Ed 417: Goochland Coffee Shop, Sweat Bees, Powerball Winner
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Image Source: The Richmond Experience
Hello again!
I learned firsthand this afternoon why it's always worth checking with your local pick-your-own farm before making the drive. My fam and I roadtripped to Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet for one of my fave summer activities — peach picking! — only to find there weren't any peaches available to pick today. We did, however, get to pick zinnias *and* snack on peach-cider doughnuts. So, I guess the visit was still somewhat fruitful 😏 Consider this your friendly reminder to DEF double-check crop availability before you go!
Keep scrolling for RVA’s latest social news, including dirty sodas, CPR training kiosk, RPS summer upgrades, and more.
PODCAST
WEATHER
Wednesday: Cloudy; high of 88°, low of 74°
Thursday: Partly cloudy; high of 92°, low of 74°
Friday: Partly cloudy; high of 93°, low of 74°
HAPPENINGS
Wednesday, 7 - 9 pm: RICHMOND KICKERS VS NEW YORK COSMOS
Thursday, 5 - 7 pm: TASTING THURSDAY AT BLUE BEE CIDER
Friday, 5 - 8 pm: FIRST FRIDAYS
CITY GUIDES
1. THE TRENDSPOTTER: AUGUST 2026
Image Source: Baltik’s Bagel
RICHMONDER TO KNOW
Yero Rudzinskas: He’s the owner of Baltik’s Bagels, and recent rumor has it (in the comments, at least!), he’s blessing Richmonders with another location (potentially!) — this time at the Alamo BBQ spot in Church Hill. Suffice it to say, our hankering’s gonna hanker.
THE LATEST
Image Source: Edo’s Squid
Image Source: Sipping Sunshine Cafe
Image Source: Richmond Jazz & Music Festival
Image Source: Carytown Watermelon Festival
SOCIAL NEWS
This fest is major key. The Richmond Jazz & Music Festival returns to Maymont on August 8 and 9 for a weekend of jazz, R&B, hip-hop, soul, and funk across two stages. This year's lineup is headlined by Erykah Badu and features artists including Leon Thomas, Johnny Gill, Samara Joy, Alex Isley, Lupe Fiasco, Free Nationals, Doug E. Fresh, Talib Kweli, Peter White, and more. Now in its 16th year, the festival has become one of Richmond's biggest music events. (Richmond Jazz & Music Festival)
Feeling vine on Sunday. The Carytown Watermelon Festival is back this Sunday, bringing one of the city’s favorite summer traditions back to Carytown. Celebrating its 44th year, the free festival features 80 musicians, 100+ vendors and exhibitors, one of the East Coast's largest kids' areas, local food, shopping, and, of course, plenty of fresh watermelon. Stretching the length of Carytown, it's the largest one-day festival in Virginia and a can't-miss celebration of one of Richmond's most iconic neighborhoods. (Carytown Watermelon Festival)
Planting Tomatoes is still on a loop in our heads. Grammy-winning Richmonder Lucy Dacus had herself a little homecoming last week for a special screening of her self-directed Planting Tomatoes music video at The Byrd Theatre. Filmed entirely in Richmond, the video is a love letter to the city, featuring local landmarks like Hollywood Cemetery, Pony Pasture, and Dogwood Dell, along with appearances from local musicians and SPARC students. During a Q&A, Lucy shared how the River City has inspired her songwriting and named rising local band Bucko as one to watch, making it a heartfelt celebration of RVA’s creative community. (Style Weekly)
Grounds for celebration. Goochland is getting its first independent coffee shop this fall as Sipping Sunshine Cafe opens a brick-and-mortar location. Owner Lori Traficanti launched the business as a mobile coffee trailer less than a year ago, and after building a loyal following, she's expanding into a cozy café with coffee, espresso, smoothies, locally made baked goods, salads, and more. While the new shop will become the business's home base, the mobile trailer will still pop up at select events and festivals. (Richmond BizSense)
Freshening up the slate(s). Richmond Public Schools is spending about $2.5 million on summer upgrades at 10 schools ahead of the 2026–27 school year. The projects include playground repairs, new carpet, fresh paint, and major roof replacements. RPS says summer is the ideal time for construction, with additional projects planned throughout the school year. (The Richmonder)
Cue the Bee Gees. Visitors to the Science Museum of Virginia can now learn Hands-Only CPR thanks to a new American Heart Association training kiosk featured inside the interactive Rescue exhibit. The kiosk walks guests through the lifesaving technique with a touchscreen tutorial and practice mannequin that provides real-time feedback. Since launching in 2024, the traveling kiosk has trained more than 2,000 people, with the goal of helping more Virginians learn a skill that can double or even triple someone's chance of surviving cardiac arrest. (Richmond Family Magazine)
Check in with your NoVA friends. Someone in Virginia is $2 million richer after purchasing a winning Powerball ticket online for Saturday night's drawing. The ticket, bought in Herndon, matched the first five numbers and doubled its prize by adding the Power Play option. No one won the jackpot, which has now climbed to an estimated $748 million for the next drawing. (WTVR)
MORE LINKS YOU’LL WANT TO CLICK
🐝 If tiny metallic green bees have been buzzing around you lately, they're likely sweat bees, which are especially active in July and August and are drawn to the salt in human sweat. New concern unlocked. (Virginia Living)
🥤 Richmond now has a spot dedicated to custom-crafted sodas, where you can build your own drink starting with a classic soda base and adding flavored syrups, fresh fruit, purées, and creamers. The result is a personalized, fizzy treat with endless flavor combinations to try. (Sippa)
🦑 Katie Wilk of Please Write Studio researches lost photos, places, and people, and one of her latest posts, covering Edo Squid, popped up on our Explore page. (Instagram)
🍝 EAT Restaurant Partners’ new Italian restaurant, Civita Italia, opened earlier this week in Short Pump. (WTVR)
Image Source: Divya Williams
Weekly Giveaway
Uliveto
We’re not living for the weekend, per se — but we do love a weekend breakfast moment. Gersi is our special occasion go-to, so we were thrilled to discover its sister restaurant, Uliveto, is open for brunch on Sundays.
This week, we’re giving away a $25 gift card to Uliveto! Absolutely order the French toast with raspberry butter.
To enter: Ask us anything! We’re coming up on our hundredth ep of The Chatter, and we want to know what you want to know. We may (anonymously!) read your q ~on air~ 🎙️
Last week: Congratulations to last edition’s winner, Bryce C, for winning The Cozy Journal giveaway!
Image Source: SprayRVA
Member Perks
SprayRVA
Just got back from the beach and there’s sand everywhere? Don’t freak. SprayRVA is a locally owned mobile car wash and detailing service that comes to you, making it easy to whip your whip back into shape.
As a member of The Richmond Experience, you get 10% off any service! Just use code RVAX10 at checkout.
What’s trending from RVAx
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SAVE THE DATE
👋
Hey, new members!
We’d like to welcome 9 new members this week: Alisa E, Dominic D, Michael J, Painted Ivy, Charleen M, Nikya K, Zach P, Aaron N, and Sam A, we’re so glad you’re here!
It takes a village, so let us know if you have any questions, thoughts, feedback, tips, or recs! Thanks for reading edition 417 of The Weekly Insider.
Stay golden ✨
- The Richmond Experience
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