Hartwell Dillard and Melissa Brooks of Brillard Boating (Photo by Jay Paul)
When Melissa Brooks describes her happy place, her eyes twinkle. The sun warms her shoulders, her family surrounds her, and water gently laps the side of their boat. Pockets of mangroves and tall, wispy grasses line the banks. They spot a pair of bald eagles overhead. Across the water, the dorsal fin of a dolphin breaks the surface. Best of all, the spot she’s describing is a 20-minute boat ride from Richmond, where the James River meets the Appomattox.
The Iowa transplant lived in Richmond for 13 years before truly discovering the James River. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her partner, Hartwell Dillard, needed a way to get outdoors and entertain their blended family — their sons were 10 years old, and their daughter was 13. So, they bought a boat and spent their days tubing, fishing, swimming and reliving their own childhoods on the water.
“Being out on the boat has made us fall in love with the city even more,” Brooks says. “We’re a river city with great trails, but there’s not a lot of focus on actually being on the river. It’s a view of the city not a lot of people get to see.”
Brooks, who says she’s never met a stranger, couldn’t wait to share the experience with others. Last summer, the couple decided to turn their family boating adventures into a business. They combined their two last names, and Brillard Boating RVA was born. Brooks set up a website, and Dillard got his captain’s license through the U.S. Coast Guard.
“During one of our first trips we took a family out, and I was watching the parents watching their kids behind us on the tube — they just had so much joy,” Dillard says. “We’ve taken adults out who’ve played like little kids, and others who had never been out on the water before. They were having the time of their life.”
Brillard Boating provides fishing poles, ski equipment, life jackets and bottled water. Sometimes they stop at The Lilly Pad near Varina for lunch, or guests can bring along a picnic. Bookings can be made for a few hours or a full day. Along the way, passengers get lessons in everything from history to marine biology.
“One site we note is City Point in Hopewell,” Brooks says. “It’s incredible to look up from the boat at this dramatic bluff where the rivers meet and imagine Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant standing there, discussing unification strategies days before the end of the Civil War.”
Brooks also shares lesser-known stories, like that of Richard Slaughter, who was born into slavery on Epps Island before he boarded a Union gunboat to freedom. His experiences growing up on the river were archived through the Virginia Writers Project in the 1930s.
The river’s ecosystems are another popular topic. The James River has become the most significant breeding ground for bald eagles on the eastern seaboard, according to the James River Association. In 2020, the Center for Conservation Biology, a research arm of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University, reported more than 300 pairs of bald eagles on the James River.
Over the past few years, the river has also become a special place for the couple to seek solace. Dillard has been sober for eight years, and Brooks hasn’t had a drink in five years. Their sobriety is a source of pride, they say, and it’s something they openly share to help inspire others.
When Brooks’ mother died and her first marriage ended, she turned to alcohol. “I found myself on an unfamiliar spiral, where alcohol became a crutch to numb my grief, and it was easy to do because booze is everywhere,” she recalls. “But what I needed was clarity.”
When she met Dillard one day while shopping in Libbie Market, it felt like fate.
“After I got sober, it took time to figure out what to do that didn’t revolve around alcohol or substances,” Dillard says. “But then Melissa came along, and I’m doing all these things I’ve never done before. I never imagined becoming a boat captain or taking trips to Europe.”
Over the past few years, the couple has gone on many adventures together. They’ve watched a volcano erupt in Iceland and have jumped out of a plane in the Swiss Alps. “You can have a very full life without drugs and alcohol, and we’re so present for all it — we’re feeling all the feelings, highs and lows,” Brooks says. “And we’re up the next day ready to go because we’re not succumbing to the after-effects. For us, we wanted to turn the script on ‘Being sober is lame or isn’t fun.’ We’re proving that wrong.”
The couple has gotten involved with the RVA Non-Alcoholic Social Group. After launching in January, the Facebook group picked up nearly 1,000 members in weeks. Point 5, a nonalcoholic spirits distributor in the city, supplied the group’s first event, and now members are planning other meetups, including shows at Altria Theater, game nights and dog walks at Bryan Park.
“It’s encouraging to see a new platform emerge to make meaningful connections with others where alcohol is intentionally not the focus,” Brooks says. “Some people come because they’ve had a really tough road and need a new scene. Others are sober-curious and just want to meet like-minded people without booze in the equation.”
This summer, Brooks and Dillard are looking at hiring another captain and buying a second boat to bring even more people out on the water. For each of their bookings, they’re also donating to two local nonprofits. Real Life serves Virginians affected by substance abuse, incarceration or homelessness, while Beyond Boundaries benefits veterans, those with disabilities and at-risk youth. “This is a population who has worked hard to get back on their feet, and they deserve to have a good time,” Brooks says. “The river is really quiet, peaceful and beautiful, but it can also be fun and exciting.”
With warmer days ahead, the couple is looking forward to getting back out on the water. While they do allow guests to bring alcohol on board, Brooks and Dillard prove there’s plenty of fun to be had without drinking.
“We’ve seen a lot of guests at the end of the day with a mostly full cooler,” Brooks says. “They’re having so much fun, and their attention is elsewhere. And that’s kinda cool to see.”
