The manager of the Villa Diner came over to my table and, in a conspiratorial whisper, said, “Today’s your lucky day. Someone has paid for your breakfast.” I looked at him incredulously. “What?” “It’s been happening a lot today. People have been paying other people’s bills.” When I asked if I could thank my benefactor, he told me the person … Read More

Another conference day with loads of useful advice to travel content creators, probably deadly for everyone else. So, I’ll spare you the conference details and launch into the fun stuff. Last night one of the optional events was an open house at Crossroads Art Center, complete with food and wine. I didn’t know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. … Read More

Today was the start of the Tbex conference, the reason I came to Richmond. Tbex is a gathering of travel content creators, bloggers, vloggers (video bloggers), podcasters, writers and such. I’ve been to four of these events and always learn a lot and enjoy myself. Unless you’re dying to hear about SEO versus GEO or the finer points of short-form … Read More

Today will be a very short description with a lot of photos. I spent the morning at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. It’s beautiful with a charming butterfly garden. Then I made a brief visit to Ashland, VA. Best moment was spending time at re-funk-it, and eclectic shop selling all sorts of handcrafted goods, most made from recycled materials. The … Read More

I was supposed to go on a tour of Richmond called Beauty in Bloom. Instead, I found myself on a tour that could have been called Offbeat Richmond History: The Weird Stuff Nobody Told You About in School. It was a cloudy morning with intense rain predicted for midday, not a great forecast for walking around gardens. The idea of … Read More

Yesterday I drove from New York City to Richmond, breaking the trip eating lunch in Baltimore with family. The drive was uneventful until the final stretch, when Virginia decided to stage an entire season of Highway Disasters. First came an SUV engulfed in flames, shooting fire high into the sky while surrounded by firefighters, ambulances, and police. Although it slowed … Read More