I am backdating some posts as I see my posting was sparse in October (and September) due to travel. I like having my blog be a record of my travels so I am going to catch up on sharing my Summer and Fall 2024 adventures.
In the middle of September I went to Richmond, Virginia to visit my sister while John went to Louisville, Kentucky to meet up with his friends to attend a Bourbon Festival. Below is a little photo travelogue of my trip to Richmond along with a couple photos at the end of John’s visit to Louisville.
Richmond (Tierney’s Trip)
My sister lives in Richmond but we wanted to have a “Sisters Trip” where she didn’t have to travel far (as she’s been very busy her work as a Construction Project Manager for a local University) so we rented an AirBNB place in Carytown so she could feel like she was on vacation too!
We spent a lot of time wandering around Carytown which is according to the tourism website:
Nestled in the heart of Richmond, Carytown is a unique shopping, dining, and entertainment district. With a focus on small, locally-owned businesses, Carytown is home to the historic Byrd Theater as well as several unique dining and boutique shopping destinations. Adjacent to the Museum District and Byrd Park, Carytown is a necessary stop for a day well spent in the city.
My sister knows how much I love independent bookstores so we stopped at a couple:
First there was Shelf Life Books which had a resident bookstore cat:
I didn’t get to pet the cat as customers were sort of lined up for cat petting. I did grab a quick photos when the cat was taking a break from endless pets:
I found a wonderful used book at this shop.
Later we visited Small Friend Records and Books, and I had a delightful wander in that shop while my sister found a cozy chair to relax in while I shopped. She was so sweet telling me to “just take your time, we are not in a hurry” (she is my kind of people!).
Although the store was called “Small Friend…” I didn’t see any “small friends” wandering about, but still it was a lovely bookstore.
We stopped for a wander around the The Jefferson Hotel to admire its historical architecture and decor; and relax a bit with a hot beverage in their lounge area.
We picked up some fun items from the gift shop including a little pewter pineapple for John who likes little cool things for his desk.
Some movie lore about The Jefferson Hotel: The classic film “Gone With the Wind” was allegedly filmed on the Jefferson Hotel staircase according to the Historic Hotels of America website.
We also visited the historic downtown Richmond, Virginia Public Library which was built in the early 1900s funded by philanthropist and steel baron Andrew Carnegie. The library sort of looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 1900s; and they had “old school” card catalogues!
My sister loves thrift store shopping like I do and we spent some time at Carytown Thrift as well as a couple other thrift shops around Richmond.
We ate at many cool places including a pizza place The Mellow Mushroom which had fun decor and 1970s vibe:
Finally here are a couple photos from an afternoon we spent lounging on a rooftop deck of a restaurant/bar in Carytown with a tropical/”Tiki Bar” theme (I do not remember the name of the place). We pretty much nested there for a couple hours and I pulled out my crochet and worked on my Sunflower Granny Square Blanket (see post Update on Sunflower Granny Square Blanket and Cool Community Garden) while we had cocktails and visited. (I always travel with a portable craft project!)
Like the Rino District in Denver (see post Playing Tourist in My Town: Wandering Around the RiNo District), Carytown had some amazing Graffiti Art on the sides of buildings including this piece:
Louisville (John’s Trip)
Here are some photos from John’s simultaneous trip to Louisville, Kentucky to attend a Bourbon Festival with a couple of his friends who are also Bourbon/Whiskey connoisseurs. One day they spent a couple hours at the Maker’s Mark Distillery and the photos below are from that visit.
In the first photo above, John is dipping into the famous red sealing wax a bottle of special edition Marker’s Mark Whiskey he bought at the distillery.
John also took a group of photos in Black & White on this trip for us to print out and frame for his bar area in the basement. Here is an example of one of those photos:
John and his friends stayed in a really cool Bourbon/Whiskey themed AirBNB house that I found for them (I have better AirBNB skills than John, ha!) so they were able to have a nice time visiting each evening after a day of attending the Bourbon Festival or touring distilleries. (Oh and they were smart/safe and did not rent a car, they used Ubers/Lyfts to get around so they could enjoy safely sampling at the distilleries!)
tierneycreates 