On our final day in Richmond, we checked out of our Airbnb, and drove to Maymont. Maymont is an historic estate and park consisting of 100 acres right in Richmond. There are gardens, wildlife habitats, a farm, the Robins Nature Center, and the Mansion. We parked at the Robins Nature Center, and started our exploration there. Rainbow and Pebble had experienced a lot of history the past two days, and it was time for some good old science. The nature center is open from 10-5, but the days vary depending on the season. The admission fee for Maymont is also varied. To visit the grounds, the outdoor wildlife habitats, and the farm, there is a suggested donation of $5. For the nature center, adults are $8 apiece, and children 3-16 are $6 apiece. We didn’t take a tour of the mansion, but it too has an admission fee, and tours are not done during the winter.
Upon admission, our girls set off to explore. The theme of the center is the ecology of the James River, which is the southern border of the estate, and the animals that inhabit the center are all animals found in the James River and the Chesapeake Bay. The first exhibit my girls discovered was River Reach. It is a unique, 34-foot-tall sculpture consisting of a series of netted platforms that rise up into the air, and depict microscopic river microorganisms. Did my kids care about those microorganisms? Nope! They were just in love with a giant sculpture they could climb up into. After their first foray into the air, they returned, dropped their coats, and went back to climbing again. I quickly realized I’d need a crowbar to get them out of the structure!
While they climbed, I explored a bit. In addition to the aquariums teeming with fish and turtles, there was an area with rocks to climb on, a beaver lodge to visit, a kayak and more. There are a series of tanks holding snakes, as well as a tank with seahorses. I loved watching the sea horses dart around, very calming to watch them. One of the neatest things I discovered was a set of Digital Pool Touch Stations. Each station showed a virtual shallow pool. When you tapped on the screen, you could explore the pool, learn about the animals and the plants that inhabited the area. Pebble had come down from the sculpture by this time, and she had a blast tapping at the various screens!
We have friends who live in the Richmond area, and, when they arrived, we pried the older two out of the sculpture and set off to explore the grounds of Maymont. What I did not realize when I picked Maymont as our final adventure of the weekend was how hilly the place is. My poor husband had run a marathon the day before, and now I had him doing hills. Oops! At least there were plenty of places he could sit and take a breather!
We followed paved pathways over to the Maymont Farm. The farm offers hands-on animal encounters, and is home to goats, sheep, chickens, a donkey, cows, pigs and horses. There are feed machines on-site to purchase treats from. The girls watched the goats for a bit, laughing when one stuck it’s head through the fence to nuzzle hands and legs for treats. Two of the goats tried to ram each other with their horns through separate pens. Amazing how much noise their horns make when hitting a solid object! In the farm area is a small obstacle course that consists of stepping stones, faux wood stumps, and a log to carefully balance and walk across. All three insisted on running through the course more than once! Stormy led them around, with Rainbow hot on her heels, and Pebble slowly making her way, with a helping hand or two from me thrown into the mix.
We followed a paved pathway out of the farmyard, and down the hill past fields with more farm animals. Rainbow was in absolute heaven that there were cows, her favorite animal, and insisted on me taking her picture with a cow lying in the grass next to the fence. As we moved away from the farm, we came to the Wildlife Habitats. Maymont is home to buffalo, bald eagles, a bear, a bobcat, a fox, vultures, and more! It was a beautiful walk with the trees showing their autumn colors. Pebble likes to say she found nature when she picks up a pretty stone or drags a stick. If we are lucky, she doesn’t want to add that piece of nature to her collection. The girls loved seeing all of the animals, but the bear was a highlight. The bear was laying in the grass next to the fence, in perfect view for everyone!
The paved pathway we’d been following flowed into the Japanese Gardens through an ornate gate. Maymont’s Japanese Garden is the oldest public Japanese Garden on the East Coast, and it feels peaceful and serene. At this point in the year, the waterfall had been turned off, but that didn’t matter. All three girls had fun clambering up and down the rocky area that bordered the waterfall, and the moon bridge was neat! What stands out still to the girls, though, is the pond. There is an island in that pond, and, to reach it, you have to hop from flat stone to flat stone. The girls could have hopped those stones for hours! There were giant koi in the water, and a peaceful pagoda to take a break in, but those stones were the bee’s knees.
After the girls had played for a while, we started the climb upward out of the Japanese Garden to the gardens around the mansion. FYI, this particular path consists of a lot of stairs, and isn’t the easiest to traverse with a stroller. Our friends did do it with a stroller, but they had to carry the stroller and their son up the majority of it. All I can say is plan accordingly. Once we reached the top, we began ambling back to the Nature Center. Stormy badly wanted to tour the mansion, but we didn’t have time for it, nor did her sisters have the patience for it.
When we reached the center, the girls headed straight back to the sculpture. We let them play for a bit before declaring it lunchtime, and time to hit the road for home. It had been an amazing weekend away, but everyone was tuckered out and ready to go home. If you haven’t been to Richmond, I definitely recommend it! There is a lot to see and do there, especially with kids in tow. Happy trails!