Poe Museum curator Chris Semtner James Dickinson photo
Best Bowling Alley
Plaza Bowl
521 E. Southside Plaza, 233-8799
According to owner Jim Szilagyi, without the addition of live music, Plaza Bowl probably would have had to close by now, and as far as we're concerned, losing duckpin bowling would have been a regional tragedy. "It's made it so the bowling alley was able to survive," says Szilagyi, who adds that the business is now thriving.
2. Sunset Lanes
3. Shrader Lanes
Best Place to Shoot Pool
The Triple
3306 W. Broad St., 359-7777
With a half-dozen Brunswick Gold Crown tables and plenty of live music, The Triple is a great place to practice your stop shot. Tables rent for $13 an hour in the evenings, but after 6 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, you can pay $20 for a table and play until closing time at 2 a.m.
2. Sharky's Bar & Billiards
3. (Tie) Bailey's; Popkin Tavern
Best Movie Theater
Movieland at Boulevard Square
1301 N. Boulevard, 354-6099
This is Movieland's second win in a row in this category, and while it's still doing the things that made you love this cinema last year — Movies and Mimosas, Insomnia Theater,
free kids' movies on Tuesday and
Wednesday mornings through
Aug. 18 — the movie house also added two more 3-D screens since last year for a total of four. "Hollywood's decided that 3-D is the way to go," says general manager Sean McIntosh.
2. The Byrd
3. (Tie) Regal Commonwealth; Regal Short Pump
Best Music Venue
The National
708 E. Broad St., 612-1900
"I don't think we hit our stride until this year," says the National's Bill Reid. Take a look at some of the musicians who've appeared so far in 2010 — Wilco, Elvis Costello, Snoop Dogg, Widespread Panic and, yes, Devo — and it's hard to argue the point. "Now we're getting calls from people who want to play."
2. Innsbrook
3. The Hat Factory
Best Offbeat Museum
The Poe Museum
1914-16 E. Main St., 648-5523
It's probably not surprising that the home to the world's largest collection of artifacts related to Edgar Allan Poe, from a lock of his hair to comic-book adaptations of his stories, is a bit offbeat. And toward the end of the month, the exhibit "Scandal, Poe and the New York Literati" opens. "It's kind of like Gossip Girl, except 1840s New York," says curator Chris Semtner.
2. Virginia Center for Architecture
3. Quirk Gallery
Best Public Art
Arts in the Park
richmondartsinthepark.com
Since 1972, this juried art show, a neighborhood project for the Carillon Civic Association, has been bringing the work of artists from around the country to Byrd Park for the first weekend in May. "Our first year, we had 113 exhibitors, and now we have between 435 and 450," says Pat Lovelace, one of the event's founders.
2. First Fridays Art Walk
3. VMFA
Best Adult Classes
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond
1812 W. Main St., 353-0094
"We're trying to mix it up a little bit and have more workshops," says director of education Aimee Joyaux, with classes that are shorter — and more affordable — on everything from blacksmithing to making a case for your iPhone. The next session starts in September.
2. University of Richmond
3. VMFA
Best Apple-Picking
Carter Mountain Orchard
1435 Carter's Mountain Trail, Charlottesville, (434) 977-1833
Apple-picking season should kick into high gear about the second week of August, when you'll have Lodi, Ginger Gold, Gala and Virginia Gold varieties from which to choose, as well as the orchard's addictive apple-cider doughnuts. More varieties of apples will be available as the season progresses (call or check Facebook for the latest availability info).
2. Graves Mountain Lodge
Best Film Festival
The French Film Festival
frenchfilm.vcu.edu
Some films get sent to them on DVDs, but husband-and-wife festival organizers Peter and Françoise Kirkpatrick still travel to France a few times each year as part of selecting the films they bring to the Byrd Theatre. How does what they see differ from Hollywood's output? "The French have a desire to make sure that directors keep their own autonomy about the way their films are made, whether it's an independent film or a more commercial film."
2. James River Film Festival
3. The 48 Hour Film Project
Best Cheap Date
Maymont
1700 Hampton St., 358-7166
Stocking a picnic basket and setting up shop is probably the most popular option, but you can also feed the goats, scan for the bears or simply stroll the grounds, holding hands. (A tip: On weekends, carriage rides are available for $5 an adult; reserve ahead of time by calling extension 340.)
