese on top of smoked pork barbecue, along with some of the best tomato soup I've had in a long time. One of the other places we really enjoyed discovering was The Broken Tulip, a social eatery with a menu driven by the “farmers, fishermen and foragers of Virginia.” Owner Sariann spent some time with our group sharing her story before serving a delicious soup made with locally sourced ingredients. Getting to hear the stories behind the restaurants is one of the things I love about food tours. And of course, having the opportunity to get to know 4 or 5 restaurants, which is not something I would normally do in a single afternoon. 

Related Post: 8 Things to Know About Taking a Guided Tour
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Street Art Around Every Corner

Art is definitely an integral part of the community, and for anyone searching for street art, Richmond should be at the top of your list. It made my list of 5 Cities in the USA with Fascinating Street Art after my previous visit. If you didn’t know, the city is also home to Virginia Commonwealth University and their highly ranked School of the Arts. When you take the energy of a college town and add to that the artistic talents of street artists from around the world, you end up with a pretty colorful city! 

To give you a sense of the breadth of murals around the city, it’s important to know about the RIchmond Mural Project. Back in 2012, the city designated the Broad Street Corridor as the Arts and Cultural District. At that time, local gallery owner and art collector Shane Pomajambo realized that the district had nothing that called attention to the fact that it was an arts district, and from that, the Richmond Mural Project was born. The project had a goal of 100 murals in 5 years, with the intention of increasing tourism, boosting local businesses and showcasing the work of talented muralists from around the world. To further promote the arts, the city is also home to the RVA Street Art Festival. So it was no surprise to us that upon arrival in Richmond, colorful murals jumped out as us around every corner.

​Neighborhoods like the Fan District and Carytown are great places to find pockets of murals from artists big and small. Within a 4-5 block radius of our breakfast spot, we found at least 4 murals. During our food tour, we came across numerous murals around Carytown. If you prefer for someone else to lead the way, Richmond Mural Tours offers several 90 minute tours, where you will see about 15 murals on average. Know that most of the parking in Richmond is along the street, so it's hit or miss as to the best place to park.  With all the unique street art throughout the city, it’s really hard to pick a favorite. Here’s a few that we came across during our visit.  

Strolling the Grounds of Maymont 

Being in the city is great, but it’s always nice to know there is some green space nearby. Luckily, Richmond has been blessed with Maymont, which we had some time to explore before our food tour. With 100 acres of open space, locals and visitors alike can spend time with the animals at Maymont Farm, tour the historic mansion, or stroll the paths through the Italian or Japanese Gardens. The mansion, completed in 1893, belonged to James Henry and Sallie May Dooley, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s an “example of a Gilded Age Estate,” what I would describe as an over the top estate (during that time period) built for the newly rich Americans and greatly influenced by European design. Guided tours of the mansion are available on select dates and times. The gardens themselves would definitely be worthy of a visit during the springtime when everything is in bloom. Even though we were there in February when the garden was not very colorful, it was still worth strolling the peaceful paths of the Japanese Garden, and imagining the maples in full color. The Italian Garden, completed in 1910, is filled with stonework and fountains that will remind visitors of a villa outside of Rome. 

Besides the elegant gardens, one of the coolest things about Maymont was the outdoor wildlife habitats. It’s not often that you can view bald eagles, owls, and foxes up close in a natural habitat. All the wildlife at Maymont have either been orphaned or permanently injured, making them unable to return to the wild after rehabilitation. It was impressive to see some of these beautiful creatures (safely from behind a fence). If you are lucky, you may see one of the native black bears in the wildlife habitat area. Admission to the grounds and gardens are free; however there is a $5 suggested admission for the Maymont Farm and Wildlife Habitats. ​

​Related Post: 5 Favorite Day Trips from the DC Area
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And if you are still not convinced that Richmond is a cool place to visit, check out the New York Times list of 52 Places to Go in 2020. ​

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