I had the pleasure of seeing 3 fodorites - Birdie, girlonthego and janetKMR for breakfast at Can Can in Cary town in Richmond - a little french brasserie with wonderful pastries and coffee. In a blink of an eye the 2 hours passed in a moment. We talked about everything - all of us were visiting our college children at thier respective colleges that weekend!
I look forward to seeing them again soon!

I was in Richmond visiting my daughter who attends Art School here. It was her Birthday.
She invited 5 friends to a Sushi place called Sticky Rice. It has a funky vibe and was packed . I think the girls enjoyed it, but it was very mediocre food. I would not go back but I am glad the girls had fun. In addition to the dozens of rolls we ordered they were known for their buckets of Tater Tots - just weird.

My daughter and I wanted to try a B&B in Va and most were booked solid, but we stumbled upon an Inn that had an opening. It was called The Hope and Glory Inn in Irvington - Chesapeake bay area.

http://www.hopeandglory.com/

It took 1.5 hours to get to this town. It has been voted one the top 10 Inns in America. We thought it was lovely and lovingly decorated etc, but NOT a top 10 Inn. It has won many many awards, but I am still a bit shocked at winning this award. I have stayed in Inns that were quite a bit nicer. The bathroom was a little tired and the paint was peeling.

It has 6 rooms in this converted old School house from the 1800's. There are some cottages behind the Inn that are just darling with extraordinary gardens. The breakfast was Bananas Foster French Toast, a tiny bowl of fresh fruit and bacon. I loved every bite! There is a tiny bar that is very cozy and inviting! The Inn Keepers are amazing as well as the manager - they called thier daughter in law who runs the vinyard about 1/4 Mi away to make sure she waited for us before she closed up. We enjoyed a wine tasting and the wine was superb ( which surprized me for some reason). I would reccomend picking up a bottle.

There are bikes to borrow. We took a ride around town and down some beautiful country roads in the morning before check out. What a treat!

We did not eat dinner here because we had a late heavy lunch on the way here but it is known for a terrific chef who prepares wonderful dinners. We walked up to the Tides Inn and watched the sun set and had an appetizer.

On the way back to Richmond we made a detour to a town called Urbana. We stopped at "Something Different".Country Store - http://www.pine3.info/
It is a rustic if not battered old store that has won awards for its BBQ. It has homemade icecream and pies etc.. It is small and you sit on milk crates - We had a ball!! We enjoyed old fashioned Carolina BBQ and VA ham!

The sun was shining, the windows were down and we drove back with the wind on our faces. It was terrific!