The Camel

Now that I’m all old and stuff, I don’t get to go out as much as I used to.  Every now and then I dress my old bones in something cute, drag The Hubs out the door, and head out to see a friend’s band play.  A while back, a friend’s band was playing at The Camel, and since there is something very cool going on there in the next couple of days, I thought I’d tell you about the experience.

First off, the outside looks like this:

Only it has lights and sometimes bikes tied to posts outside, and some people loading in and out their musical gear, and a general hubub of different activity.  And, I saw it in the nighttime.  The inside looks like this:

and this:

They have art all over the place.  They also serve great drinks, and just in case you forget what you ordered, some cups even have the name of the drink on them:

No word yet on whether or not The Hubs will get mad at me for putting up that picture.  Only time will tell.

As for The Camel itself, it is “a space for music, art, poetry, video, political forums, and conversation – anything that brings people together in the spirit of a free flow of ideas.”  I took that directly from their website.  I hope they don’t mind.  They are a place that hosts lots of live music, but you can also rent space there for an event.  The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and it’s the kind of place you can go and not feel like you’re supposed to belong to some special young people (or even Extremely Cool Older People) club to go there.

Menu-wise, there are vegan and vegetarian options, as well as all different kinds of paninis, sandwiches, pizzas, and pastas.  We just had an appetizer when we went (the Caprese), but the people next to us got a full meal and they were totally happy with everything they had ordered.  The prices are reasonable, the ingredients seem fresh, and it’s an all-around well-liked place.

You remember when I went and talked to Reggie Pace from NO! BS Brass?  He listed The Camel as one of the band’s favorite places to play, and several other of my musician friends feel the same way.  Incidentally, The Camel is hosting NO! BS Brass’s CD Release on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2, and there will be DJ sets to round out the evening.  Friday will give you DJ COOL PAUL, and Saturday will give you DJ HARRISON.  On Saturday, NO! BS Brass will play two sets – one beginning at 8PM (that’s the one I’ll be attending – see the old reference above), and the other will start around 10.

Learn more about the goings-on at The Camel on The Camel’s website, or, better yet, go check it out for yourself.  You won’t be sorry.

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Cupertino’s New York Bagels & Deli

In 1901, a man named Frank Cupertino arrived in New York from Bari, Italy.  Around 1922, he used skills he had gained working in bakeries around New York to open his own bakery in the Bronx.  Fast forward to 2006 or so.  Frank’s grandson, Walter Baietti is living in Richmond, Virginia.  And he can’t, for the life of him, find a decent bagel anywhere in our fair city.  Not one to suffer a lack of authentic bagels, Walter Baietti and his family got busy and opened Cupertino’s New York Bagels & Deli on Cox Road, and there was great rejoicing.

The bagels.  Ah.  The bagels.  They are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and come in a great variety of flavors.  Once I tasted one of their bagels, I turned in my Einstein’s card for good.  No offense, Einsteins, but frozen doesn’t even compare to these fresh bagels offered by Cupertino’s.

Walter Baietti and his family, plus the other people who work at the shop, are Richmond-nice with New York accents.  They remember what you like, and they manage to give a kind word or a friendly salutation, no matter how busy they are.  My breakfast choice is usually a bacon and cheese on plain, which is probably why I’ve gained 12 pounds in 6 months.  I don’t blame them, because they have plenty of other options that wouldn’t pack the inches on like bacon – the ultimate meat candy.  But it’s gooooood.

I’ve also tried ham and cheese on plain, ham and cheese on everything, bacon and cheese on sesame, and bacon and cheese on multigrain.  That last one was unintentional, but still delicious.  I don’t drink coffee (ask my coworkers – they would make me work on the roof or something if I drank coffee) so I can’t report on that, but I have tried several lunch offerings and a few different pastries, and I’ve never been sorry.  Except for these 12 pounds, that is.

If you want an authentic New York style bagel, this is the place to go.

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Short Pump – Richmond’s “Frontier”

When one thinks of the frontier, the first images that come to mind are cowboys and saloons, gunfights and gold prospectors.  While these are all amusing to imagine, you aren’t likely to find them in Short Pump.  Now considered the far West End of Richmond, this area has long served as the wild west of the more “civilized” city to the east.  Generally considered to be located at the intersections of Broad Street, Pouncey Tract Road and Three Chopt Road, it is only in the last decade that real industry and commerce have sprung to life in the rolling hills of Short Pump.

The village was named for an unusual water pump found under the porch of a tavern built in the area in the early 1800’s.  The structure is a believed to have been built facing Three Notched Road (Now Three Chopt), in western Henrico County, and remains a fixture in local legend.  The community is now a far cry from the dusty roadside stop it used to be.  Although historically the site doesn’t hold much significance, it has been visited by a few notables traveling from Richmond to western parts of Virginia, including Thomas Jefferson, Stonewall Jackson and the Marquis de Lafayette.

What started as a rural backwater has become one of the most heavily developed and prosperous communities in the Metro Richmond area.  Beginning in the early 1930’s, the only real landmarks to be found in Short Pump were a garage, a grocery store and a general store.  The 1990’s saw the first true burst of development when it was decided that Broad Street needed to be widened to accommodate the traffic brought in by a newly built Wal-Mart.  Sadly, this saw the end of several of the older businesses that had persevered over several decades as room had to be cleared for the expansion.

This was only the beginning of what would prove to be a startling surge of commerce for the area.  In 2003 Short Pump Town Center, a massive open-air shopping mail, opened, attracted records numbers of visitors to the site and paving the way for even more businesses – grocery stores, car dealerships, upscale restaurants, an expansive movie theater and a wide variety of others.  With the commerce came the people.  Short Pump is now home to some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods in the Richmond metro area.

Easy accessibility from I-64, Highway 288 and Broad Street have contributed to the growth of community, allowing for continued expansion and almost constant building.   The Innsbrook area, located just east of Short Pump, seems to have jump started the progress west.  As the Glen Allen area began to prosper, the need for growth demanded more available space and greater opportunities for commerce.  Largely disregarded in the past, Short Pump provided the area needed to meet those demands.  While an elaborate shopping mall, an expansive movie theater and fancy restaurants may not seem like the most fascinating of frontiers, the tremendous development of the area can rival that of any gold-mining town.

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