WOMAN: And now, Get Out of Town, a WETA original series.

LAUREN: So excited to get away.

LAURITA: Another adventure, girl.

LAUREN: Wow.

LAURITA: Aw.

I love it.

LAUREN: My goodness.

LAURITA: Yes.

BOTH: Yeah!

LAURITA: I don't know if I can do it.

LAURITA: Woo!

MAN: Welcome.

LAUREN: Mmm.

LAURITA: Yay.

LAUREN: We're excited.

Very excited.

LAURITA: Woo!

LAUREN: Let's do it.

LAURITA: Hi, I'm Laurita.

LAUREN: And I'm her daughter Lauren.

LAURITA: We're from the DMV and we love to travel.

LAUREN: We definitely do.

LAURITA: One of the best things about living in the DC area are all the many places that you can visit that are just a few hours away.

LAUREN: So many options, and now we get to check them out together.

LAURITA: So join us for a weekend of some very cool places to stay.

LAUREN: Great food.

LAURITA: And some nonstop fun as...

BOTH: We get out of town.

LAURITA: I'm excited that we're going to take this train to Richmond instead of driving.

LAUREN: I know instead of driving.

It's going to be like a, a nice little trip.

LAURITA: And it's a easy trip too.

It's going to be really comfortable.

LAUREN: Mm-hmm, and quick.

JAMAL: Good morning.

LAURITA: Good morning.

JAMAL: Welcome to Amtrak Washington Union Station.

LAURITA: Thank you.

JAMAL: Can I be of help to you?

LAURITA: We're headed to Richmond today.

JAMAL: Your train is right on time.

Please follow me.

LAURITA: Okay.

LAUREN: Right.

LAURITA: Oh.

LAUREN: It is beautiful.

LAURITA: It's beautiful in here.

LAUREN: All the gold.

LAURITA: I like the statues there.

LAUREN: Oh yeah.

LAURITA: You know, I don't even remember seeing these last time I was in here.

LAUREN: This is the Red Cap Service right here.

They have people waiting here.

They will come take your luggage.

Literally.

Jamal came and got our bags from outside.

He has it on the little trolley right there.

LAURITA: Good Morning.

LAUREN: Good morning.

♪ ♪ (thudding) (laughter) LAURITA: Yes.

Give us a beat.

Ooh.

LAUREN: Wow.

LAURITA: I have no idea when it was the last time I was on a train, but I can't believe that I didn't do this, especially when dad was sick, you know, trying to get back and forth to Richmond.

It would've been so simple as opposed to stressing on 95.

LAUREN: Right.

Are you excited to see your siblings?

LAURITA: I am.

They don't know I'm coming.

It's a surprise and you're going to be a surprise too.

LAUREN: Surprise.

I love surprising.

♪ Only if you hold my body ♪ ♪ You don't need no other body ♪♪ (overlapping scatting).

♪ No one wants you the same way ♪ ♪ Love 'til the morning ♪ ♪ My head won't turn from you loving ♪ ♪ I just wanna get you beside me ♪♪ MAN (over speaker): Ladies and gentlemen, station stop will be Richmond, Virginia, Staples Mill Road.

♪ Gave you all you need, gave you all you ♪ ♪ Gave me all you need ♪♪ LAURITA: Ooh.

LAUREN: Careful, these are some steep steps.

LAURITA: Come on, girl.

Take your bag.

LAUREN: Wait, I don't want to fall.

LAURITA: You good?

LAUREN: Yes.

LAURITA: Okay.

LAUREN: My music is playing.

LAURITA: We're back.

This was the easiest way for us to possibly come to Richmond.

LAUREN: Right, and the train ride was like really smooth.

LAURITA: The tickets were just $11 and, you know, if you're driving, you eat up $11 before you get out your driveway.

So this is really the best way to come to Richmond.

LAUREN: Ooh, we're cute.

LAURITA: Let the Richmond, RVA... LAUREN: Vacation begin!

LAURITA: Well, here we are.

LAUREN: I know the Linden Row Inn.

LAURITA: It looks so cute.

And see that library right there?

LAUREN: I do.

LAURITA: When I was in high school, that's where I had to go to do all of my research for my papers.

LAUREN: Ooh!

LAURITA: Because there was no... LAUREN: Pre Internet.

