The woods and the city all in one: Belle Isle State Park, RVa!
Monday, March 23, 2015
I haven't been able to update due to a surgery I recently had, and because of that our long awaited hiking trip that was suppose to happen this past weekend was postponed! I had my surgery a little over a week ago and tried so hard to convince John that I was okay days leading to the trip, but he wasn't convinced and lectured me about not taking any chances on my health and well-being. Okay, okay, he's right and Im just the stubborn one. So our Blue Ridge Parkway/Peaks at Otter trip is postponed next month, but at-least we wont have to stay in a lodge cuz campgrounds will be open by then! Yes! So to ease the disappointment, John said we'd go and explore Belle Isle in Richmond instead! Off to Richmond we went! After my surgery, car rides have not been the most comfortable. It was only an hour and 45 minute drive but I was starting to get carsick not even half way there! I hope whatever it is goes away when Im 100% recovered, cuz Im not liking it one bit!
It was an obligatory patch picture, I had to! When I got these patches in the mail several weeks ago, I knew I wanted a picture like this, and it came out perfect! John posted it on his instagram shortly after and it has garnered almost 200 likes. Slow down tiger! Anyways, we arrived in Richmond around 1ish and decided to grab lunch before exploring. We originally wanted to eat at The Heritage but there was some private event, so off to Black Sheep we went. It was delicious! Belle Isle was only a brief 5 minute drive from where we had lunch.
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| Under the Robert E. Lee Bridge |
So we got there around 3pm, and boy was it crowded! As we entered the trails and was getting near the rocks that were close to the rapids, we slowly realized that this is park is heavily populated with college kids (with VCU not too far away). Its a neat park with good amount of trails and a designated outdoor rock climbing. My favorite was the Quarry Pond, it was so serene and peaceful just sitting there. Someone brought their guitar and started playing. It was awesome! After sitting at the pond for 15 minutes we decided to keep walking and ended up at the Dry Rocks. We had to walk through some weird bridge and go down some ladder and when we got there, there was even more people! It was where the party was at! People drinking, hanging out and kicking back. Different music was coming from different areas, people screaming and just having a good time. It was too crowded for our liking. So we hopped around some rocks and turned back around within 30 minutes. I wish I wasn't restricted on doing the fun stuff. Its okay one more week of recovery left.
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| This is next on our list of things to do when in Richmond! |
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| They had several of these rock climbing walls. I was sad I couldn't climb it! |
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| I was stating to get cramps on my belly area, but decided to keep walking anyway. |
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| I'm glad we did, because we ended up at the Dry Rocks. |
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| Dry Rocks, just hoppin around! |
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| Taking a break from all the hoppin around we were doing! |
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| You can't tell from here, but this place was crowded! |
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| My favorite spot of the park! |
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| We ended our 'hike' here and hung out on these rocks for about an hour before heading out. |
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| The bridge to and from the park. It moves/sways so when you're walking it feels like you're drunk! Ha! |
This is definitely not the last time i'll be blogging about this place. Actually, two years ago, we did the Pony Pasture part of the James River. That was another adventure! We went with my sister and a few other friends. Going in the water wasn't a part of the plan, but Im glad we did. It wasn't documented because it was pre-GoPro days! The rapids nearly took us out but we pulled through. It took us almost two hours to get from point A to B and another hour to get back. We were exhausted. Anyway, I cant wait to try the rafting! Now to get fully better so we can go out and enjoy more of the outdoors now that its warming up!
Cheers,
Jenn
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