New Experiences: More of the Williamsburg Area

Most of our friends and followers have probably realized our interest in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We visited this spring break, taking in a few new or new-to-the-kids places.

Finally, we took the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, a free ride across the river on the unique transportation of a ferry boat.  In any kind of reasonable weather, it's fun to get out of your car on the ride and enjoy the fresh air, views of Jamestown Island, and the classic nature of the "upper deck" of the ferry, a small enclosed viewing platform that's also home to many of the life jackets.  It was actually J's first ferry trip, too.  He remembers his mom telling stories of buying nabs (crackers) on the ferry--you can't do that any longer, but it is still a delightful little trip!

You don't have to have a purpose in riding the ferry, but we did: to arrive at Surry and see Bacon's Castle.  We'll have to return to Bacon's Castle, as it was closed on the day of our visit and we hadn't picked up on the hours.  We did wind through the countryside to the site (GPS recommended), saw the brick house known as the castle, and still hope to return in the fall.

We returned to Jamestown Island and detoured to the Jamestown Glasshouse, part of the Jamestown National Park Service site and home to its own passport stamp.  We'd not spent substantial time there in a while, so it was good to take the short path through the woods to the glasshouse and watch glass blown for a short while.  The gift shop here is a good stop for true artisan glass pieces made on site.

E and G are finally of an age where they can at least somewhat understand the value of a good meal with new flavors and a little ambiance.  We were so proud of them at Kephi Greek Kitchen, a new restaurant in the former Milano's location on Richmond Road.  Kephi serves authentic Greek food including G's new favorite, lemon chicken and rice soup, and a great selection of reasonably-priced desserts including ekmek, a new-to-us treat with shredded wheat and cream.  

We also took them to the Old Chickahominy House, a classic restaurant at which we'd never stopped but that J had seen in old tourist books.  Casual, reasonable, and somehow still elegant, it was also a great stop for traditional southern food.  It's a breakfast/lunch place with delicious, albeit interestingly flat, biscuits.

We also did two walking tours with Williamsburg Walking Tours.  We started with their ghost tour, which was a nice outing with more thoughtful treatment of history than some ghost tours in the area provide.  We returned the next day for the African-American History Tour and were absolutely delighted with our guide Trish's sincerity.  She was very knowledgeable and had clearly studied primary as well as secondary sources. She was also able to help all of us on the tour connect to each other and truly enjoy our time together--what a gift!   There's a $1 off coupon in the Go Williamsburg guide, too.  

If you go, check out our other blogs on Williamsburg, including one on Christmastide in the area.  We always recommend a ghost tour or similar tour for a taste of local history--whether you think you enjoy spooky stories or not.  We do steer clear of the "gadget-y" ones and recommend you do the same unless you have a particular interest.  Our picks of value-laden (nothing fancy) places to stay are Colonial Williamsburg's Governor's Inn and the Best Western Historic District--both allow you to walk right in to the colonial section of town. Virginia residents interested in visiting the Colonial Williamsburg buildings (going inside), there's a special on passes right now!  You can purchase the passes online and use them later in the season.  If you are in coastal Virginia right now, we also recommend you not miss Lantern Asia at Norfolk Botanical Garden.

Yorktown, Virginia: The Revolutionary Experiment

Yorktown, Virginia--well, it can be a little overlooked.  Part of America's Historic Triangle, it previously hadn't seen the "updates" to visitor spaces and museums of nearby Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.  However, a major renovation resulted in the newly-revitalized American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.  Not to be confused with a similarly-named museum in Philadelphia, this site updates the museum space that contextualizes the last battle of the American Revolutionary War.

The museum does do a bit of "dazzing" as indicated in its promo materials--there's a video with multi-dimension effects, multiple exhibits that make use of touch screens to provide different perspectives and data, and kid-oriented hands-on components that intrigue younger and older visitors alike.  The changing exhibit space is large and currently contains AfterWARd, an exhibit about what happened to various revolutionary figures after the war (and yes, it includes Alexander Hamilton). There's also an outdoor living history area where one can visit a small Virginia farm and see artillery demonstrations.  There are not, however, a ton of artifacts on display in the museum; this space is designed in a more open, less busy contemporary style.  However, we Haltermans missed more artifacts and more related signage--that is still something we enjoy.  We will still recommend your visit, forgiving some points of weaker interpretation in favor of the overall importance of Yorktown.  While visiting the museum, your experience will be enriched if you pay close attention to the photographs--there are some common individuals that figure in several exhibits if you are paying attention.

