Quality Time in RVA

My younger brother and I went to visit our grandparents in Richmond, VA earlier this month. He is enlisted in the Army and is currently at basic training, so we made our rounds to visit family members before he leaves. Although I have plenty of family in and near Richmond, most of my visits to the area consist of holiday dinners, so we rarely venture downtown. We had a little more time to kill this weekend and were able to explore a tiny bit of the city.

 

First stop: Richmond Canal Walk. There is an 18th century canal paralleling the James River on the edge of Richmond, and the city currently offers fairly inexpensive guided canal boat tours. Ryan, our grandmother and I hopped on one for a 30 minute tour up and down the river. The ride is peaceful, and although it is not the most exciting tour I've ever been on,  gives a great background about the history of the city. The boat operator was extremely animated and pointed out many historic sites in Richmond along the tour. We got a pretty neat and different view of the city, and the tour is a great starting point to figure out what other points of interest you'd like to visit.

 

We spent the night eating ribs and corn on the cob from the grill and spending time with our grandparents. First thing in the morning we went to mass, and then ventured back downtown for the Richmond Bacon Festival. It was crowded and insanely humid out, but the food was well worth it (: Ryan and I both had some bacon mac & cheese and bacon dogs. I definitely want to visit downtown again next time we are in the area.