So excited it’s almost happy hour on the VMFA lawn season again! That is one of my favorite things about spring in Richmond.

I haven’t been to Truckle’s new spot. Will definitely need to visit there!

8/12 355. I was totally out of the loop on the ones for which I had to make guesses.

Please let this be so, grocery gods.

I'm afraid to google this...

My husband dragged me to this last weekend. I enjoyed it much more than I expected.

Succession is great. As for recent HBO shows, I also like White Lotus and Righteous Gemstones (which is I think is coming back sometime this year).

Not a RPL but my vote for nicest area library is Libbie Mill. Lots of spaces for reading and you can get a card (if you want to check out books) even if you’re a Richmond city resident like me.

Voted there at 7:30. Was in and out in less than 5 minutes but it was getting busy.

RTD has a list / map of a lot of them in the area.

https://richmond.com/exclusive/tacky-lights/richmond-tacky-lights-list-2022/article_66a8f02e-6802-11ed-9697-eb28e1f4b509.html

We did it a few years ago and just picked the ones closest to us to drive around. It was fun! We've been out of town the last two years, but we'll be here this year so we plan to do it again.

I haven't been yet, but want to try Cameo Cakery & Cafe (on Libbie near Grove). I've heard great things about their cake, and I'm pretty sure they also serve beer and wine.

You're not crazy. We moved to Richmond from Florida 4.5 years ago for my work and it was the best thing we've ever done (and we knew very little about Richmond so it was really a leap of faith/let's try something new). My husband and I both moved to Florida when we were kids (9-10) and lived in various places around Florida (St. Pete, Tampa, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton) until we left in our early-mid 30s.

Florida pros: the beach (if you're a beach person). We lived in South Florida a mile from the beach and rarely went. Professional sports teams. Cuban food.

Florida negatives: the government and the people who vote for that government. Hurricanes are getting worse, and after evacuating three separate times for Hurricane Irma, I was done. Home insurance is expensive (and flood insurance is becoming near-impossible to get). We also wanted to start a family, and where we were at the time (south Florida) was not somewhere we wanted to do that.

The only city I would consider moving back to is St. Petersburg (and even that would be a longshot). It has a somewhat smaller city feel while having all the amenities of a larger city (and Tampa is just across the bay). It leans slightly more liberal than other places in Florida and is pretty gay-friendly. It's beautiful and has lots of good museums and restaurants. The beaches are some of the best in the world.

We still have family in St. Pete/Tampa so visit at least once or twice a year. I enjoy going, but I don't miss Florida at all. Even my parents, who are pretty conservative, moved away from there in the last few years because Florida has changed a lot.

There's nothing wrong with admitting a place isn't for you.