JWalking: The Blog

I t's not often we get to attend an inaugural event. Tonight was such a night. The Children's Museum of Richmond hosted a "Special Night for Children with Special Needs." The museum opened its doors for two hours and hosted some kids who might have difficulty going to the museum during regular hours...like us! We weren't sure RJ2 was going to walk in the doors. She has a really tough time entering unfamiliar places. We browsed lots of cool pictures of the museum's exhibits online at home, but you never would have guessed that as we approached the doors. We waited patiently and stared into the big glass-paned windows. Then, a museum employee came out to see us. "Miss Megan" could tell we were having difficulty. She brought a big smile and said, "Hello!" which immediately cheered up RJ2 and got her talking. (She also brought a "social story" about having fun at the Children's Museum!) "Miss Megan" did her best, but RJ2...

W ith summer being so hot this year, it was difficult to think about planning short-term excursions anywhere. Sure, we did the long trek in August. It's tradition! But we didn't make many day-long picnic/hike/park outings locally. We're making up for that as the Fall season is just getting started. A week after we hiked Zoar State Forest, we took a short drive to downtown Richmond and visited one of our favorite river stops--Belle Isle. Belle Isle is right on the James River. You take a wonderful pedestrian bridge to reach it. (That's Route 1 above.) It provides for spectacular open views and gives photographers a nice perch for those great cityscape shots they put in the tourism brochures. (It was worth hanging out on the bridge for a few minutes to wait for the train. Never-say-die PR person....) There are some days when the James is mighty frothy and kayaks are aplenty. The drought has calmed things down considerably. But, the people definitely came out to enjoy a wa...