My birthday is in October and while we usually celebrate birthdays with a special dinner out, I was able to celebrate this particular birthday on both sides of the country, and of course, great food was definitely involved.
East Coast birthday took place in Richmond. My first trip to Richmond was to visit VCU with Corey. Since he is now in his junior year, I’ve been back a number of times to enjoy my son's company and see what the city has to offer. Richmond is quite an eclectic mix on the scale of economy. A short distance in the city can take you from the mansions on Monument Avenue to the shabby facades that line the streets of Jackson Ward. Upscale, trendy shopping and restaurant districts are balanced by the hard edges of boarded up buildings and crumbling storefronts. On a cultural level, Richmond provides many outlets for the history enthusiast and anyone who has an interest in the arts. VCU is the highest rated public arts university in the country and the arts community in Richmond is strong and influential. Plus, I can honestly say that every restaurant we’ve visited from cool college hangouts to fine dining has been great.
A month or so ago, my father expressed an interest in visiting Corey at school over a weekend. We set a plan in motion. Kenny and Tammy drove up from North Carolina with Dad and I drove down from Frederick on Friday, October 15, which happened to be my birthday weekend. Homewood Suites by Hilton became base camp. Dinner Friday was at Extreme Pizza on West Broad, one of Corey’s favorite pizza joints. Corey’s roommate Brian joined us. The restaurant was new to my family, but after hearing so many good comments from us, it was my brother’s pick for this particular evening. Fortunately, they loved it! The Poultry Geist is one of our favorite selections, with The Boar'der as a close second.
Saturday brought sunshine and pleasant temps so while Dad relaxed and watched football, Corey showed Kenny and Tammy his apartment and the Monroe Park campus. My family is oyster crazy, and since it's hard to find good fried oysters in North Carolina, an oyster dinner was the quest for Saturday night. With prior planning we found Water Grill, a restaurant in Carytown that ended up having terrific fried oysters. Fried green tomatoes and buffalo oysters started a meal that will remain memorable. This restaurant is definitely a keeper.
Sunday morning found us at Baker’s Crust in Short Pump for breakfast. This restaurant features homemade breads and pastries. I can highly recommend their fruit and nut bread paired with a Mediterranean omelette and hash browns. Goodbyes were said and we headed home.
It is probably obvious that my family likes to eat. We like to try new places and especially local fare. We enjoyed the weekend and my brother remarked that it was fun to see Corey in his element. This was not really a birthday celebration but a celebration of family that just happened to fall on my birthday.
Coming Next: West Coast Birthday
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