Tradition Still Reigns in Richmond : Stately old homes, a rich history and friendly people enrich Confederate landmark.

This stately old capital of the Confederacy may fairly be called set in its ways, with a new arrival once complaining that contemporary furniture around here means anything from the late 19th Century. Another explained to us that it took six locals to change a light bulb: One to screw it in and five to stand around and lament about how beautiful the old one was.

All this reverence for tradition has preserved a very lovely city, one whose Monument Avenue--with its rainbow stands of crape myrtle and statues of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Jeb Stuart--have kept it a Southern shrine and showplace.

Yet it is the locals’ down-home friendliness, social graces and near-religious devotion to “doing things properly” that sets the city apart. Another newcomer told us that her only firm advice before accepting a job here came from a longtime friend and native: “Bring pearls!”

With all the emphasis placed on the city’s proud heritage and rich fabric of historic sights, there has still been a whole lot of “stirrin’ around” going on since our last visit a few years ago. Once-grungy areas of downtown have given way to new hotels and smart shops. Historic Shockoe Slip, with its iron facades and old tobacco warehouses, continues to blossom as the town’s night-life center. And old homes and neighborhoods, having escaped the country’s mania for urban renewal in the 1950s and ‘60s, now add new pockets of color and beauty to an already beautiful city.

Richmond is naturally very much a museum city. There is the side-by-side Museum of the Confederacy, housing a priceless collection of Confederate memorabilia, and the White House of the Confederacy, the restored home of Jefferson Davis. And there is also one for Edgar Allan Poe, who spent most of his life in Richmond, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, with the largest collection of Faberge eggs outside the former Soviet Union. There are at least 15.

It is also a day-trip city, with Colonial Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson’s Charlottesville and his beloved Monticello, and the bloody battlefields of Cold Harbor, Chickahominy Bluff and Beaver Dam Creek easily reached on a day’s outing. There is also a clutch of historic plantations and their gardens to visit nearby.

The good life in Richmond today doesn’t always revolve around crinolines and cotillions, or mint juleps at debutante parties amid the camellias and museum-hopping. Where else can one go white-water rafting right through the heart of a major American city, as visitors to Richmond can do on the James River?

How long/how much? At least two days for the city, another two or more for side trips. Lodging and dining costs are moderate for a big city.

Getting settled in: Mr. Patrick Henry’s Inn is an 1855 townhouse in Richmond’s oldest neighborhood, just a block from St. John’s Church (dating to 1741), where Patrick Henry proclaimed, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Some bedrooms have working fireplaces and balconies overlooking the garden patio ringed by dogwood, magnolia and ginkgo trees. There’s a tavern and bar in the basement, and formal dining room upstairs presided over by owner-chef James News. The lunch and dinner menus are most imaginative, food and service excellent.

Our second visit to the William Catlin House, built about 1845, confirmed that it is still one of the city’s finest B&Bs.; Beautiful period furniture, gleaming wooden floors, canopied four-posters, crystal chandeliers and fine Oriental rugs give the Catlin an air of distinct elegance. We also found that the bedroom fireplaces, decanters of sherry and wake-up tea or coffee give the house a warm and personal feeling.

Regional food and drink: Throughout Virginia, one finds daily dishes that apparently don’t travel well: peanut soup, spoon bread, she-crab soup, sweet potato pie and biscuits, fresh crab gumbos and chowders. Plentiful catfish and crab cakes are making inroads elsewhere, but they don’t seem quite the same outside their habitat. That also goes for Smithfield-type and Virginia country hams. There’s nothing better than a breakfast of Todd ham slices, grits and red-eye gravy.

Virginia wines are making considerable headway with every harvest, yet iced tea is the usual drink here and it flows faster than the James River.

Good local dining: Millie’s (2603 E. Main St.) is right next to the old Lucky Strike factory (“It’s Toasted” fills a whole wall) and looks like nothing more than a greasy-spoon diner from outside. Inside isn’t a whole lot better, with the cook in white jacket, cutoff jeans and combat boots, booths covered with red Formica, and a jukebox--a ‘50s time warp. Yet he turns out such appetizers as fried plantains, wild greens, crispy polenta and snails, all for $6.25. Sauteed Andouille sausage with fresh crayfish over creamed fettuccine is $16.95, Thai shrimp with shiitake mushrooms, asparagus and red cabbage is the same.

Owner Paul Keevil had a Millie’s in L.A.’s Silver Lake district for seven years, always crowded with Hollywood types. His Richmond crowd ranges from bus drivers to Brooks Brothers, and the food is magnificent.

The Tobacco Company (1201 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Slip) started warehousing the evil weed in 1866, not a particularly good year for war-torn Richmond. It still has the warehouse look, soaring ceilings and an antique caged elevator. Our second visit saw customers still happy at lunch with the fried-oyster po’ boy with pesto sauce, cole slaw and fries for $5.95, crab cake sandwich with the same sides for $7.95. The dinner menu brings such treats as linguine with four fresh seafoods for $16.95, barbecued shrimp New Orleans-style, with a Cajun sauce, fried grits, red beans and sauteed Swiss chard at $14.95. There are also a dozen steaks and chops in the $14-$20 range.

Strawberry Street Cafe (421 N. Strawberry St.) is in the newly upscale Fan District, and is wildly busy at all hours. The embossed old tin ceiling sets the tone, with framed posters adding an arty touch. We had the best crab cakes of the trip here for $11.95, with a choice of six side dishes, and the filet mignon with the same choices for the same price. There’s also a host of Italian dishes ( cioppino , spinach lasagna), and a real-bathtub salad bar with hot dishes for $6.95.

On your own: Please don’t miss a visit to the Museum of the Confederacy, and the White House next door. Shirley Plantation (settled in 1613) is a Queen Anne architectural masterwork, while Berkeley Plantation (built in 1726) has an exceptional collection of the period’s furniture.

There’s a Tour Trolley that loops 34 of Richmond’s historic and cultural landmarks for $5 all day, and one can stop anywhere for lunch, or for shopping or dallying at any favored place. The Richmond National Battlefield Park System contains 10 historic parks that are “must-sees” for Civil War buffs, particularly the one at Cold Harbor, which has films, slide programs and rental cassettes offered by the National Park Service.

Take a two-hour lunchtime cruise on the Annabel Lee riverboat for $13.95, including a buffet lunch, or a variety of other longer cruises on the calm downstream waters of the James River. It leaves from 25th and Main streets in the south of town. Or the stout of heart may choose to shoot the “Falls of the James” on a raft through the center of town, getting thoroughly wet in the process. For the only urban white-water run in the country, contact the Richmond Raft Co. at 4400 E. Main St., (804) 222-7238.

GUIDEBOOK

Richmond Traditions

Getting there: Fly USAir, Delta, American or United from Los Angeles to Richmond. An advance-purchase, round-trip fare is about $398.

Settling in: Mr. Patrick Henry Inn (2300 E. Broad St.; $95-$115 double B&B;); Marriott Richmond (500 E. Broad St.; $135 double, $89 B&B; double weekends); William Catlin House (2304 E. Broad St.; $89.50 double B&B;, $70 with shared bath); The Jefferson (Franklin and Adams streets; $120-$130 double, $95 double B&B; weekends). For substantial discounts on some lodgings, check with the Richmond Visitors Center upon arrival.

For more information: Call the Richmond Visitors Center toll-free at (800) 365-7272, or write (300 E. Main St., Richmond, Va. 23219) for a 64-page color magazine with history, maps, transportation, accommodations, dining and other information on the city and surroundings.