The nearby National Parks Service Yorktown Battlefield Park is worth your time as well--and the nominal entry fee.  In the visitor's center, check out George Washington's actual tents from the Revolutionary War, as well as the kid-famous walk-through "boat."  On the battlefield, the cannons are unique.  And in the town?  Visit the Thomas Nelson House and Grace Episcopal Church.  We passed by a guided tour, which appeared to be quite well-interpreted.  Engage the staff in chatting about the role of the Nelson House(s) and Cornwallis Cave--like many historic sites, Yorktown has its share of real history and myth.  There's even a ghost tour we'll have to take in someday.  For more on our previous adventures in this park, including the Moore House, click here.

If you go, know that the American Revolution Museum as well as the nearby National Park Service site provide ample free parking.  There are walking paths between the sites that are reasonably easy to access and that also connect you to Riverwalk Landing and the Yorktown Waterfront.  The living history area at the American Revolution Museum is gated, making it a great place for a trip with kids. In the busy and hot summer, consider starting your visit early in the day and making the museum area your air conditioned destination for last.  A family could easily make a day of Yorktown, especially with a picnic.  There are restaurants on the waterfront that are lovely--but there are not a ton of super-casual, hot-day, just-grab-a-bite family options.

Several friends have asked us about our lodging on this trip--we stayed in Colonial Williamsburg at the Colonial Houses.  This was a great experience that was paradoxically both quaint and luxurious, an excellent choice for a couples weekend.  We secured a nice rate on Hotels.com.  Do ask questions upon reservation, especially if you are looking for particular accessibility features.  Staying in the Houses comes with nice perks associated with the Inn at Colonial Williamsburg and affords you the opportunity to say you've stayed at an Historic Hotels of America property.

Contained Kid Fun: Great Wolf Lodge

In an unusual turn of events, E and his sitter/our family friend A got an opportunity to take in Williamsburg, Virginia's Great Wolf Lodge this summer!  Great Wolf is simply kid legendary in the area--E was thrilled and gave it two thumbs up.  The lodge itself is convenient to I-64 in the Williamsburg area, which also makes a fabulous excuse for visiting Colonial Williamsburg and other great area attractions including but not limited to Jamestown, Yorktown, the Virginia Living Museum, and the US Army Transportation Museum.  We opted to have E and A enjoy a total in-resort two days (really a half day, full day, and a half day) to take full advantage of the water park, however, on their trip.

E had a lot of fun in the water park area, which is nicely contained and thoroughly supervised.  It was a bit smaller than we expected, and the more grown up slides, which are basically all enclosed, had a clear element of mystery about them.  If you can, go sliding with friends and family after dark--there are many options for tandem/group slides and some unique lighting in the slide tubes.  The lazy river and the wave pool are also winners, being reasonable places to relax.  Do, however, expect sensory overload--it's a noisy, busy place.  Other places where you can get a dose of sensory overload include the sprayground water playground in the center of the park.  You will get seriously drenched here, and you will do serious climbing as well--consider water shoes if your feet are sensitive.  Other items we enjoyed included the water obstacle course, which is more difficult than it looks but which E navigated with skill.

If you go, know the resort area can definitely keep kids busy for at least a day or two, particularly if they have a friend present.  We'd recommend taking full advantage of the indoor water park, but summer travelers should know there are not a lot of water features outside.  E also recommends MagiQuest and thinks it's cool you can keep your wand for playing at other sites.  If you already have a wand, consider bringing it along for potential cost savings for your MagiQuest play.  Take a look at various packages offered for activities--and know you can trade passes between kids.  Not every kid is going to want to do every activity (and we judged some overpriced), so take a good look at the resort layout itself.  Also, consider toting your food in from the very nearby Walmart for a cost savings.  And adults, the play areas of this resort can get loud--bring some quiet activities for the kids to chill with in your room (some nice board games or something) so they can get away a bit every now and again.  Other items you may wish to be aware of: life jackets are available, everyone wears digitized room keys that are plastic bracelets (and to which you can load funds for incidentals), the resort grounds are quite large (expect long hallway walks), there are long lines at peak check-in times in the lobby, and there are a handful of casual restaurants including Pierce's Pitt BBQ really nearby if you wish to leave the resort and sit down and eat as well.