LAURITA: No Internet.

That's right.

LAUREN: You had encyclopedias.

(laughter) LAURITA: Okay, that's too far back.

CASEY: So the Linden Row Inn is a 70 room property comprised of seven attached row homes on Franklin Street in the heart of downtown Richmond.

Before Linden Row was here, this was a full functioning garden, pre-Civil War era.

It has ties to Edgar Allan Poe who lived in the neighborhood before any of the buildings were put up.

He used to play in the gardens here at Linden Row.

He used to court his lifetime love Elmira Royster.

He wrote a poem called, To Helen, where he mentions an enchanted garden or a parterre, which is the name inspiration for the restaurant on site.

And then this was converted into a hotel in 1988.

Throughout the years, the neighborhood has changed a little bit.

Now it's more of an arts district, which is a bunch of art galleries.

We're right near VCU School of the Arts, so now it's a vibrant arts community as well as a historic neighborhood at the same time.

I think what our guests enjoy when they come to stay with us is they're able to take a step back in time and experience Richmond and its history all in one.

LAURITA: Oh, I think that's where the restaurant is.

LAUREN: Oh, yeah.

LAURITA: That's cute.

LAUREN: That's so cute.

That's a nice little vibe over there.

LAURITA: You know, when I lived here, I didn't realize that this was even a hotel.

LAUREN: I know, from the outside you would not be able to tell that at all.

LAURITA: Oh, this is so cute.

LAUREN: Wow.

LAURITA: Oh, Lauren, you know this is my vibe, right?

LAUREN: This is very much your vibe.

LAURITA: See this piece of furniture right here?

LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

LAURITA: My grandparents had that exact piece of furniture, so that just makes me feel right at home, anyway.

LAUREN: Oh, wow.

I love that.

LAURITA: Yeah.

And look at that fireplace.

LAUREN: I see.

LAURITA: This really takes me back and look at these beautiful floors, the high ceilings and these great pocket doors.

LAUREN: I know, right?

LAURITA: As a kid you had to be careful that you didn't smash your hands.

LAUREN: I'm ready to eat.

LAURITA: I am too.

LAUREN: Let's go take another look around the Inn.

LAURITA: Okay, let's do it.

(laughter) LAURITA: So we're headed into Lillie Pearl and my brother and sister are there and they don't know that we are here.

It's a surprise.

LAUREN: It's a surprise.

LAURITA: So I had my niece tell them to meet her there.

So that's who they think they're meeting, but... LAUREN: Guess what?

LAURITA: Guess what?

LAUREN: It's us.

LAURITA: Okay, we're going in.

BUTCH: So this is some interesting place we have here.

I like this.

Oh, my look.

SONIA: Oh, my... LAURITA: Surprise.

(screaming) BUTCH: Amazing.

SONIA: How are you doing?

You.

I know you.

BUTCH: Good to see you.

LAUREN: Surprise.

BUTCH: Golly.

LAURITA: So you all were expecting your daughter, but you got lost instead.

BUTCH: Absolutely.

BUTCH: We get you instead, so?

SONIA: Well, it's about time!

MIKE: For me, Lillie Pearl being my grandmother, my mom's mom, is the name we chose because it just feels good.

KIM: Lillie Pearl is all about hospitality.

From the minute the guests walk in the door to the minute they leave, we want them to feel like they are at grandma's house.

We opened in November of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and we are also coming off the Black Lives Movement.

Richmond really got behind us, really supported Mike as a Black chef.

MIKE: One thing about Richmond is that I don't think Kim and I could have done this anywhere else, KIM: Mm-hmm.

MIKE: And I know it sounds crazy to say that, but for a Black owned restaurant essentially to be able to cross the barriers between both on any given night, this restaurant is completely mixed.

There's a lot of restaurants that don't achieve it.

Either you're Black or you're White or the one goes or the other one doesn't go.

So, you know, it puts us in a place where we can touch all of Richmond at one time.

LAURITA: How are you?

MIKE: I'm all right.

So we have our Brussels sprouts tossed in a Asian sauce, finished with a little spicy ranch, and then our short rib egg rolls.

So short rib collard greens, pickled onions, carrots, and pimento cheese.

In a Thai basil sauce.

Lillie Pearl's food.

