I've Always Been a Skirt Kind of Girl

We were both soaked by the time we got to our first stop at the Olio food cart at VCU.

Walking up Harrison to the compass, there was a flood of water coming from the alley beside the Pollak building and it was pooling at the curb.

Some idiot tore through the puddle sending a stream of dirty water all over the two of us.

The students on the steps of the building were wildly amused and we were drenched.

Luckily, the sunshine and breeze took care of most of it as we walked, but with shoes soaked through, I squeaked when I walked for a good while.

We'd had lunch at Olio before so I expected a taste delight, but it was even better than I knew.

First of all, the cart's iPod was playing O.D.B and that's not something you hear coming out of your typical VCU food cart, so we gave the cart guy props for that.

My friend got the special, a roasted pork sandwich with cheddar and ailoi and I got the Arc de Triomphe with roasted turkey, triple-creme brie and bacon.

He also ordered gazpacho and I got the corn and black bean salad.

Clutching our Olio bags and watching out for puddle jerks, we headed back to the car and drove to Maymont to join the throngs, having forgotten it was Easter break week and bound to be crowded.

We found a shady bench just inside the gates and tore into our meal.

The sandwiches were terrific, not just for the flavor combinations (triple creme anything makes me very happy), but for the bread.

Olio par-bakes the bread and then makes the sandwiches each morning; they then finish baking off the bread right there.

The heat coming out of that cart is sauna-like, but the results are so worth it.

Fresh baked bread takes a sandwich to a whole new level, not tasting grilled, but rather warm and crusty.

My cumin-infused salad was sublime and friend's gazpacho couldn't have tasted any fresher.

We walked off all that goodness by taking in the Tree Skirt Fashion Show put on by the VCU Sophomore Draping class.

Thirty-plus trees were draped in mostly muslin, some casual and apron-like, some fitted and Barbie-esque and many quite bridal-looking.

Trees of all sizes had been used, giving the effect of slender, young bodies, thicker, more matronly shapes and some downright fat trees with lumps.

Likewise, the skirts ranged from very basic to wildly creative and everything in between.

With many of the trees budding or in bloom, the state of the trees added a human element to the perception of trees as bodies.

My friend is a photographer so he shot trees and skirts from every possible angle, all the while encouraging the tree models with his comments like, "That's it, baby! You're working it. Billow some more."

No, he really said those things.

The skirts are only up through Friday but you can't go wrong with a walk through Maymont and the skirts are the perfect diversion on a sunny day.

After a while, I have to admit, I was getting partial to the shaded skirts, but that was partly the glare of the sun on muslin.

We stopped by the fountain on the way out just to feel the cooler air and were treated to the wind spraying the fountain all over us.

Somehow it felt like more of a treat than our first dousing.

How better to end my afternoon than with my second wet skirt of the day?