Fields, History, and Giant Sandwiches 🥪
Driving the Virginia Back Roads
Hi readers, and Happy Saturday!
I hope you’re all planning on some adventure and relaxation this weekend.
We all need respite from the constant onslaught of chaos.
It was obviously getting to me, so I decided to take a break from all things internet last weekend — and The Man and I took a drive.
We tend to take the back roads 99% of the time — the rare exceptions are driving to NOVA or to Tennessee — basically trips where we’re trying to save time for one reason or the other.
But when we head to the beach and don’t mind the extra hour of driving time?
It’s all back roads, baby.
For years, we have driven by this little sandwich spot — and every time we do, we talk about how we should stop and check it out.
But our desire to get to the beach and our car full of crap for the beach house1 usually keeps us on the road.
So last Saturday we decided to drive an hour to the small town of Surry, Virginia and finally give Meats of Virginia a try.
We left home around noon.
The drive leaving Richmond is amazing. We live on the east end of the city, and you hit fields and farmland about 10 minutes after leaving our apartment.
We love to go south on Route 5 — also known as John Tyler Memorial Parkway — a Virginia Scenic Byway.
Covered by a tree canopy, Route 5 runs parallel to the north shore of the James River and to the Capitol Trail, a biking and hiking path that runs from downtown Richmond to Jamestown.
It’s one of our favorite drives.
About half an hour down Route 5, we hung a right to cross the James at the Benjamin Harrison Bridge.
It’s a cool old steel bridge with amazing views of the river as it widens after the fall line.
The rest of our drive to Surry was filled with old farmhouses, sunny fields, quaint small towns, and the occasional dilapidated building.
You feel like you’re in a land that time left behind.
We arrived at “Meats of Virginia” around 1 o’clock.
Look how cute:
We loved the “small town general store” vibe of the place, and immediately regretted not bringing a cooler so we could take home some of the amazing looking — and reasonably priced — meats they had for sale.
After we browsed for a minute, we got down to business and looked at a menu. We didn’t eat breakfast before we left, so we were starving.
I decided on the Spicy Chicken Club, and The Man went with a Spicy Ham and Turkey Panini.
We both did combos with sides, so The Man ordered coleslaw and I splurged and got some handmade cannoli we could have for dessert.
The sandwiches are made to order, so we browsed a bit more while we waited.
When our food was ready, we decided to eat at one of the picnic tables on the porch.
It reminded us of eating at Pop’s Raw Bar, one of our faves on Hatteras Island2.
When I opened the box containing my sandwich, I was really happy I was hungry:
I could barely pick that thing up! It was the size of my face!
But it was also insanely delicious — fresh, zesty, and not too spicy.
Obviously I could only eat half of it and saved the rest for dinner.
The Man’s sandwich wasn’t as stacked as mine, but it was still enough for two meals:
The red onions were clutch on both sandwiches.
Bummed I didn’t get a photo of the cannoli — which were crisp, slightly cinnamon-y, and decadent.
We decided to drive around Surry after we ate our sandwiches and look for the perfect spot to enjoy our cannoli — another reason I forgot to snap a picture.
It’s a tiny town, but has some cool history.
Meats of Virginia is located on John Rolfe Parkway — who was an early colonist most famous for smuggling contraband Spanish tobacco seeds into Virginia — and for his more famous wife, Pocahontas.
As we were driving down the parkway, we noticed a small farm that called itself “Matoaka’s Dowerie.”
Apparently Matoaka was another name that Pocahontas was known by.
After we drove by this intriguing farm, we noticed a sign for the Jamestown ferry.
I’ve always wanted to take the ferry to Jamestown — it’s free, I love ferries, and it seems like you should arrive at Jamestown by boat.
Unfortunately, we hit a bit of a rain at this point, so we turned around and headed back to Surry — happy that we finally know where the ferry is and planning another summer adventure.
On our way back through town, we stopped at a small park to eat our cannoli.
Sitting at picnic tables, listening to birds sing3, eating a handmade dessert on a historic highway.
It was a perfect Saturday afternoon in the Tidewater.
And to add to your Saturday sense of peace, take a walk through the past:
Have an awesome weekend, readers!
Guard your peace. We’ll make it through these troubled times together.
We pack everything. We even bring our air fryer. I fought The Man on the air fryer the first year that we had it — but he was right. It’s key for fried seafood leftovers.
Pop’s fronts the beach road and has three picnic tables on the porch where you can eat their seafood feasts. We love Pop’s.
We also identified an Eastern Bluebird thanks to the Merlin app!
Sounds like a great adventure!
We are just chilling this weekend because contractors were in our home the past three days. Plus we like to make Bourbon cocktails and try to pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby. I picked the winner this year. Yay!