The approach one was to take the connections from my family and kind of figure out a cool way to put those on the menu.

We have not been able to change the menu, which is incredible.

All right, folks, here we go.

We have our lobster shrimp and grits.

LAURITA: Pass me those.

BUTCH: All right.

MIKE: And then our obe ata braised lamb shank.

LAURITA: Ooh.

BUTCH: Wow.

MIKE: You know, that comes from our West African roots of jollof rice.

Obe ata is a, a red pepper sauce that used in Ghana.

When I made this recipe I made sure I bought a true West African in... LAURITA: I love that.

MIKE: To taste it, to make sure if I'm going to talk about it, that it lives up to what it should and, you know, that's what makes this restaurant special.

It's about family.

You know, it's great to have you guys here and know the reason that you're here.

People feel that vibe when they are in the restaurant.

LAURITA: Absolutely.

MIKE: It means a lot.

SONIA: And everything has been delicious so far.

MIKE: Thank you, I appreciate it.

LAUREN: Man, these Brussels sprouts, oh.

LAURITA: My saying is, "I love family that are friends and friends that are family."

So I love my siblings.

LAUREN: And it's always a fun time when we're together.

cracking jokes, hearing stories about their childhood, my favorite thing.

They are so funny, to all three be together.

It's the best.

LAURITA: So cheers.

LAUREN: To family.

BUTCH: Absolutely.

♪ ♪ CHRISTOPHER: It's a miserable, dreary, melancholy day at the Poe Museum.

Perfect day to visit.

Poe's life was never settled.

He bounced around from city to city, but never really stayed in places for too long.

The place he spent longer than any other city was Richmond, Virginia, where he spent a third of his life and a lot of different cities claim him, but this is the city that Poe claims.

He wrote that, "I know I'm a Virginian because Richmond is a place I call home."

LUCY: Hi, welcome to the Poe Museum.

LAUREN: Hi.

LAURITA: Oh, hi.

Thank you.

LUCY: I'm Lucy.

LAUREN: I'm Lauren.

LUCY: Lauren, nice to meet you.

LAURITA: Laurita.

LUCY: Laurita, nice to meet you.

LAURITA: You too.

LUCY: So I can tell you about this enchanted garden.

LAUREN: Ooh.

LUCY: So the garden itself, it's created with Poe's poetry in mind, especially his poem, To one in paradise, it starts out, "Thou wast that all to me, love.

For which my soul did pine, a green isle in the sea, love, a fountain and a shrine, all wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers, and all the flowers were mine."

LAURITA: Oh.

LAUREN: Oh.

LUCY: So, if you look at all the ivy that surrounds this green aisle, this ivy was taken from Poe's mother's grave.

LAUREN: Oh wow.

LAURITA: Oh wow.

LUCY: So this ivy itself is about 100 years old.

Pretty crazy.

LAUREN: Oh, wow.

Okay, ivy looking good for 100 years.

LAURITA: I agree.

LUCY: And I think the coolest part about the garden, all these bricks that make up the pathways and then the bricks that make the shrine itself, those are taken from the Southern Literary Messenger.

That's where Poe started his career.

We've kind of Frankensteined all these different pieces of Poe's life together in this garden itself.

LAUREN: It's funny 'cause whenever I think of Poe, I always think of like the dark, dreary and like scary poems.

I never think of like the beautiful, the gardens, the love.

LAURITA: His soft side.

LAUREN: Right.

LAURITA: Yeah.

LUCY: Poe was a romantic.

So we kind of try to embrace that as well as the dark, creepy, spooky stuff.

LAURITA: Very nice.

CHRISTOPHER: If you visited the Poe Museum back in 1922, you would've entered through that little house back there.

The Old Stone House, the oldest house still standing the original city limits of Richmond already then was full of Edgar Allan Poe pieces and now it's a display about his childhood, the place he used to dream dreams no mortal ever dared or dream before.

LUCY: So there are lots of really cool pieces here inside this exhibit.

But my favorite is of course Poe's bed.

LAURITA: Ooh.

LAUREN: Mmm.

LUCY: This is the bed that little Edgar slept in as a child and according to a childhood friend, Poe's biggest fear growing up was to wake up in the middle of the night to see a man standing at the foot of his bed.

