Visiting Richmond: Bright Invite

“I truly believe that spontaneous trips are the perfect bane of tunnel vision.” – Old Sean

Of Childhood Friends

I’ve learned that the best way to threaten my productivity is by offering me a trip anywhere.  I’m stuck with restless blood, constantly begging me to go out and wander.  Sitting still for any amount of time in a familiar area is apparently a resounding challenge.

So when my childhood friend Carl offered me a ride to Richmond, Virginia while he worked, I leapt at the chance.

Road Trip Times

We spent the day driving through normal East-Coast traffic, filling up on gas, enjoying pastries and yawning against the morning sun.  Carl was due in Richmond for a series of legal conferences, so I would be given a free-run while he worked.

Unfortunately, I had a fair bit of work as well.  Instead of freely wandering downtown Richmond, I would be spending a few hours trimming articles for work and submitting a couple of reports.

Carl’s company put him in the extremely trendy and artsy hotel.  He dropped me off, checked in and then zoomed off to work while I hammered through my paperwork.

Afterwards, I decided to explore a bit.  Instead of picking a destination, I chose to meander freely.  I ended up at a nice little coffee shop where I heaped a plate high with pastries to accomapany an Americano.  Then, I wandered to a series of parks and said hi to local dogs.

Afterwards, I randomly stumbled into a restaurant, hoping to find a venue with WIFI.  I ended up at Pearl’s Diner, which has truly amazing traditional sandwiches.  I ended up eating my entire meal and ordering a second to bring home and eat later.

A Night of Rooftops

When Carl was done with work, he gave me a call.  Most of his legal colleagues were at a rooftop bar venue, ready to party for the evening.

We all gathered together, but unfortunately, the place rapidly became swamped.  There was an Indian matchmaking event ongoing at the venue, so the elevators and upper levels were completely booked.

Undaunted, we headed off to another bar.  This was located atop Carl’s hotel, offering commanding views of the downtown area at night.  We shivered slightly in the brisk winds, sipped iced alcoholic beverages and yawned frequently.  

Most of Carl’s coworkers were exhausted, so we only spent an hour or so together before people started wandering off.

In the end, it was just myself, Carl and one other man wandering from midnight rooftop to midnight rooftop chatting with locals and sipping creatively-named beverages.

Richmond Morning

The following morning, Carl had to return to work.  However, since he was sequestered in an office building all day, he offered me his car.

I dropped Carl of at the Richmond office branch and drove away, heading to a coffee shop.  A generous infusion of caffeine propped my eyes open, allowing me to muddle forth through my day.

The first (and only) thing I ended up doing that morning was a visit to the Richmond Contemporary Art Museum.

I walked through the various contemporary exhibits which incorporated photography, video messages, cemented tweets and racial-concept pieces.  I spent roughly an hour wandering the museum, which also offered a free cup of coffee, before heading upstairs.

There, my time was sealed.  The upstairs area was offering a book-binding class with literature about various ancient cultures in Mexico.  I spent the rest of my morning chatting with the museum staff who tended this class until it was time to pick up Carl.

Back to DC

Overall, Richmond proved to be a nice two-day distraction.

I wasn’t expecting to have much time between now and Halloween, so a break was a pleasant mental reset.

I’ll be doing some Halloween stuff over the weekend.  

But until then,

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written October 26th, 2022

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