Another Richmond Taxi Saga

MTH and I had another run in with trying to use the Richmond taxi service. We thought we had to wait the last time. We were wrong. On Saturday night, we met a friend at the Byrd Theatre to see Casino Royale. As an aside, I do not recommend seeing that movie. The story made no sense whatsoever. The best part of the movie was when they were in the Bahamas and it looked so awesome to be at the beach. Once the movie was over, we headed over to Avalon Restaurant on Main Street between Robinson and Mulberry. Another aside: since I had popcorn at the movies, I had the small maple roasted butternut squash risotto and the applewood smoked bacon lentils. I then had the chocolate cake with a coffee. Of course, MTH and I had forgotten that we needed to call the taxi ahead of time. We remembered when we were paying the check. MTH called Veteran Cabs to be told that one was around the corner. We thought, "Wow, how did we get so lucky". We hurried out the door so we wouldn't miss it. Then, we waited and waited and waited a little more. MTH called back to find out what was going on. The lady had a little breakdown and said there were no taxis available. MTH then tried calling other taxi services. The answer was the same. He then decided that we should walk to the Boulevard. A taxi was certain to drive by. We stood there for a few minutes and then realized that wasn't going to work. We then walked back to Avalon. During the entire time except when we went to the Boulevard, I stood in the front of Avalon watching MTH. It was so cold outside! Finally, I thought that MTH had hit pay dirt. A taxi stopped and he was talking to the driver. I ran outside. No, the taxi driver thought maybe he could get an extra fare on his way to picking someone else up. Unfortunately, he was going in the opposite direction that we needed. At least 2 other taxis drove by without even looking. I was starting to think that we were going to have to walk home. It's only 3-4 miles so it would have been doable (even in my high heeled boots). At some point, we got lucky and an empty taxi drove by with a driver headed nowhere. I asked him how we could get a taxi in the future. His answer? He laughed. At least, we got home.

We figured out that one of things that was working against us last weekend was that the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Basketball Tournament was going on that night. That had to be the cause of the dearth of taxis in Richmond!

Richmond's Premier Movie Palace

MTH and I had a fun night last night. We took a taxi over to Carytown. It's a street just west of the Fan that has lots of cute little shops and restaurants on it. It will be about 10 blocks from our new place so we should be able to at least walk there in the early evening. We went to see Flushed Away at the Byrd Theatre. The movie only costs $1.99 per person. With popcorn, Twizzlers and drinks, our total experience came to $9! When I went to see Dreamgirls, just my ticket cost $9! Plus, this theater has character. It was built in 1928. It is ornate down to the water fountain. I didn't check out the restrooms but I imagine they are as well. On Saturday nights, they have an organist perform before the show. It was very cool. He started out with "It's a Grand Old Flag" and they even had a flag that waved over in the left hand balcony. He also played "76 Trombones" and "Over the Rainbow". There were other songs as well. The best part is that when he starts playing he's below the stage and is lifted up. Then, at the end, he goes down back under the stage for the final song. The movie was cute.

The movie was over around 9pm which was perfect for going to dinner. We headed to a place two doors down, The New York Deli. The food tasted good and was cheap. Plus, they had some interesting beers. I think we'll take Pop there when he and Mom come to visit. He loves sandwiches (and beer)!

The only bad part of the evening was trying to get a taxi home. You have to call and then it took 20 minutes for them to show up. Now that we know that, next time we'll call ahead.