2. The Byrd
3. Avenue 805
Best First Date
Maymont
1700 Hampton St., 358-7166
When you're meeting someone for the first time, anything that can help you avoid those awkward lulls in conversation is always appreciated. And Maymont is nothing if not a conversation starter, what with the various animals on display, James and Sallie Dooley's mansion, the Italian Garden, the Japanese Garden …
2. The Byrd
3. (Tie) Davis & Main; First Fridays Art Walk; Strawberry Street Café; VMFA
Best Performance in the Last 12 Months
Wicked
To hear SMG regional general manager Dolly Vogt tell it, Wicked almost didn't happen in Richmond. "They didn't even consider us," she says. But $3.5 million in Wicked-mandated renovations to the Landmark Theater later, the show was convinced. Now, Vogt says, other Broadway productions are contacting them — and Wicked wants to return.
2. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
3. (Tie) Ben Folds; Lady Gaga; Richmond Ballet's Romeo & Juliet ; Wilco
Best Fine-Art Gallery
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
200 N. Boulevard, 340-1400
You can't say the VMFA didn't work for this one, what with the completion of a $150 million renovation and expansion that has breathtakingly reinvented the Boulevard mainstay. "We're open 365 days a year, so not only do we have more art for people to experience and enjoy," says museum director Alex Nyerges, "but we're here more often, and we're also free and totally accessible."
2. Chasen Galleries
3. (Tie) Quirk Gallery; Gallery5
Best Food Festival
The Richmond Greek Festival
greekfestival.com
Preparations for the Richmond Greek Festival (June 2 to 5 in 2011 — mark your calendars) start long before you're digging into some dolmades. For example, "the skewers come from China, and you have to order them in January," explains festival coordinator Irene Calos. How does she recover once it's all done? "I sleep and sleep and sleep, 14 to 18 hours a day for about a week."
2. Lebanese Festival
3. Broad Appétit
Best Children's Festival
Kids' Carniball at the Children's Museum of Richmond
2626 W. Broad St., 474-7000
Next year's Kids' Carniball — to be held on Feb. 26, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — kicks off the museum's 30th anniversary. Details are still being worked out, but this year's theme is "Destination: Rio de Janeiro," so it's a pretty good bet that some sort of parade will be involved, along with the usual art projects, live music and other performers.
2. (Tie) Duck Race on the James; Easter on Parade; Richmond Folk Festival; Kids' Expo
Best Music Festival
The Richmond Folk Festival
richmondfolkfestival.org
It takes about 1,200 volunteers to make the Richmond Folk Festival happen, so feel free to thank any of them you see while enjoying this year's musical extravaganza from Oct. 8 to 10. "If we had to pay 1,200 bodies, we couldn't do the festival," says event director Lisa Sims.
2. Innsbrook After Hours
Best Cultural Museum
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
200 N. Boulevard, 340-1400
With a world-class collection of art from across the planet, VMFA is multicultural in the best sense of the word. "And we cover 5,000 years of human history and creativity in the process," adds museum director Alex Nyerges.
2. Science Museum of Virginia
3. Valentine Richmond History Center
Best Kids' Attraction
Children's Museum of Richmond
2626 W. Broad St. and 2200 Old Brick Road, Glen Allen, 474-7000
A new Short Pump location of CMoR opened in June, but the Broad Street museum is still going strong — this month marks the final installments of its Summer Series, with "Amazing Animals" on Aug. 7 (featuring a touch tank, a petting zoo and more) and "Circus Day" on Aug. 14 (with clowns, magicians, jugglers and more).
2. Maymont
3. Science Museum of Virginia
Best Place for Karaoke
Sticky Rice
2232 W. Main St., 358-7870
Every Tuesday night, starting at 10:30, the crowd at Sticky Rice unleashes vocal stylings on everything from Beyoncé to Danzig. Nard's Professional DJ Service does the honors for a crowd that John Partin, one of the bar managers on Tuesday nights, calls "pretty tolerant." Partin's song of choice? "Summer of '69," by Bryan Adams. "I have done ‘Dirty Diana,' by Michael Jackson, which was a little out of my range," he admits. "I don't know if I'd say that I pulled it off. I tried."
2. Penny Lane Pub
3. Caddy's
