Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Foode
AMERICAN$$$
( 540-479-1370; 1006 C Caroline St; mains $13-24; 11am-3pm & 4:30pm-8pm Tue-Thu, to
9pm Fri, 10am-2:30pm & 4:30-9pm Sat, 10am-2pm Sun; )
Foode takes all the feel-good
restaurant trends of the late naughties/early teens — fresh, local, free range, organic and
a casual-artsy-rustic-chic decor over white tablecloths and dark lighting — and runs with
the above all the way to pretty delicious results.
Getting There & Away
VRE
($11.10, 1½ hours) and
Amtrak
($25 to $43, 1¼ hours) trains depart from the
Fre-
dericksburg train station
(200 Lafayette Blvd)
with service to DC.
Greyhound
has buses
to/from DC (five per day, 1½ hours) and Richmond (three per day, one hour). The
Grey-
hound station
(
540-373-2103; 1400 Jefferson Davis Hwy)
is roughly 1.5 miles west of the
historic district.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Richmond
Richmond has been the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia since 1780. That's the
stable part of its identity. What this town is constantly trying to define is its culture: a
welcoming, warm Southern city on the one hand, and part of the international milieu of
the Northeast Corridor on the other. Maybe it's better to throw away that dichotomy and
say Richmond is the northernmost city of the New South: grounded in tradition yet inter-
national and well-educated on the one hand, but full of income disparities and social ten-
sions on the other.
This is a handsome town, full of red-brick and brownstone row-houses that leave a
softer impression than their sometimes-staid Northeastern counterparts. History is ubi-
quitous and, sometimes, uncomfortable; this was where patriot Patrick Henry gave his
famous 'Give me Liberty, or give me Death!' speech, and where the slave-holding
Southern Confederate States placed their capital. Today a population of students and
young professionals makes the 'River City' a lot more fun than you might expect.
Sights
The James River bisects Richmond, with most attractions lying to its north. Uptown res-
idential neighborhoods include the
Fan district
, south of Monument Ave, and
Carytown
,
in the west end. Downtown, Court End holds the capitol and several museums.
