Richmond, With the Whole Crew!

We took a quick little trip to Richmond, Virginia.

Just two days. Two humans. Two dogs. And a list of things to eat and see.

It was our first getaway with both Marty and Rosie, and I'm happy to report that they are excellent travel companions. Rosie is still young enough to believe that every new place is the most exciting place she's ever been, while Marty has perfected the art of being a professional travel dog.

We started with a little sightseeing, including a stop at the Virginia State Capitol.

Then, naturally, we moved on to the important business of finding food. 😋

One of our favorite stops was River City Roll, a bowling alley and restaurant in Scott's Addition with a pet-friendly outdoor space called Tommie's Patio. The patio is named in honor of Tommie, a pit bull who died after suffering horrific abuse, and the restaurant created the space as a way to honor his memory and celebrate the idea that all creatures deserve kindness.

The dogs got their own food from the special dog menu. Then they were surprised with chicken bites on the house 😮, because apparently they are better at making friends than we are.

Meanwhile, Brandon and I had pizza, empanadas, and beer.

Everyone won.

We also made our way over to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where we took the dogs for a stroll through the sculpture garden. There's something particularly nice about experiencing art outside, where you can wander around with no real agenda and let the sculptures and paths become part of the experience.

And, of course, we ate some pastries.

A lot of pastries.

Idle Hands was one of those stops where you walk in thinking you'll just grab something for the road and then suddenly you're standing there trying to figure out how many things you can reasonably carry out of a bakery.

The answer, apparently, is several.

We also found Auntie Ning's, a Filipino restaurant that immediately went on the list of places I wish we had closer to home. There's something especially satisfying about stumbling across Filipino food when you're traveling, and this was delicious.

We got the chili garlic pancit and pork belly adobo. Ang sarap! 🇵🇭

Another interesting stop we made was at Henricus Historical Park, a living history museum along the James River. It was another great place to wander with the dogs, and I loved that we could bring them along while learning more of the local history. Marty was intrigued by the resident blacksmith!

Two days went by very quickly.

We ate a lot. We walked a lot. We saw some art. We learned some history. The dogs collected approximately 847 new smells and made approximately 847 new friends.

It was the kind of trip I love most: short enough that it doesn't require a vacation from the vacation, but full enough that you come home feeling like you actually went somewhere.

And now that we know Rosie travels just as well as Marty, I suspect there will be a lot more little trips like this in our future.

The whole crew is ready!