LAUREN: That would be my fear too.

LAURITA: Mine too.

(laughter) LUCY: So you can almost imagine the night terrors, perhaps the nightmares that he had while sleeping here, perhaps they inspired his tales of terror much later in life.

Poe basically invented the psychological horror genre.

LAUREN: My favorite.

I love it.

LAURITA: That is your thing.

LAUREN: I love it so much.

LUCY: He was the first to write stories where the true monster is not something that sleeps under the bed, but it's perhaps the person sleeping next to you.

LAURITA: Whoa.

CHRISTOPHER: It's not a history museum, it's not an art museum, it's a literary museum.

It's a museum about something you can't really display, the imagination, the written word, thoughts.

LAUREN: So Poe definitely wrote things that are up my alley.

I love a good horror, true crime type of thing.

Is there anything in the house that has any like paranormal?

LUCY: So we do have a lot of people ask whether the museum itself is haunted.

You can't say officially one way or another, but I've had experiences, other people have had experiences.

LAUREN: Do you think it's Edgar Allan Poe's spirit or somebody else's spirit?

LUCY: So we've had lots of different ideas.

Some people say they see a little boy, others say it's a family.

Well, thank you both so much for coming.

We're so grateful to have you here.

LAURITA: Thanks.

LUCY: I hope no spirits follow you home.

LAUREN: Me too.

LAURITA: Ooh.

I'll go first because if the spirits are following... LAUREN: Girl.

LAURITA: I want her to be the one in the back of that.

(laughter) (meows) LAUREN: Now, this is my vibe.

LAURITA: This is really cute and you know what?

I think this might be my vibe now too.

LAUREN: No.

No, no, no, no.

Let me have this.

LAURITA: Okay.

But you got ten minutes.

MAN: How are you guys doing?

LAURITA: Hi, how are you?

MAN: Good, good.

Welcome to Quirk Hotel in Richmond.

KATIE: Quirk is a hotel in the arts district of Richmond, Virginia.

So Quirk started off at the turn of the century as a beautiful high-end department store and now it's a hotel with my art gallery attached to it.

The building sort of spoke to us.

It had a soul, it made sense, a Mecca of this neighborhood, a place where people could gather and as we drew up plans and got thinking, we decided that really we should merge the gallery with the hotel and then we sort of filled it in with the art.

That's what sort of gave it its magic.

I think everybody thinks I'm obsessed with pink and maybe I am now, but it was sort of a fluke to be honest.

I mean, I was like, "Maybe we should try this pale pink in a room," and it sort of took over our brand in a good way.

My husband's dream was to be the first rooftop in Richmond and we were.

It's just got a great view of our city.

It feels really special up there.

I think we're really fortunate that Richmond has become an art community because the artists really do give our city personality and make Richmond a much more interesting place to live.

We do have a few rooms that our artists have designed beautiful murals in them, and that was sort of a fun idea.

And then we took it one step further and partnered with the Visual Arts Center has this incredible mentorship program with young girls who, many of them who don't even have a room of their own and it's become a fundraiser for their project and it's been very successful.

LAUREN: Ooh.

LAURITA: Lauren!

LAUREN: This is so cute.

Wow.

Ooh, mom.

Look at the mural on the wall.

LAURITA: I love the colors.

LAUREN: This definitely fits in with the art district that we're in right now.

LAURITA: It does.

LAUREN: I think the mural is beautiful.

LAURITA: I agree.

And this is more your style.

LAUREN: It is.

It gives a like New York vibe.

Like I feel like I'm in the city.

LAURITA: You know what?

I think I'm a little hungry now and I'm ready to eat.

LAUREN: I'll meet you later.

LAURITA: Sounds good.

LAUREN: All right.

LAURITA: All right.

LAUREN: From the rooftop of the Quirk, super cute.

Like you can see the whole city from here.

It's very nice, I'm excited to just chill and relax up here.

It's really cute.

They have a little bar up here and everything, so I'm sure the nighttime you can get nice, great drinks.

LAURITA: We are getting ready to start our bike ride and we see someone who's going to help us with this new adventure.

ANNE: Hi.

LAUREN: Hi, Anne.

ANNE: Laurita and Lauren?

BOTH: Yes.

