Name: Tulip Poplars with Silas House
Start: 2026-10-27
End: 2026-10-27

Arrivals from the north include Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; New York City; and Boston. From the south, arrivals include Raleigh, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; Tampa, Fla.; and Orlando, Fla. Handicapped accessibility and bagging services are available at each.

Main Street Station

Meriwether's at the Capitol is your source all your dining needs at the Virginia State Capitol and General Assembly Building.

Meriwether's Capitol Café

Irish pub serving fish and chips, Irish stew, and steak-and-mushroom pie. Also serving Guinness on tap ... at the right temperature! Closed Sunday.

Rosie Connolly's Pub & Restaurant

Among the oldest in the nation, this 12-acre park is home to the National Historic Landmark Virginia State Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson, the oldest purpose-built U.S. executive mansion still serving as a governor's residence, and many monuments and memorials. Walk winding paths in a landscape that has both seen and shaped American history. Garden secret: This park has an empty crypt. The George Washington Equestrian Monument was to be the President's final resting place, but he remains buried at his Mount Vernon home.

Capitol Square Preservation Council

Canal Club

Old City Bar envelops you in vintage casual elegance. Come in & enjoy our fun & welcoming service, glorious edibles & creative cocktails!

The Old City Bar

Lumpkin's Jail, also known as "the Devil's half acre", was a holding facility, or slave jail, located just three blocks from the state capitol building. More than five dozen firms traded in enslaved human beings within blocks of Richmond's Wall Street (now 15th Street) between 14th and 18th Streets between the 1830s and the end of the American Civil War. It's final and most notorious owner, Robert Lumpkin, bought and sold slaves throughout the South for well over twenty years, and Lumpkin's Jail became Richmond's largest slave-holding facility. Over the twenty years the Lumpkin Jail was in operation, thousands of slaves passed through the complex. The most famous inmate was Anthony Burns, who had escaped slavery in Virginia, but was arrested in Boston and tried under the Fugitive Slave Law. Though many lobbied for his release, he was sent back to Lumpkin's Jail and held for four more months until abolitionists raised sufficient funds to buy his freedom. Once freed, he returned to the North and became a pastor.

Lumpkin's Jail

Bottoms Up Pizza has been a Richmond staple over 25 years. Enjoy family friendly dining on two stories, with two large patios, three bars and seating for over 320 guests! Ask about private dining availability or party packages for large groups! Grab a local craft beer on the upstairs deck, nestled right beside the elevated train tracks for an unforgettable dining experience with a spectacular view of the Richmond skyline. The custom main bar was constructed to replicate the nearby train trestle, complementing the rustic ambiance of the historic brick building. Bottoms Up is known for their sourdough crust - taking over 12 hours to prepare for a crust that is thick, light, airy and crisp. Try a gargantuan slice of the Chesapeake -- Parmesan white sauce topped with fresh crab meat, sweet onions and seasoned with Old Bay. Or, try the flavorful Mexican -- taco seasoned ground beef, homemade pickled jalapenos, onion and cheddar topped with lettuce, fresh salsa and sour cream!

Bottoms Up Pizza

Eerie Nights is a theatrical story telling experience where guides in special effects make-up, period costume and in the character of a *Richmonder from the 1800's or 1920's* will lead you to several historic and haunted sites on our *walking* (or) *trolley* ghost tours. At each site they will tell tales of the history and paranormal activity associated with the location. Our tours are geared towards a **mature** audience but families are welcome. Ghoul Guides will provide a creepy and bawdy experience throughout the tour Tours: Friday & Saturday nights. Visit WWW.EERIENIGHTS.COM for the full tour schedule.

Eerie Nights Ghost Tour

Join us for a ride through Richmond that you will never forget. Climb aboard our trolley and step back in time to Richmond in the late 1920’s. Your Ghoul Guide, a ghost from the 1920’s, will be your host as you are driven to sites where tragedy occurred and where paranormal activity occurs today. Discover the dark secrets and long forgotten horrors that lurk in the shadows of one the Nation’s most haunted cities. You will be entertained by your zombie guide throughout your ride with this veritable show aboard a trolley. Trolley tour operates in September & October. Looking for a ghost tour June- October? Visit our walking tour. www.eerienights.com

Ghouls Ghost Tour by Trolley

We’re a community of runners, hikers, bikers and ballplayers. We’re an outdoor playground, designed by Mother Nature, with class III and IV rapids running right through our downtown. A 52-mile bike trail runs along the James. The Richmond Marathon and Ukrop’s 10k are huge celebrations, and the whole region comes out to cheer on our local teams. In fact, we’re so sports-minded that the Washington Redskins have their training camp right in the center of the city. Add to that awesome hotels, beautiful venues, attractions, art, craft beer, more than 900 restaurants and a convenient location, and you’ve got a top choice for your next sports event. Welcome to RVA!

From indoor to outdoor facilities, the Richmond region has the fields, pitches, diamonds, venues and the dedicated staff to ensure your event is a huge success. 



Sports Richmond, VA

Silas House, author of Fountain's 2025 Book of the Year, is back! He'll be talking about his new novel with Kelly in the store.  
  
This event ticket includes a signed copy of The Tulip Poplars.  
  
About the Book:  
Amos and Tom fall in love while working in the tobacco fields during the hot summers of the early 1900s, yet Tom cannot shake his strict religious upbringing nor the responsibilities of his family’s farm. His longtime friend Maeve also pines for a man she can’t have, lest she endanger his already tenuous life in a town and world shaped by racial lines. How do you live a life that feels untrue, and at what point do you risk everything?  
  
The Tulip Poplars is a gorgeous and moving novel spanning most of the 20th century, centering on four people trying to find happiness in a world that demands conventional choices. House tells a deeply intimate story of faith and doubt, race and class, sexual desire and the longing to be good when you’ve been taught that you are evil for loving who you love. Based on the story of an ancestor, House’s new novel takes us from NYC to Southern cities to Appalachia and will leave you with a bigger heart.  
  
About the Author:  
Silas House was a finalist for a 2024 Grammy Award, winner of the 2022 Duggins Prize, and is a two-time winner of the Southern Book Prize. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, the New York Times, the Advocate, Time, Garden & Gun, and other publications. He teaches at Berea College and at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Creative Writing.  
  
Kelly is our fearless leader and an omnivore of a reader who will try almost any type of book at least once. She has been an indie bookseller since 1989, came to Fountain in 2000, and took over in 2008. She has served on countless bookseller boards and committees nationally and internationally but recently has scaled back on those activities to spend more time on the bookstore and personal passions like travel, cooking, and being with important people in her life and the cat.

Tulip Poplars with Silas House

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