Greener Pastures: Carytown and Maymont (Richmond, V.A.)

The second part of our day trip to Richmond involved a lovely stroll through the heart of Carytown, as per recommendation of Sam Beam beard man (see my previous Richmond post for more). The sidewalks of West Cary Street were close to packed; the lovely Saturday afternoon with clear skies unleashed waves of hipsters and young families waiting for a breath of fresh air. If you happen to find yourself on W. Cary Street, make sure to stop by Chop Suey Books to pet the ever-inviting WonTon the cat. However, if you are on a budget and find yourself in the heart of trendy Richmond, be warned to not empty your pockets here; Carytown’s hip factor is accompanied by a decent-sized price tag. But window shopping second-hand stores and tattoo parlors never hurt anyone, right?

We quickly grew frustrated at the price tag attached to the neighborhood, and after perusing the street and its various shops we decided to look for greener pastures and ended up at the Maymont estate and gardens. Although the variety in animals was lacking (we could only spot horses and cows out in mid-April), the gardens definitely made up for it. Recommendation: check out the Japanese Gardens. Children clamber up the rocks by the waterfall, which cascades down

and pools underneath bridges and around stepping stones. The grassy hills are a picturesque image of a Sunday picnic with friends and family, or perfect for that outdoors-y spring Insta post. If you happen to visit later in the day, make sure to leave enough time to get back to your car before closing; staff are pretty adamant about closing on time. Best part about Maymont? It’s completely and absolutely free to wander through. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes though, the hills can have quite an incline!

For more about Chop Suey Books, visit here:

http://www.chopsueybooks.com/

Check out what Maymont has to offer here:

https://maymont.org/

#Carytown #Maymont #Richmond #Virginia