5 Thing

Easter. It can be a stressful time. Peeps everywhere you look, awkward egg hunts, and legions of folks draped in pastel colors. But this year…this year, you are going to make it a frigging memorable one, dagnab it, and here’s how that’s going to happen.

April 21, 2011; 12:22 AM • by Susan Howson

Easter. It can be a stressful time. Peeps everywhere you look, awkward egg hunts, and legions of folks draped in pastel colors. But this year…this year, you are going to make it a frigging memorable one, dagnab it, and here’s how that’s going to happen.

1. Rockett’s Landing Collegiate Regatta

I went to a regatta once, and it was a beautiful, entertaining, and, yes, exciting thing to watch. Get outside and root for your favorite Virginia college. Or, decide on a Virginia college to be your favorite based on their rowing prowess. So much is at stake, colleges! Note: the event describes itself as “family-friendly,” and I’m not sure what that means that other regattas are like, but I love it.

• Saturday, April 23 • 10am – 2pm
• Rockett’s Landing (5000 Old Osborne Turnpike)
• Free!

2. Richmond Earth Day Festival

A true treasure that only gets better year after year, the Richmond Earth Day Festival has a bangin’ lineup of musical talent, educational fun, local cuisine, vendors, artists, you name it. A little fish told me that this year they’re focusing heavily on the fishing culture of the James River and what we can do to improve the quality. Every time you pollute, a fish sheds a single tear. All those tears add up, the water gets more polluted, our ecosystem crumbles. That’s…just silly, but for real, the world is in danger and it’s time to do whatever you can to help out.

• Saturday, April 23 • 12pm – 7pm
• 14 St at the James River and Flood Wall
• Free!

3. Real Richmond Food Tour: Carytown/Museum District — Butchers, Bakers, and Beyond

I don’t know much, but I know I love you (if you are the idea behind the Real Richmond Food Tour). The more people who get interested in Richmond’s food scene, the more dynamic it will become. So it’s kinda like this is your civic duty. Anyway, you’ll eat some stuff, then walk it off, then eat some more stuff, then walk again. If it sells out before you get a chance to get tickets, check out their website for upcoming tours that cover other edible parts of the city, like Chocolate Park and Hot Dog Mountain.

• Saturday, April 23 • 2pm – 4.45pm
• Starts at Chop Suey Books (2913 W. Cary St.)
• $39.00

4. River District Canal Cruises

Does the idea of finding a parking spot near Monument Ave on Easter really kill your spirits? Well, prepare for them to rise from the dead! Head towards the other side of town to hop on one of the River District Canal Cruises, like you keep meaning to, and take a quiet trip down our old commercial waterway. It’s an educational adventure, it’s a serene break from the parade of chaos, and I’m pretty sure they allow you to throw overboard anyone wearing an enormous purple hat.

• Sunday, April 24 • 12pm – 5pm
• Canal Turning Basin (Dock and 14th St)
• $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and children, free for age 4 and under

5. Easter on Parade

Whether you love it or hate it, and whether your dog loves it or hates it, you both might as well just accept that you’ll end up at Easter on Parade. (Guys, I think I just figured out that it wasn’t called the Easter Parade. Tell me I’m not the only one.) Funnel cake and hats await you at this Richmond tradition, where you’ll wander aimlessly up and down Monument Ave, thanking the heavens that it’s an enormous tree-lined boulevard in April, not a narrow, street-shaped frying pan in August (looking at you, Watermelon Festival).

• Sunday, April 24 • 1pm – 5pm
• Monument Ave between Allen and Davis
• Free!

April 21, 2011 12:22 AM 1