Chances are, you're already spending plenty of time online right now, so why not take this opportunity to learn or see something new? While many of our Richmond Region attractions have reopened following closures due to COVID-19, many are still offering virtual tours and other online resources that you can access from the comfort of your couch.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is once again open to the public and featuring a new exhibit Wind, Waves & Light. Lewis Ginter also offers a Virtual Visit which includes multiple video tours (including the Cherry Tree Walk), images, and a top 10 highlights audio tour. Additional resources include gardening tips, activities for kids, and more! You can also follow the Garden on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see what's currently blooming!
Watch the St. John's Church Foundation's special 245th Anniversary Reenactment of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech. You can also watch the PBS-produced documentary "Liberty or Death" in its entirety on YouTube. Filmed inside the church, full of bonus content, historical context and exciting debate, it's a program you can enjoy with the whole family any time you want.
Take a virtual ride on one of Kings Dominion’s world-class roller coasters from inside your own home. Bonus points if you throw your arms up in the air and scream like you're actually riding it!
Maymont is open to the public and is excited to introduce guests to the newly-renovated Robins Nature Center. The 29,000-square-foot attraction is the largest facility of its kind in central Virginia and holds close to 30,000 gallons of aquaria showcasing animals of the James River and Chesapeake Bay. Maymont also offers online resources to delight, educate and inspire you and your family from home. Walk through Maymont using Google Street View, listen to an audio tour, watch the adorable goats on the Live Farm Cam, and discover fun facts about the animals that live at Maymont. Explore the Italian Garden and the Japanese Garden through video tours, discover how to create a butterfly garden in your backyard, and read the Maymont blog for behind the scenes stories, historical facts, animal adventures and more. Join Maymont each week for a virtual tour inside a different room of the Mansion and learn what life was like during the Gilded Age.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts recently reopened with an exciting new exhibit Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities. Reserve a time to explore the treasures. Believe it or not, you can also browse the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' entire collection online! The VMFA's collection of nearly 50,000 works of art from almost every major world culture is available to console, inspire and excite you.
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is open to the public and also has a curated selection of digital resources. Explore more than 250 hours of recorded lectures by world renowned authors and speakers in the Banner Lectures Archive. Take a virtual tour of select exhibits, attend a webinar (with options for adults and students), and more!
Take a spin around the virtual Richmond Raceway on iRacing and see what real NASCAR drivers see as they navigate the ¾-mile track. The virtual rendition of the track is scanned within fractions of an inch of the real one here in Richmond, VA. The corners at Richmond are banked at 14 degrees, with a banking of 8 degrees on the front stretch and 6 degrees on the backstretch.
You can also kick learning into high gear with NASCAR activities for kids that focus on STEM and also bring the fun of racing to learning. Check out the Richmond Raceway website for activities ranging from designing a race car to playing educational games and downloading coloring sheets.
Watch local ospreys Maggie and Walker on the RVA Osprey Cam, which provides a live stream from their nest in the middle of the James River.
Poe Museum: No one understands loneliness - or isolation - quite like Poe did. To that end, the Poe Museum has launched Poe's Pandemic Playlist, featuring readings, explorations of the museum, artifact tales and more! The museum is once again open to the public… but the playlist lives on.
Richmond Night Market launched a monthly Virtual Night Market Experience in April, and it's coming back again on August 8. The virtual market will feature musicians on a “Virtual Main Stage” as well as a virtual Artisan Market to shop local vendors and an interactive session for families. (Photo credit: James Loving).
Agecroft Hall & Gardens: featuring 2-minute videos on their Facebook page that highlight Agecroft’s unique stories.
Richmond Performing Arts Alliance features Legends at Home. RPAA streams performances from your favorite RVA artists – home style! Performances are streamed on the RPAA Facebook event page each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon and 7 p.m. To provide employment for these artists as we all practice social distancing, RPAA has created the Performing Artist Support Program to support RPAA and the artists hired for Legends at Home. You can make a donation here to help keep the arts alive in RVA!
Science Museum of Virginia: SMV’s YouTube video library includes Question Your World, Cosmic Expeditions, Live Science, and more!
The Valentine museum has reopened with the new exhibit Ain’t Misbehavin’ in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Roaring Twenties. The exhibit features costumes, textiles, art and artifacts. Also check out the Virtual Valentine with workbooks and lesson plans for students, online exhibitions, podcast episodes, and video tours.
Stay safe, stay well, and stay in touch!
