I say it every year – these are my favorite months of the year. You just can’t beat May and June in RVA. The April pollen is gone, and it’s not too hot and humid yet – the perfect recipe for lots of outdoor family time.
As always, the RFM calendar is packed full of things to do, from family fun to date night ideas. The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Richmond Kickers have lots of home games coming up, with fun promotions and theme nights, so be sure to make plans to head out to support our local teams. One of my favorite RVA outdoor festivals, Dominion Energy Riverrock, is back on Brown’s Island May 19-21, the same weekend as one of my favorite food festivals, the Lebanese Food Festival. One of my other faves is just a couple of weeks later, the Richmond Greek Festival, June 1-4. Throw in a couple of concerts at Westchester Commons and Dominion Energy Center (Steve Bassett on May 27!), weekly visits to some of the area farmer’s markets, and a trip to Arts in the Park, and you’ll have the perfect way to wrap up spring and head into summer in RVA. The RFM calendar starts on page 64, and be sure to visit our newly redesigned website (yay!) for even more events on our online calendar.
As much as I love all of our annual spring and summer traditions around town, I’m excited for something new and exciting that’s taking over RVA this summer – outer space! That’s right, there are not one, not two, but three special touring exhibits at area museums that will take us on deep dives into all things space. Flip to page 30 to read all about them and learn more about our cover astronaut, Virginia native Leland Melvin – he’s out of this world!
Reading Wendy Irvine’s article about ten amazing beaches within driving distance of RVA (page 50) brought back so many fond memories of days spent on the Ocean City, Maryland, boardwalk. My dad would always roll down the car window and shout, “Smell that ocean breeze!” as we crossed the bridge to the beach area, a beloved tradition my family has continued without fail every time we cross that bridge. It’s been so much fun recreating those boardwalk visits with my kids, introducing them to Thrasher’s french fries, Dolle’s salt water taffy, and Fisher’s caramel popcorn, plus playing skeeball at Marty’s Playland – on the same machines with the wooden balls that I grew up playing! Wendy’s article also gave me some great insight about several other beaches, so thanks to her for giving me a few more entries on the family travel bucket list.
As I mentioned earlier, the RFM website has gotten a much needed refresh, so be sure to spend some time perusing it at RFMonline.com. You’ll see that our content is grouped into handy categories where you’ll find all of our past articles, along with exclusive online content. Plus, our events calendar is more user friendly, and of course, our famous contests are not to be missed!
