Riding in Richmond

October 22nd

Good food. Great portions. Cheers!

This morning greeted us with another sunny Virginia day. We had another continental "breakfast" at the Henry Clay Inn and hoped to eat a more tasty and filling brunch at one of the many fine dining establishments we saw on Ashland's main strip. Trouble was, pretty much every establishment that served food in this town didn't open before 11 am. I guess Randolph-Macon College doesn't have many early risers.

With that we rode on, and once we left the center of town, we didn't see much in the way of dining until we reached Richmond. It was worth the wait. The portions were generous, almost Texas generous. And the prices were good, Texas good.

Shortly after eating, we came across Penny Lane Pub. As Beatles fans, it was impossible to resist a quick stop.

Inside the Penny Lane Pub they only played the Beatles.

Virginia is full of historical markers like this one.

The Richmond Capital was quite underwhelming. There was nothing wrong with it, other than the fact it didn't quite look like a capital building. If it were a library, I would say, "wow, that's almost as impressive as the New York Public Library!" But it wasn't, so I didn't.

"The building across the street looks much grander," said Nicole.

"Um, that's a Federal building."

"Oh."

Yes he is giving Nicole the evil eye as she snaps a photo.

Our ride out of Richmond proved complex. As we headed east to the city's outskirts, I missed a left turn do a road sign that was completely illegible. The road forked, and we turned right before we could see that we had missed the turn. To get back on the route, we would have to cross eastbound traffic that couldn't see us from the fork in road as well as westbound traffic back into Richmond. And there was no walk light.

We decided to pedal onward and just meet up with the recommended route about 12 miles down the road. This plan seemed to work well, until we discovered that the road we were on just turned into a highway with no shoulder!

Short on daylight, I cursed the city of Richmond and they're bent road sign. We had to ride backwards for about 45 minutes to find lodging for the night.

Perhaps, though, it was all for a reason. Outside the Best Western we where greeted by two small kittens. Somebody else told us that he had been feeding the cats for almost a week and that they likely didn't have a home. Nicole took some photos of the wee ones and we posted an ad on craigslist, hoping to find a home for these stray kittens. Hey, if you're traveling near Richmond, be sure to take a look. How can you say no?