DAY TWO

Saturday morning we ate our customarily big “camp breakfast” of bacon, eggs, pan toast and cheese grits before hitting the road. We hadn’t had time to really plan our trip and stops, but we had the computer along so we made found our targets on the fly.

We headed north on US 11 passing the Pink Cadillac Diner and nearly ran over a mother rodent of some kind leading about 25 babies across the tarmac. From a distance it looked like a snake undulating across the road. This section of US 11 had little traffic and was a good road to loosen-up on as we started out. It was only 11 miles into Lexington, a quaint historic town that is home to Virginia Military Institute. We planned to return for a tour when we got back from Richmond.

We wanted to take back roads across the state so we headed east on US 60. A unique building caught our eye just before Buena Vista. The metal “coffee pot building” was built in the late 1950s as a restaurant and has been used by a number of different businesses over the decades. Today it is unoccupied.

After passing through Buena Vista US 60 climbs quickly to the Blue Ridge Parkway offering a short but sweet section of twisting road. The view is limited by the trees, but just hop up onto the BRP to see the countryside to the west.

Coming down on US 60 there are a few more miles of curves before the land flattens all the way to Richmond. Nancy about fell asleep several times making me pull over in Powhatan for a quick stretch. We used the GPS to find the next Starbucks which was another 16 miles in Midlothian. There was not much on US 60 except countryside all the way from the BRP. The road was straight, the traffic was light, and luckily the weather was not too hot.

After a Hammerhead at Starbucks (that is a small coffee with a double espresso) we were in high gear once again all the way into Richmond on the Manchester Turnpike, one of the first paved sections of roadway in Virginia (not really a turnpike as we would know one). We took the scenic route staying on US 60 through South Richmond and Old Manchester.

Crossing the James River on the Robert E. Lee Bridge (US 1) we had a wide view of the Downtown District of Richmond. Using the Garmin Zumo 550 GPS (which we highly recommend) it was easy to navigate to our downtown hotel, the new Hilton Garden Inn located at 5th Street and East Broad Street, just two blocks from the Richmond Coliseum where Glenn Beck was appearing.

The valets were very friendly and allowed us to park the bike right in the courtyard within sight of the 24 hour valet. Another bike was soon parked next to ours.
The hotel was plush but not overly so. Our room was comfortable although not overly spacious. Perhaps we have been spoiled with some of our stays at Embassy Suites. One of our first stops was at the bar to get some information about where to eat. Nancy had a disappointing Mojito and the choice of imported beers was not inspiring, but we did get the lowdown on a couple of good restaurants.

It was late afternoon and we decided to eat a late lunch and then have dinner after the show about 10:30. The bar tender recommended the Penny Lane Pub just a couple of blocks away. He promised we would think that we were in a Liverpool pub as if we would know what that was like. We were happy to find the place a little rowdy, but at this hour there were only a few customers other than the regulars at the bar. It looked authentic to us ….. soccer was on the TVs, the walls were covered with pictures of Churchill and other English types, and the music was all Beetles.

We had to look the part so we each ordered fish and chips and a couple of pints. The fish was good, the chips were typical and uninspiring. The beer was of course great. The place was worth the stop for the atmosphere alone. We bet that it gets pretty rowdy in the evenings.

Back at the room we got into our bathing suits and soaked for a while in the hot tub. Nancy took a swim, but I just can’t take the temperature change from hot to cold. After half an hour it was time to get ready for the show.

We arrived a half hour early and the crowds were lined-up trying to get in. Employees at each of the four entrances were inspecting pocket books and asking everyone wearing pants to show their belt buckle. We couldn’t quite figure that one. Just showing a belt buckle isn’t going to disclose if someone is wearing a gun on their side. We asked an usher and she had no idea.

We had great seats in the fifth row and Glenn was entertaining as usual. We saw his 2008 show in Atlanta and will probably make this an annual event wherever he plays. We’ll not get into politics here, but he, like us, is fed up with both parties. Perhaps someday our representatives will get a little “common sense”.

After the show we headed back to west, passed our hotel, and continued downhill where we were told the Capital Ale House was located. We took a right turn, walked about two blocks, and Nancy said the hairs on the back of her neck were standing at attention. The scenery was getting ever seedier and I wasn’t packing. We did a quick about face and finally found the CAH a couple of blocks in the other direction. It was 10:30 and the live band was rocking ….. the place was packed.

Capital Ale has the largest selection of beer that anyone can imagine. There are 46 beers on tap and more than 250 bottled beers to select from. It was a little too much so we told the waiter what we liked and he brought us a couple of beers from the tap. They were good and strong and expensive, but what the heck.

Being small eaters we ordered a braised pork shank with sweet potatoes and two salads. The meal was great, especially the salad dressings. I had a balsamic vinaigrette and Nancy tried the lime vinaigrette. Both were perfection.

The Ale House was bustling and a little on the loud side, but after one of their beers it didn’t matter. There was some real eye candy too. We passed on dessert and split another beer.

Back at the hotel we planned the next days events. And we slept sound.