The Last Adventure

Went to Richmond over the weekend. I have been wanting to see Jason Mraz in concert for years now, and when I saw he was coming through the area, I snatched up tickets to the Richmond show before seeing that he was playing in Winston a few days before that. Oh well, I love me some road trips and enjoyed my last brief visit to Richmond. Thought I would make a weekend out of it. Got a killer deal on a hotel from priceline and headed out Friday afernoon.

Well, my hotel was only a mile from the venue, and it was still light out when I left, so I walked. During said walk, I realized I would not be doing the return trip for two reasons. 1) It wore me the heck out and 2) um, YIKES. Not a neighborhood for a prego white girl in the middle of the night. Anyway, I had my ticket waiting at Will Call and squeezed through the line that was wrapped around the block. I managed to talk one of the security guys to go ahead and let me in, whew. I don't think I would have survived the night if I had to wait in that line.

Got inside and because of my early arrival and sneaky line tactics, managed to get a great spot, right in front of the sound equipment so I could lean on the railing. The Makepeace Brothers opened the show, followed by the kooky but oh so lovely Bushwalla. In between the host of the show, Justin Kredible, would do some magic tricks. Unfortunately his part started to drag on after a while and after 90 minutes of waiting, a few people started to heckle, saying "Where's Jason?!?!". I felt bad for him, but I agreed with them.

Well, I have to say, I love me some Jason. Thankfully I had downloaded We Sing. We Dance. earlier in the day and had a chance to listen to it on the drive up. I don't like not being able to sing along. I was in a bit of pain, standing there for so long, but once he started playing, and the dancing began, I was able to block it out a bit. Here is one of my fave all time songs, straight from the concert. Sorry in advance for the quality, I'm a photographer, not a videographer. ;)



(This is a very long and rambling post, I apologize if you're bored. My brain isn't working at full capacity these days.)

So, after a great show, I managed to get a cab to take me the few blocks to the hotel. Well worth it as my cab driver graciously told me about a shooting on that street the night before, and pointed out the hookers on the sidewalk. Heh. Well, it was 12:30 am and I hadn't eaten since 3:30pm. Starving. I ordered a pizza and ate it with my eyes half closed. Collapsed in bed and pretended to sleep until 7:30am.

Mom and Dad had told me about The Village Cafe, that they heard about on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". It just so happened to be half a mile from my hotel, so I figured, "I'm indestructible, I'll walk!!" Thankfully, it was mild morning and the neighborhood wasn't so bad going in the other direction. In fact, I walked right through VCU and some gorgeous neighborhoods (at a few points).

Food pictures? Shocking!!!!




After breakfast, I walked around, taking more pictures (that you'll just have to go to flickr to see, cuz this is getting L O N G). Got back to the hotel, took a nap, and checked out. I couldn't decide if I could drag my sorry tush around any more or should just head home. I had planned on going to a few old cemeteries but knew I'd never make it. I hopped in the car and figured I'd drive towards I95. But, I saw some signs for The Canal Walk and headed down to Cary Street, aka The River District. Had lunch at Cha Cha's Cantina and ended up having to leave as soon as a couple doused in cologne sat down. Got some cool pics, picked up a Frog for Mr. Boy and waddled back to the car.

I am STILL tired. No more adventures for a couple of months.