Richmond: Visit One (November 8-9,2008)

My wife Patty and I made the first ride to Richmond from Concord, NC on the morning of November 8. It was a pleasant drive, traffic was not bad, road construction on I-85 was minimal. It was a beautiful drive in that the trees were in full color. The route is flat which was also a surprise, no mountains to cross and covered the distance in slightly under four hours.
First project was to find where I was going to be working (which was easy, its right on I-95) and then looked for an apartment as close to the factory as I could find. I looked at four apartments, two were nothing to bother with, but two were really nice. I ended up with an apartment in Midlothian. Its a nice area, though feel like it has seen better days. There is an abandoned mall nearby, but its being re-developed (which seems to be a hallmark of Richmond, a city which recycles its old buildings and puts them to other uses), and a lot of new businesses in that area. Overall it looked like a good area to live. I also liked the condition of the roads, and the fact that its less than 10 miles from work. Looks to be an easy commute, though that remains to be seen when I actually start working in February.
Having located the apartment, rode downtown. Noted that a big difference between the Charlotte area and Richmond is that Richmond is much more compact. Charlotte covers a lot more area than Richmond, so driving distances are shorter. The roads were in very good shape, and signs make it real easy to get where you are going (in Charlotte, its best to have a good idea where you are headed...signage is not very good in much of the city). I rode through Richmond a couple of times, also got out and walked in the area of the train station downtown. There was also a very nice farmers market there, as well as some clubs and restaurants. As noted many were in older buildings which once had other uses, many area warehouses were also converted into apartments. I got a good first impression of the city from the short visit there. Richmond had a lot in common with Louisville, which is my hometown area (moved to Concord, NC from there 10 years ago) which does many of the same things. Louisville is (though today mostly was) like Richmond a "factory town". A lot of industry is located on the outskirts of Richmond, many of those are major city employers.
We had a hotel in Chester. Stayed at the Comfort Inn at Exit 61A, I enjoyed the time spent there. Very nice hotel, very friendly staff. I would for sure give it two thumbs up, and would stay there again. We were pretty tired from the driving and the walking so though a city with great places to eat (we are told anyhow) settled for a Chili's in Chester. However, got to say again that it was great with very good service, and was a good lucky choice for some tired travelers.
My first impressions of the city are very positive, and a lot of things that I have been told did not seem to be true. Though my first visit in what will be a three year adventure, it is certainly off to a good start.
As for the photo above, took that downtown. I have seen that view before in some web searches, and was good to see it live. I hope to have some more photos here from my visit, and also of more to come as I check out the city that will be my "part time" home for the the next three years starting in mid-February of 2009.