The VA Capital Trail along Charles City

The VA Capital Trail is one of the more exciting outdoor projects coming to the area, promising miles of dedicated biking and pedestrian paths from RVA to Williamsburg. While large portions of the trail are still under construction, some sections are already open including parts by the river downtown.
Along Route 5 between Richmond and the Charles City Courthouse is another open section that we recently tried (purple section in map). This is a mostly flat bike ride along pastoral pathways that takes one from the VCU Rice Center at one end to the Charles City Courthouse at the other (~8 mi each way). Historic landmarks including the Berkeley Plantation and the Site of the First Thanksgiving in the US (circa 1619!) pass by!

Adding to the ride amidst the idyllic cornfields is the reward of a very nice repast along the way. We stopped for dinner at the Charles City Tavern - a quaint little farmhouse (replete with a silo) turned into a restaurant. The menu was largely Southern inspired comfort food at reasonable prices. While it did seem that they catered to larger groups of visitors to the nearby plantations (Berkeley and Shirley among them), we were lucky enough to have a quiet and pleasant dinner on the patio, enjoying the sounds of birds and bees and the odd car whizzing by on Rte 5.
One would reckon that the trail once complete would bring a new set of customers.