Friday, 9 December
It’s 10:00p and it’s about 40F (4.5C) outside. After having spent several hours wandering around in cold temps, we’re now tucked in cozy and warm in Room 1812 at the Omni in Richmond, Virginia. Why are we here? Because we wanted to enjoy some holiday cheer at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (LGBG); a change of pace from the usual Christmas light displays we’ve enjoyed in DC in the past.
National Christmas Tree — Washington, dc (2008)
Lest you think we pulled the Phaeton out of storage for this outing … no, we didn’t. With the coach all winterized, we have no intention of going anywhere in it until the temps warm up considerably. But, Mui and I talked about our various blogs, and decided that with less than a year to retirement, we’d start posting our local adventures in Phaeton Journeys. So, here I am.
What a splendid evening we had with thousands of lights glittering and shimmering all around us.
That said, the start to our adventure wasn’t so great. We left DC around 2:45p and all was well at first. The sky was blue; there were interesting cloud formations; the temperature was a “balmy” 57F (14C); and traffic was flowing. Then we hit I-95 South and found ourselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic that was moving slower than molasses. No, there wasn’t an accident; it was just the usual daily exodus from the city. It seems rush hour starts earlier and earlier around here. It took us over two hours to drive the 60 miles to Fredericksburg. Ugh! After that point, however, traffic picked up nicely, and with an average speed of 70 mph (112 kph), we traveled the remaining distance to Richmond in about an hour.
It was crowded at the LGBG; more so than I thought it would be. In fact, the reason why we braved the Friday afternoon traffic was because we hoped there would be fewer visitors as compared to Saturday. We were especially surprised at the number of children — school groups, it seemed like to us — that were roaming the grounds. Most of the kids were well-behaved and seemed to be enjoying the colorful lights around them. But each group had the requisite few who were “up-to-no-good” with their loud, pseudo-enthusiastic appreciation that the teachers seemed to have difficulty controlling. Oh well; until we retire and can sightsee at our leisure during the week we just have to deal!
I’m going to share just a few of my photos here. I was lazy and didn’t take my tripod. I should have known better, but I was hoping the monopod would suffice. It didn’t. I ended up using an ISO setting higher than optimum and that introduced more “noise” than I like to see in my pictures. I have no one to blame but myself, of course. And yes, I’ve learned my lesson!
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Fear not; for those who would like to see more of the festive lights, here’s a short video from Mui. Ascribing to the “KISS theory” — keep it simple … you fill in the second “s” word of your choice — he took only the Canon S95 point and shoot still camera, leaving his video equipment at home. He got really good footage with that little camera; handheld and in HD, no less. Maybe I should just chuck all my SLR gear and just get one of these cameras myself!
We left the LGBG shortly after 9:00p. Despite the cold temperature — it was down to 43F (6C) — we really enjoyed our three-hour stroll. Of course, it helped that we were bundled up in the expedition parkas we received this summer when we went gallivanting in the Norwegian Arctic. What would have made the garden fest better? Music. There were no carols being sung; nor was there any music broadcasted around the grounds. Some Christmas audio cheer would have put the finishing touch on the festivities.
One last glimpse of holiday cheer — from the Conservatory towards the Visitor Center.
A short drive from the LGBG put us at the Omni Richmond Hotel for our one-night stay. Whenever we find ourselves in need of a hotel room, we tend to use Priceline to bid for one. It’s a great means for getting a really good room at a discounted price — provided you do your due diligence first. We’ve not had a bad room yet! And in every instance, we’ve gotten a hotel with a higher star-rating than what we bid on. It was no different this time; for $85 we got the Omni, located in the heart of the historical district and just steps from the Virginia State Capitol! Even better, when we reiterated our request for a quiet room, they upgraded us to the Club Floor at no additional charge. Not a peep can be heard from outside, so we’re happy campers :-)
The hotel promises “southern hospitality.” So far it’s delivering on that promise.
After checking in and dropping off our overnight bag in the room, we went back out to briefly enjoy the holiday cheer at the James Center, which is adjacent to the hotel. The small outdoor plaza was a-twinkle with white lights and deer … and there was even some music to add to the festive atmosphere.
Not only is there holiday cheer on the grounds outside the Omni …
… there are Christmas decorations in the indoor plaza as well.
All in all, a very satisfactory outing and well worth the 120-mile (192 km) drive down from DC. We have fluid plans for our return trip back north tomorrow … we’ll see what the day brings.
