We never spent much time in the capital of Virginia- it acted as more of the perfect jump-off point for flying out of their airport for other adventures or driving through on our way to predetermined weekend trips. But even with limited time, we hit some good spots and felt like Richmond (RVA) actually offered a little more than we originally thought!
The Fancy Biscuit
One of the areas we briefly drove around was Cary Street. This part of RVA is known to be an artsy district with an eclectic scene of shops, bars, and restaurants. On one of our flying travel days we walked into The Fancy Biscuit for breakfast. This is a tiny nook-like hotspot that shares the building with Shyndigz, a bakery/dessert shop. We ordered a mimosa flight along with two of their signature biscuits- The Big Apple and The Salty Pig- and everything was phenomenal. We highly recommend!
The Fancy Biscuit
Our tasty buscuits with a delicious spread of mimosas!
The Fancy Biscuit
Our tasty buscuits with a delicious spread of mimosas!
American Civil War Museum
Another one of our weekends driving through RVA included more history – of course! Since it’s Virginia, they have everything American History. This includes their American Civil War Museum located down by the James River. The actual exhibits are within an old armory and manufacturing plant that has been reduced to near rubble. It’s an important and unique museum that brings you through the whole timeline of the bloodiest war we’ve experienced on our soil. And if you feel like having some fun on the James River after learning there’s a rafting company across the street from the museum entrance.
American Civil War Museum on the James River.
American Civil War Museum on the James River.
Virginia State Capitol
We also went over to another building designed by Thomas Jefferson- the Virginia State Capitol. It’s one of the first Roman Revival/classic temple buildings created in America, and it sits on top of a hill in the middle of RVA. You can actually take a tour of the Capitol on the hour which leads you through multiple rooms in the main building, but not the two wings that are now home to the Senate and House of Representatives. Our tour guide told us the Capitol houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619. That is super crazy to think about and a lot of the tour is based on this fact. The tour starts in their new underground visitor center.
The Virginia State Capitol that Thomas Jefferson designed.
Part of the underground Capitol museum.
The classic rotunda.
Jefferson: the mastermind behind this building.
Modern day chamber
The Virginia State Capitol that Thomas Jefferson designed.
Part of the underground Capitol museum.
The classic rotunda.
Jefferson: the mastermind behind this building.
Modern day chamber
The Answer Brewpub
Little did we know RVA has become one of the new beer meccas of America! They have 30+ breweries now and the top ones have some pretty high honors. We decided to check out two that were recommended to us to see what the hype was about. Our first stop- The Answer– did not disappoint. Holy cow did they have good beers! And their beers actually tasted how they described them on their drink menu! Our favorites were Summer Showers, Shrinkage, and At the End of the Day. But not only do they do beer well; they have paired with an Asian-inspired restaurant in their building that is dishing out some great food too. We snagged a sampler platter and some fried rice with our flight and could’ve quite possibly been in heaven.
The Answer Brewery
Great beer and solid food to pair it with!
The Answer Brewery
Great beer and solid food to pair it with!
The Veil
Our last stopover in RVA was The Veil, another well-known brewery in the area. They have a pretty nice outdoor patio area with a food truck. You walk into their main bar and there’s actually a single-file line formed to get to the bar in order to get what you came there for. The Veil serves their beers in specific glassware to bring out each creation’s full potential, and they definitely need to. Compared to The Answer they have a much different approach and put out a lot of funky brews (if you can even call some of them brews). We enjoyed their classic pale ale Dusty Roadz, but that’s about it. Unfortunately, we were put off by the attitude of one of their bartenders who also did not seem to know their beer list very well, so we recommend another brewery.
The Veil Brewing Co.
A glimpse at the steady line here.
The Veil Brewing Co.
A glimpse at the steady line here.
When you research Richmond however you will find out that these two breweries are not alone as I mentioned before. So definitely go explore more than we did! If we went back, we’d go tubing on the James River and probably hit up some other top breweries. Richmond has a lot of good things starting up and it seems like this capital city will be a popular destination for young adults in the near future!