Our second day in Richmond dawned sunny and warm, much warmer than we’d like for a marathon. The girls and I drove my husband downtown as close as we could to the start of the race. I’d spent countless hours pouring over a map of the race and a map of Richmond, trying to figure out exactly where would be the best places to cheer my husband on. I had several in mind, but it all depended on timing and road closures. My husband was running with his phone, so we could track him. The girls and I first saw him the 8-9 mile mark on Riverside Drive. The previous day, the girls had gotten pompoms at the packet pickup, and happily shook those cheering him onward. We tried to see him again a few miles later on Forest Hill Ave., but the road closures and my unfamiliarity with the area meant we missed him.
I decided to drive into downtown Richmond to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Arthur Ashe Blvd., which had a parking deck that charged a daily fee of $6. The museum itself is free admission, and there are restrooms. The museum was located around mile 18-19 of the race, but it was the best I could do. Once we’d parked, I saw we had some time to kill before he neared our location. I didn’t want to try to do the museum itself as I wasn’t sure how Pebble and Rainbow would handle it after their immersion in history the day before, but this museum has a sculpture garden, which I thought would be cool to see, and it was! The girls’ favorite was the man-made waterfall that cascaded from the top of a hill down a series of steps until it came to a pool at the bottom. In the pool was a statue of Neptune made of bronze. The girls had a blast racing leaves and twigs down the waterway. There was another sculpture of a head that looked 3-D, but we discovered wasn’t, plus a display of Chihuly glass called red reeds. Chihuly is a favorite artist of mine, I love his blown glass sculptures.
On one corner of the property is the Confederate Memorial Chapel, which is dedicated to the Confederates who died in the Civil War. The stained-glass windows inside are beautiful to see, especially when sunlight is streaming through them. Outside the chapel is a cannon that was one of the guns used in the defense of Fort Sumter. After walking through the small chapel, I checked my phone to see my hubby’s location, and we walked over to Arthur Ashe Blvd. to find a good spot to look for him. The day had warmed up more than we’d expected, and my husband was struggling a bit with the heat. We tried to get him some water after cheering him along, but the GPS on my phone didn’t take road closures into affect. Defeated, we headed for the downtown area, and, after circling a bit, found a lot to park in. Isn’t it fun to be driving with three backseat drivers who keep repeating that we are going in circles? They were all very quick to point out when I’d gone past something or drove down a particular street more than once!
I paid for the parking lot, and the girls and I backtracked along the race course from mile 26 toward his location. The girls were so thrilled when they saw him, and they raced to him to give him a giant bottle of water. Stormy even ran a few steps with him. We followed him, albeit at a slower pace, to the finish line, and onto Brown’s Island. There, we all took a rest break and did a small picnic before walking back to the car. Each of the girls took a moment to hold his race medal, and wear it around their necks. It was a difficult race due to the heat, but he finished, and we are so proud of him! Next time, though, the cheer squad will pack extra bottles of water just in case!
After returning to our Airbnb for a well deserved rest, we all showered, and went back downtown to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, which is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond. There is free street parking around the perimeter of the Cathedral. After parking, we circled the Cathedral to take in the architecture. The late afternoon light lent a warm glow to the towers. The Cathedral was built in the early 1900’s, and it is a Virginia Historic Landmark and it is on the National Register of Historic Places. We were all blown away by the building. It is an amazing sight to see. We stayed for the 5pm mass, and then toured the building. A docent had kindly given us maps of the building, and pamphlets on its history when we first stepped inside. I do know that there are two museum exhibits installed here in the Cathedral, but we did not stay long enough to visit those, although we did peruse the informational boards in the front vestibule, and we popped into the gift shop briefly.
Leaving the Cathedral behind, we headed to the neighborhood of Carrytown for dinner. We don’t normally dine out, with three kids it can be a recipe for disaster, but thought we’d give it a go. I had found a place in advance that looked like it would work for us, Ariana Kabob. It was the type of establishment where you order at the counter, and oh my goodness was the food good! I highly recommend the place if you are in Carrytown! We had some beef and chicken tikka kabobs, rice, and plenty of sides. Our girls bravely tried everything! The rice and bread were, of course, a huge hit, but Rainbow surprised us. She loved the food! I even caught her licking her plate when she thought I wasn’t looking.
We had gotten up super early due to the marathon, but the girls were behaving so well that we treated them to ice cream. We stopped at Narwhals Rolled Ice Cream shop on our walk back to the garage we’d left the van in. None of us had had rolled ice cream before, and it was a super cool experience! After selecting what mix-ins went into their ice creams, the girls got to watch the ice cream actually being made! They were fascinated! It was almost better to watch the ice cream being made than eating it! This is another place in Carrytown that you need to try if you are in Richmond, especially if you have kiddos in tow. FYI, be patient as they can only make two ice cream dishes at a time.
Day 2 of our Richmond mini-vacation was just as jam-packed as our first day, but we had a great time. The finale of the day, the dinner out and ice cream, was one of the highlights of the trip for me, simply time together as a family, priceless! Happy trails!
https://vmfa.museum/about/sculpture-garden/
https://www.richmondcathedral.org