Richmond’s best coffee shop/wine bar/book store, a fixture in Shockoe Bottom since 2003, and now for sale: Cafe Gutenberg.

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will offer guided walks on the Slave Trail every Saturday in February at 9:30AM. The walks will be led by the department’s James River Park System staff and cost $5 per person. For more infomation and to register, call (804)646-6446. [via]

Ever wonder why your neighbors, colleagues or family members seem to view the Richmond region differently than you? If so, apply to the Greater Richmond Challenge taking place May 8-9 and see the region through the eyes of a fellow resident.

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This week: open mic @ Poe’s Pub, David L. Robbins book release for Betrayal Game, Chocoholic, James River Writers meet&greet, Shockoe Downtown Plan meeting, guided walks on the Slave Trail, 6th District Town Meeting, bluegrass and open mic, Bikes in the Bottom. MORE INFO…

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Word of Mouths in this week’s Style takes on LuLu’s and comes away with much praise:

LuLu’s hits this mark as well as Millie’s does, and at a lower price point (the menu tops out at $17). Servers know the menu and specials, the wine list, the chefs and cooks, and what can and can’t be done. And they know how to pass right on by when they’ve come to refill glasses and you’re engaged in conversation and when to place your dinner ticket so that your entrees arrive just as you’ve finished your appetizers.

Style’s Halls of Kelly on the The Fountain Bookstore’s new owner Kelly Justice: “The Fountain Bookstore, started by Joyce Clay in 1978, specialized in corporate and technical books until the Smythes bought it in 1985. In 2000, the Smythes hired Justice to bring the bookstore into not just the regional but also the national arena. Justice has been inching toward that goal ever since.”

The third of the recently announced neighborhood-level Downtown Plan meetings is scheduled for Thursday for Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, and Tobacco Row. The meeting will be held at Main Street Station from 6-8PM.

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It’s time once again to celebrate another year of Virginia’s favorite craft beer. The party will be Sunday Feb.10 from 3-8PM @ Legend Brewery. Tickets will be available at the door for $15/person and will include 3 food/beer tickets. Live music by Whiskey Rebellion, The Greater Richmond Pipe & Drum Corp, and Cyrus McCormick.

Fourth Friday is February 22nd and Art Works will be featuring Egg Art for Easter Seals, Black History Month with featured artist Clayton Singleton and the juried All Media Show. The reception starts at 7PM with live music. Free and open to the public.

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open mic @ Poe’s Pub; James River Writers meet&greet; Mini Flicks & Stories; Richmond Symphony Orchestra; Down @ Toad’s Place; guided walks on the Slave Trail through February; bluegrass and open mic…

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Virginia Politics at the RTD has a short piece on and photo of Governor Tim Kaine and his son Nat voting in the primary this morning at Main Street Station.

Beat the midwinter blues! Photographers Lynn Limon and Allen Palmer exhibit with abstract painter Inge Strack at 12 12 Gallery. Opening reception on Sunday, February 17th from 2-5PM; the show closes Sunday, March 23rd.

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Republic Mayo Island LLC is proposing a $250 million development to include condominiums, offices, shops and a hotel on the 13-acre Mayo Island. The draft of the current downtown plan has the area slated to be greenspace. [via]

“A mixed-use development incorporating public access will increase access to Mayo Island, creating premiere public space, and restore the vibrancy of the Mayo Bridge . . . accommodating pedestrians, automobiles and streetcar traffic between Manchester and downtown,” Andrew M. Condlin, a local lawyer for the developer, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Richmond Community Development Director Rachel O. Flynn.

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The Rocketts Landing Captain’s Blog’s One if by sea; two if by….bike? looks forward to the 50-mile Richmond-to-Williamsburg bike/pedestrian/equine/etc. Virginia Capital Trail:

The 50-mile path will eventually stretch from Williamsburg to Richmond, connecting the state’s first capital with its current one. The multi-use path, as it’s being called (roller blades, equines and even unicycles are welcome), will meander past old plantations along Route 5, and then hug the James River as it snakes past Rocketts Landing. [...] The project is being constructed piecemeal, with sections in downtown Richmond near Bottom’s Up Pizza and parts near Chickahominy and in Williamsburg already in place. The final route should be open to the public around 2012.

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This Saturday at ArtSpace, SlamRichmond hosts a poetry workshop with NY poet Ainsley Burroughs @5PM ($5), followed by the SlamRichmond Qualifier 3 @8PM.

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities is offering guided walks on the Slave Trail every Saturday in February at 9:30AM. The walks are led by the department’s James River Park System staff and cost $5 per person. I got up and out early this past Saturday to experience this for myself…

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From the New York Times’ recently opened archive comes an account of flooding in Rockett’s, Shockoe, and Manchester before the turn of the last century:

The rush of the increased volume of water and ice from the upper James River [...] has resulted in in one of the heaviest floods ever known here. The wharves at Rockett’s, the landing place for steamers, and the streets for blocks around are under water, and the Virginia Navigation Company’s wharf has been swept away.

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Surrounded by chain link and building supplies, it looks like the long-decrepit 4-story building at 15th and Cary has some serious fixin’ up in its immediate future.

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An eagle-eyed reader sent us a photo of the accidentally exposed marquee at the former Wildcats/Moondance location (9 North 17th Street). Yummy!