The next morning we found a place for Southern breakfast (including biscuits & gravy) which you really don't find much in Seattle. After breakfast we went to the Torpedo Factory which is an artist studio collective that I used to visit all the time as a kid so it brought back lots of good memories. We walked all along the waterfront and did a little shopping. Just when we thought we had finally escaped all the bad luck from the night before, the fire alarm goes off at one of the stores!!! I thought it was hilarious, but the store clerk who had somehow managed to light a candle directly under the smoke alarm wasn't quite so amused. We scurried away from there in search of a bite to eat.
We found a nice little cafe and I ordered some decadent looking strawberry pastry. I took one bite... and realized the strawberries were moldy. Yuck! When I told the waitress all she had to say was, "oh, do you want something else?" That did not seem like a good sign so we cancelled the rest of our order and got the heck out of there. At least we had much better luck and a great meal at the next place we tried. Before we knew it the day was over and it was time for Jennifer to head back to Leesburg and Kristal and me to head to Richmond.
When Kristal and John (her husband) asked me what I wanted for dinner that night, I was almost ashamed to admit what I had been missing so desperately for the past year in Seattle; queso! For all the non-Richmonders it's this ubiquitous white, plasticized cheese dip you get at Mexican restaurants. It sooooo wonderful, but alas it does not seem to exist in Seattle. Whenever I mention it to people they think I'm talking about nacho cheese dip or queso fresco, neither of which are anywhere close to "proper" queso. So I was thrilled to hit up the neighborhood Mexican joint and gobble up an entire bowl.
The next day I had a wonderful brunch with all my girlfriends, half of whom were pregnant, so it was great to see there cute bellies. That night I caught up with my Richmond uncle and cousins. Then the whole rest of the week was spent just visiting with various friends; from pole class, from VCU, from PPD, etc. I even stopped by PPD for a day to check out my old stomping ground and got a couple of offers to come back to work. No thanks! I also got comments from several different people exclaiming, "Oh my gosh Amanda, it's so great to see you! You look exactly the same." I wasn't quite sure how to take that... what was I supposed to look like??
All in all, it was a wonderful trip and I got to spend quality time with all my very favorite people in Richmond. The only bummer, was that I did not get to eat at my very favorite restaurant. I double-checked online to make sure that they're open on Mondays and was super excited all day long, but when I got to the door they were closed for a private function. I just about cried! I guess it just means I'll have to go back and visit Richmond again.
I got a lot of questions about the rain in Seattle so I thought I'd answer that and throw in a few other random statistics for fun.
Richmond | Seattle | |
Precipitation per year | 44 inches | 37 inches |
Sunshine per year | 2829 hrs | 2174 hrs |
Population | 204,214 | 608,660 |
My Utilities Bill | $207 (Dec 2010) | $16 (Dec 2011) |
Murders in 2011 | 39 | 16 |
% of people w/ 4yr degree | 19% | 31% |
Ranking among “green” cities | #165 | #32 |
#22 manliest | #5 least manly! |
That last one sure does explain a lot about my dating experience here...
Manliest city rankings! hahahahahaaha!
ReplyDeleteIt was so great to see you here in Richmond! Warren is sorry that he was too lazy to be born earlier so that you could meet him :)