The Children's Museum of Richmond (Photo courtesy Children's Museum of Richmond)
Has Richmond made any “best places to raise a family” lists yet? If not, consider it nominated. This suggested one-day itinerary is just a sampling of the region’s natural, cultural and educational offerings, not to mention restaurants and food festivals that allow you to travel the world, one bite at a time. My family’s other favorites include Three Lakes Park for long walks, turtle watching and playground time; Maymont for visiting the animals and basking in the beauty of the landscape; and Belle Isle for wading and picnicking at the river. We also love the interactive exhibits at the Children’s Museum, and our nearly annual trek to see Richmond Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”
Story time at Libbie Mill (Photo courtesy Libbie Mill Library)
Reading Time
Start the day with a good story. Henrico County’s spacious Libbie Mill Library, which opened in 2015 off Staples Mill Road, offers Family Storytime at 10:30 a.m. on most Saturdays. Songs, rhymes, puppets, flannel boards and finger-play activities keep children engaged, and librarians read from a mix of go-to picture books and seasonal titles such as “Run, Turkey, Run!” by Diane Mayr. While there, check out books for the kids to read on the way to your next stop.
Insider Tip: Richmond and Chesterfield County residents can register for a Henrico library card, and there is also a reciprocal agreement with the Pamunkey Regional Library System, which includes Goochland, Hanover, King and Queen, and King William counties.
Feeding giraffes at the Metro Richmond Zoo (Photo by Tina Eshleman)
Animal Safari
Drive 45 minutes southwest from Richmond, and you can come nose to nose with a tiger, have giraffes eating out of your hand and fly above the rhinos in a sky lift at the Metro Richmond Zoo. Be sure to watch the two pygmy hippos swim and play in one of the zoo’s newer exhibits. If you’re hungry, stop on the way for some pizza at The Crazy Greek at Woodlake off Hull Street Road; across Hull at Winterpock Crossing, you'll find the Children’s Museum Chesterfield.
Perly's deli dog (Photo by Jay Paul)
Crowd Pleaser
After wandering through the zoo for a couple of hours, don’t be surprised if your young explorers fall asleep on the drive home. Perk them up with dinner at Perly’s Restaurant & Delicatessen on East Grace Street, where the adults can enjoy a cocktail while the children try a house-made chocolate egg cream. The menu, which features Jewish favorites such as latkes and knishes as well as “deli dogs,” easily satisfies a range of palates. Don’t pass up the crispy Brussels sprouts. They’re addictive.
On With the Show
From Perly’s, it’s about a six-minute walk to Virginia Repertory Theatre, where “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” runs from Nov. 29-Jan. 5. First performed live on television in 1957, the musical played on Broadway in 2013. The newer version has some modern twists on the classic tale, director Laine Satterfield says. For example, “Cinderella uses her influence over the prince to point out social injustice in the kingdom and take control of her own destiny.”
"Speed" at the Science Museum of Virginia (Photo courtesy Science Museum of Virginia)
FIRST-TIME VISITOR
Seeing the Past and Future at the Science Museum of Virginia
Walking into the Science Museum of Virginia, it’s impossible not to notice the building’s history. The “Cigar and News” sign to the left of the rotunda, coupled with the echoes of footsteps on the stone floor, teleported me back to its past as a train station. Hanging from the ceiling at the center of the entrance is a Foucault pendulum, which demonstrates the Earth’s rotation by cyclically knocking over pins, breaking the illusion of the museum’s transportation roots but adding to the experience of a new era.
I made my way through the permanent exhibition “Speed.” At the center hangs an SR-71 Blackbird from the ceiling; in its heyday, one of these 107-foot metal birds flew at 2,193 mph — a record that remains unmatched. Paired with the plane were several interactive exhibits: One measured how fast you can throw various balls (I topped out at a mediocre 32 mph with all of them), another let you run a 10-meter dash, and an air-hockey-playing robot was taking on all comers.
“Bionic Me,” an exhibition focusing on aspects of technology and engineering related to the biomedical field, is open through Jan. 5. It features interactive activities that allow you to see body heat through infrared cameras and compete in a virtual race against a Paralympian.
As I departed from the onetime station, I was reminded of the history that it holds and the future it envisions. —Ben Wasserstein
