15 Miles to Richmond

Our campground is located 15 miles from downtown Richmond, VA. After spending Monday recovering from our trip to the Grand Illumination in Williamsburg, we decided to ride our bikes today into Richmond for lunch.  It was not easy finding a route around I-295, I-64 and I-95, but Google Maps found one. We didn't take any pictures on the way in because we were on a mission. We set our sights on the Capital Ale House for lunch.  Here is Kathy quenching her thirst upon arrival.

We were looking for a nice winter warmer or holiday beer.  Our waiter recommend the Hardywood Gingerbread Stout.  I do not have words to describe how good this beer was. If you happen to see this beer, buy it and save some for us.

After lunch, we biked through downtown and came across the Christmas Park with loads of electric reindeer.  If you look closely at this photo, you'll see that you are NOT looking at two buildings in the background, but the flat, reflective glass windows of a single building in which the other buildings and sky are reflected.

Richmond is located on the James River. A canal was dug to allow river traffic to go around the James Falls and to provide water flow suitable for mills and other industry.  The city has done a great job in cleaning up the canal area and making it a tourist destination. Here is Dave taking a break at the canal during our walk

Here is the top of the falls. Water from the river is diverted above the falls into the canal.  There are five locks along the canal which gradually lower the water level to sea level.

As we cycled away from the canal on our return trip home to the campground, we passed by the American Civil War Center at the Historic Tredegar Steel Mill. We'll be making another trip into Richmond to check the museums.  Further up the hill is a spectacular complex of buildings, the 1954-1956 Colonial Revival international headquarters of NewMarket Corp., of which David got a partial photo:

The trip back went by quickly as we noticed it was mostly downhill on the way back to camp!