21 Hours in Richmond / The Quirk Hotel.

After spending two nights in Charlottesville (read about our adventures in this post!) Deirdre and I were off to Richmond! I really didn’t know what to expect – all of my friends had raved and raved about Charlottesville, but no one had said much about Richmond. All I knew was that we’d be staying at The Quirk Hotel (I’d seen it on Instagram before) and that our itinerary involved art + oysters. Sounded pretty good to me.

We both ended up falling in love with the city and wishing we’d had more time. The topography and architecture are so diverse. Parts of the city felt a lot like DC, or even New England, whereas downtown felt like San Francisco in some parts, and Portland in other areas. And we absolutely ADORED The Quirk. There’s photo overload below but it’s such a neat spot!

We drove directly from C’ville to the VMFA. It’s a great space – we wandered around for about an hour and I was really impressed by their selection of artwork. From Warhol and Tom Wesselmann to Monet + Van Gogh, they had a little bit of everything! The museum is known in particular for their Fabergé eggs… I was so sad that they were out on loan. I guess we’ll just have to go back! 😉 We met up with the PR team from the local Richmond CVB for lunch at the museum’s restaurant, Amuse.

After lunch, we drove around the city a bit, explored The Fan (a really cute area with rows and rows of Victorian homes) and then stopped by CCH Collection to do a little shopping and see our friend Carter. I’ve been a fan of the brand for some time now (and worn their clothing here, here, + here) so it was really nice to get to shop it in person and see the store. I ended up buying a great Fall jacket on major sale, and Deirdre bought a cute lace top.

And then we checked into our hotel! The Quirk Hotel is one of the coolest hotels I’ve stayed in. Apologies for the photo overload but I just loved it!!! Once upon a time, the building (built in 1916) was one of the largest buildings on Broad Street. It was originally a department store! Many original elements (the original hardwood floors, for example) are still in place and there is a great art gallery on the first floor.

I was obsessed with the piece above and astounded to learn that it is actually made from coffee top lids! So cool. Maybe we’ll do a little DIY. Then again, that would be a lot of coffee to drink!!!

We’d heard that the best spot in town to grab a drink was the roof of The Quirk. It didn’t disappoint and is actually Richmond’s only open-air rooftop bar! We had an elderflower-pomegranate-prosecco concoction – yum!

That’s Deirdre’s hand and she is wearing her rice bead necklace (from her line, Candy Shop Vintage) wrapped around several times. I have it (in a few different metals) and it’s one of my favorite pieces of jewelry as it is so versatile!

Dinner that night was such a treat – especially as both Deirdre and I LOVE oysters, so so much. We went to Rappahannock Oyster Company (just a few blocks away from the hotel) for a seafood feast. Baked oysters. Regular oysters. Oysters + pearls (oysters topped off with caviar and melon granita). And delicious, fresh tuna. The photos aren’t very good (it was dark) but the food was amazing.

The best part was that Travis Croxton (the owner of Rappahannock Oyster Company) actually sat down and joined us for dinner! He was so incredibly nice, informative, and incredibly humble + down to earth given everything that his company has accomplished! Their company is doing very well – they have four locations with several more on the way. The best news of the night is that one of those new locations is actually going to be in Charleston (in the Cigar Factory). I can’t wait to visit! Travis explained how oysters grow and are harvested, walked us through the different varieties, and showed us around the space after dinner.

That dinner was probably the highlight of the trip for both of us – and I don’t remember the last time I ate so many oysters!!!

We need to go back to Richmond – we both really loved the city but felt like there was so much that we didn’t get to see. A trip back is definitely in order!!!

Copy our trip:

Stay: Quirk Hotel

Eat: Amuse // Rappahannock Oyster Company

Drink: Quirk Hotel Roof

Shop: CCH Collections

Do: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Thank you to the state of Virginia for an amazing trip!