ANNE: Yeah, I'm Anne, excited to welcome you to Richmond and have you come on this tour today.

LAURITA: We are super excited to do this.

LAUREN: Very excited.

It's been a while since we rode a bike, so we're very excited to get back on one.

ANNE: We're going to see some murals and some great things.

LAUREN: Nice.

ANNE: I'm excited to get you going.

LAURITA: All right.

LAUREN: Woo, woo, woo.

Let's go.

(bell rings) ANNE: Richmond Mural Project alone when it was started in 2013, had a goal of 100 murals in five years.

And now here we are with over 150 murals... LAURITA: Wow.

ANNE: And more coming.

Many of the murals you'll see.

They came from the UNITY Street project and UNITY actually stands for Upholding Networking and Inspiring Together in celebration of Yesterday.

LAURITA: I love that.

ANNE: They're trying to do this to uphold and uplift African American neighborhoods throughout Richmond.

LAUREN: I love that.

LAURITA: Wonderful.

Well, one of the cool things about coming back to Richmond is every time I go down streets that I've gone down hundreds, probably thousands of times, I see artwork that I never saw and it's so uplifting and I'm glad to see that Richmond is really doing its part and uplifting all of the city.

(bell rings) LAUREN: We made it back!

LAURITA: We did.

LAUREN: It was fun.

LAURITA: It was a lot of fun.

LAUREN: It was a great bike tour, yeah.

LAURITA: Thank you so much, Anne.

ANNE: Oh, I had a great time with you, guys.

LAURITA: Great experience.

LAUREN: We enjoyed it.

KAREN: The Virginia Museum of History and Culture, also known by its initials, the VMHC, is the State History Museum of Virginia.

This museum is the oldest cultural institution in the commonwealth of Virginia.

One of our major permanent exhibitions here at the museum is a nearly 10,000 square foot exhibition called, "The Story of Virginia."

And this is a display that traces the very long, rich, and varied history of Virginia from ancient history from its original indigenous inhabitants up through the present day.

Of course, we have to recognize that some of that history is troubled by the great American paradox of us being a nation founded on the principles of independence and liberty but also Virginia was the place that codified American slavery and was always the largest slave holding state in the country.

Virginia was the crucible of the Civil War.

It was also an important site in the rise of the civil rights movement.

We also do have an exhibition called, "The Lost Cause."

And it actually speaks to Virginia history, the history of this institution as well as present day issues of social and racial justice that American society and the global society is very much still grappling with.

And this is a room which was intended to be a memorial to the Confederacy and to the Lost Cause that created this mythologized narrative of the Civil War.

But it was very much a myth that the Confederate cause was based on a fight for state's rights rather than the reality that it was based on an attempt to preserve the institution of slavery.

It was also a myth that glorified Confederate military heroes like Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis and others.

And of course our entire nation has been grappling with the legacy of the Lost Cause.

And that kind of national reckoning really came to a head in 2020 with the police murder of George Floyd, which prompted nationwide protests against persistent and enduring racial inequalities and, um, systemic racism.

LAURITA: So we just finished a tour of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and it really shed a lot of light on why the statues were put up on Monument Avenue and also why the statues were removed from Monument Avenue.

There were opposing opinions that the people needed to honor the Confederate soldiers that lost the war to just romanticize the idea of the Confederacy.

LAUREN: But that... What she's talking about is in an exhibit called The Lost Cause, which I think is so perfectly named because like she said, they lost a lost cause.

KAREN: History allows us to both understand our presence, to foster empathy across time and space, but also to direct and inspire our future.

LAUREN: Good morning, we are in the Quirk, we are going to get some good food this morning.

I'm excited.

We're going to Wong Gonzalez.

LAURITA: Yes.

JOSH: Wong Gonzalez is unlike any place you have ever eaten.

It is a Mexinese restaurant in the heart of the Richmond Arts District.

The story of this and how Mexinese came about for us was our executive chef is from Malaysia, our sous chef is from Mexico.

The vibe of the restaurant it's more just meant to be fun and a little bit tongue-in-cheek, even the name Wong Gonzalez, right?

To feel casual and to feel lively at the same time.

That's what we were going for with decor.

The apps that we brought to Laurita and Lauren were two of our most popular appetizers.

