One of my (and judging by the crowd at left, I am not alone) favorite Richmond events is Broad Appetit. A few blocks of downtown Broad Street are blocked off and some 70 (or so) restaurants come set up booths and give samples (generally around $3 a small plate) to sample some of their best offerings. This city is really (and I am not kidding) a great place to eat, in fact they pride themselves on that fact...and have the food in general to back that up. This for sure is a good way to explore a number of places at a very low price. There is something here for everyone.
They also have beer (and wine for those so inclined) at $5 a ticket. What is featured is beer brewed in Virginia, and there are a lot (as I have found at this festival and others...as well as visiting some of the local breweries in the state) . That is one of the beer trucks (I think there were three this year, last year the few they had were overwhelmed, so they increased the number) and they have a variety of beer on hand to check out. I tried a couple of new ones out and found them to be very good indeed. Have had some bad ones here, as in all things, but have to say it has happened very few times. Overall, they do a good job.
Festival also had some bands, there are two of the members of Voodoo Dolls at left, it is an all-female band and they were very good also. You get to check out some new music from some bands you have not heard before (or if you have, get to see some old favorites) and like the festival admission the music is free (and the food and beer or wine is really cheap) Just have a really good time there, and enjoyed myself a great deal.
It is a really huge crowd but the lines (what there are) move along pretty good. With so many places to choose from most of the booths don't get overwhelmed and if they do, you can just move on to something else.
As I said, just a really fun event....and something that I really enjoy. This was the 6th Annual Broad Appetit and I think that each year it gets bigger and better. Though it was really hot and humid (lower 90's) the rains held off until well after the festival was over, which was another good thing about today.
On the way back to the car (which was parked a few blocks away) got to walk though downtown which is certainly always interesting. Driving though it you see some things, but walking you get to see so much more. Being a very old town, there is a lot of history. For instance, this building, as the sign notes, dates to the late 1800's. There are a few in the city that are much older such as the building that now houses the Poe (as in Edgar Allen) Museum, and of course the Church Hill section of Richmond is filled with very old houses. Heck, the church that the famous "Give me Liberty, or Give me Death" speech was given is still standing, and that was given actually before the Revolutionary War. It is a very cool place to see (and I have some photos of it during past visits in this blog).
What this was was a great day, and a perfect cap to a very fine weekend. Neat to have a good food festival on a weekend, Richmond has two, and on the same weekend. I can't wait to go back to them in 2014!
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