Rethinking Richmond: Part 2

You guessed it, I went to Richmond again this past weekend. This time was busier than last time. Friday, Rachel and I ate at Café Gutenberg - café by day, bar by night. Reminded me of Humble Pie in Raleigh, but with higher prices. After that, we walked down to Brown's Island that night and watched a show. At that point, I had probably walked 6 miles. Then, come to find out, Baby Mama was playing at a local $2 theater, so we went to that. The bad news was that I had no cash, and Rachel had spent two of her last four dollars on a diet something drink 30 minutes before. We were already late for the movie, but the cinema guy told us we could walk some 6 blocks to an ATM. In other words, we weren't going to see the movie. Dejected and wandering, we walked up Carytown. Not one block of doing this and I looked down and found a five dollar bill. And that's how that story has to end.

Saturday, whew. Eight of us drove up to DC to go to the Smithsonian, see monuments, etc. So we packed into two fuel efficient cars and drove the two hours each way. I was crammed in the backseat of a two door civic, seated behind a self-proclaimed Sunday driver. Rachel, bless her heart, planned the whole trip superbly except for the first stop. Our plan was to drive to the closest Metro, and catch it into DC. Turns out, one of the closest Metros was in a very sketchy part of town. The girls were freaking out, so that dog didn't hunt. We ended up driving into DC and parking behind the Capital building for free. Then the walking, O the walking. Not the best trip to wear a pair of Chacos flip-flops. Idiot. And I always thought you couldn't get blisters on the top of your feet. We walked all over the Smithsonian. I can't even recall what I saw. Planes, jungle, "name brand" sunglasses, crappy modern art, monuments, a couple metro stations, food, taxi, more. One of our last stops was the zoo, where we walked, ahm, 3 miles at least. Then another 3 back to the metro. Then another 2 to the car. Then we drove to Nationals Park to see the Nationals get beat by the Rangers. Overall I think I walked 20 miles on Saturday.

Sunday, chill. We up and went to Redemption Hill, a church plant of Vintage21 in Richmond. They meet in an elementary school at the moment, but have big plans for Richmond. You can't tell, but I just looked up a lot of info on the legal issues surrounding religious organizations meeting in public buildings. Some trial made it to the Supreme Court and the judges sided 9-0 with the churches/religious groups. Booyah. After church, we ate at Sticky Rice - so good. I, for one, hate sushi. I said it. I realize at this time and place in my life, considering my friends and co-workers, it is blasphemous to do at least two things: not eat sushi, and not back Obama. Oh well. Just like I enjoy being full after I eat, I enjoy knowing my morals are shared by someone being elected to the most powerful office in the world. But I'm also a realist. Obama is going to beat McCain, and Rachel will eventually make me eat sushi. See how that second statement softened the first claim? Rachel also had an ultimate game on Sunday, so I went and cheered for that. They lost horribly, but she scored. Genius.

Then I drove back. I'll put some pics of the trip up a bit later.