It started with our South of the Border Calamari, we are tempura frying the squid, and then the Fiesta Bites will be a tempura fried chicken bites, but those are going to be spicy and they've got a good little kick to them.

MAN: Hey, how we doing y'all?

We got some appetizers coming in for you.

LAUREN: Yum!

MAN: People love our gyoza sauce.

They really like to drink it.

They ask for extra sides of it.

So if you need more, just let me know, I'll get it for you.

LAURITA: Well, we know we're going to want more of that sauce, so go ahead and bring us another one.

MAN: I got you.

I got you.

BOTH: Thank you.

MAN: Yeah, no problem at all y'all.

LAURITA: Thanks.

LAUREN: What do you think?

LAURITA: That's really good.

And he's right about the sauce.

JOSH: We picked the two entrees from Laurita and Lauren, so the General Wong's Fried Chicken Burrito and that's going to be tempura fried chicken tossed in our General Wong's sauce, served wrapped in a burrito with sauté peppers and onions, fried shallots all in a flour tortilla.

And this is very similar to General Tso's chicken, but wrapped up in a burrito and it outsells every other food item in this restaurant by a very significant margin.

The other dish we brought out was our Pimienta Negra Shrimp Pot.

It's going to be a black pepper sauce, shrimp pot.

You got seared jumbo shrimp, peppers, onions, beans, beans sprouts, and assorted veggies served with a side of Wong Rice.

LAURITA: I'm going to start with the shrimp.

LAUREN: I'll start with the wrap then.

LAURITA: Okay.

LAUREN: This looks very hefty.

LAURITA: Mm-hmm.

JOSH: Richmond has a reputation as an emerging foodie town and rightfully so, so we can show off what this town is really about via either things like local ingredients or just local chefs putting out a great product.

LAURITA: I really like that you can tell the infusion of the Asian... LAUREN: And the Mexican.

LAURITA: And the Mexican.

LAUREN: Yeah.

And I'm not usually one for a wrap, but this one's pretty tasty.

LAURITA: Well, here's to a good mother-daughter weekend.

LAUREN: Cheers.

♪ ♪ We just got back from Richmond!

LAURITA: It was such a good time.

And I know I probably have said this a squillion times, but I was born in Richmond and Lauren went to University of Richmond.

What's amazing also for me is to see the changes that Richmond has gone through.

LAUREN: Going back and like being to restaurants that I hadn't been to was also really cool.

And, like, being at the arts district, biking and learning the history, completely different ballgame.

LAURITA: Let me just say this, I'm only going to Richmond by train now.

LAUREN: I know.

LAURITA: Because the ease getting down there and the ease coming back.

And so now we're going to get ourselves home and until next time... LAUREN: We love you Richmond.

We'll be back very soon.

LAURITA: Happy traveling.

LAUREN: Choo-choo.

LAURITA: Choo.

LAUREN: Choo-choo.

Feeling lit.

SONIA: We use to do it when we were younger.

LAURITA: Yeah, we were riding... SONIA: Ride from home and go over to Scott's Addition.

We didn't know it was what Scott's Addition.

LAURITA: We didn't know it was Scott's Addition!

SONIA: We just know it... LAURITA: You on your tiny little bike.

SONIA: My little...

The hard tires.

BUTCH: Her little, her little legs going like this.

LAURITA: Good times.

BUTCH: Oh yeah.

LAURITA: Good times.

BUTCH: Oh yeah.

LAURITA: "Laurita and Lauren, we are so excited to host you during your first visit to Richmond."

LAUREN: It doesn't say, "First."

(laughter) LAURITA: She doesn't like... Well, we have to explore more of the hotel.

LAUREN: The way you opened that envelope, it looked like you took a bite out it.

LAURITA: Well, it's not like I'm saving it.

I kept hearing sounds during the night.

I don't know if you heard stuff.

LAUREN: When?

Last night?

LAURITA: Last night.

And even this morning and I thought, "Is it Edgar Allan Poe?"

LAUREN: Girl, that wasn't...

The Linden Road Inn is the Edgar Allan Poe... LAURITA: Uh, it doesn't matter.

LAUREN: Following us from the Poe Museum?

LAURITA: He's following us.

Yes.

WOMAN: To discover more places to visit outside the Washington Metro area, visit weta.org/getoutoftown.