Age of Revolution: Yorktown, VA

On our tenth anniversary weekend trip, we took an afternoon trip to Yorktown Battlefield that is worthy of its own blog entry.  Highly-driveable from Williamsburg, Virginia, or any other spot in the Historic Triangle, Yorktown is known as the site of our nation's victory against the British.  Tour it with J, and you'll also hear about how Yorktown produced a truce more than our immediate nationhood, and you'll hear about the greater context of the Age of Revolution--and how the world did not revolve around the American Revolution.  He'll still inspire you with American history, of course, and you'll leave with a better understanding of the whole shebang and a different sense of gratitude for our nationhood.

For this visit, we did a large portion of the driving tour, walked to the preserved and reconstructed redoubts (earthen forts), and saw the seasonally-open Moore House where the terms of the truce/surrender were negotiated.  Little is known about the Moore family, but the site is significant in the history of preservation, as it is the first NPS preservation of its kind, accomplished by a CCC group.  The redoubts provoke similar curiosity, and one suddenly realizes "George Washington was here" when walking around them.  The NPS Battlefield site also has a small visitor's center that displays Washington's tents from the battle--the real deal.  Walking around in the park, while historic, is also beautiful.

If you are also going to Historic Jamestowne within the year, it may be smarter for you to buy an annual admission pass to the local NPS parks.  When planning your trip, keep "new" and "old" Jamestown and Yorktown separate in your mind--they are four separate entities.  The "new" sites are living history parks managed by the Commonwealth of Virginia; the "old" sites are preserved remains managed by the National Park Service.  "New" Yorktown is being redesigned--we're sure to bring you a blog about that next year!

Offbeat Virginia Beach: Because We Would Go for the Beatles-Themed Restaurant and the Pirate Ride

On a recent anniversary gift-of-a-trip weekend (thanks, J!!), J and K drove from our base in Williamsburg, Virginia, to Virginia Beach, Virginia--about an hour + traffic of a drive.  Now, many people might have gone for the shoreline, and K enjoyed peeking over to the Atlantic, the boardwalk, and the beach crowds.  However, a less-urban beach like Holden is more our style, and we were really here for the touristy whatnot.

We'd always wanted to visit Captain Cline's Pirate Ghost Ride, a dark ride through black-lit displays of pirates (and a few relics of previous dark rides on the site, like some Egyptian figures and a dinosaur).  The Cline in the name is Rockbridge County's Mark Cline of Foamhenge fame, and the attraction is fun like you'd expect.  There are no drops on the track nor are there big thrills in the daytime, but there are live actors present after 7 PM.  The ride is around $8 a person, which is pricey for 5 minutes of general fun but not bad for Roadside America supporters and pirate fans.  In researching this blog entry, K learned that there is a coupon available via the website--and that it is the ride's last season.  If you are thinking about it, you should go!

K, having heard of the Abbey Road Pub from a friend, wanted to take Beatles-fan J to this small near-the-ocean restaurant.  It's a nice place for breakfast or a casual lunch, and yes, they do have Fab Four memorabilia on display along with fabulous outdoor murals along the parking lot.  It is also a live music venue and a late-night place if you are interested.  We received a nice welcome and enjoyed lunch at the window, watching people walk by.

Being so close to ocean kitsch, we also had to play putt-putt.  Pirates Paradise Mini Golf was right on the corner and was a well-maintained, reasonably challenging course.  It had fewer "bells and whistles" than Myrtle Beach or Pigeon Forge putt-putt, but we had a great time.  Before evening, buying any game automatically gives you play-all-day privileges, a good deal--especially with a coupon on their website, too.

If you go, you are very likely to have to pay for parking (about $10) unless you luck into a restaurant with private parking who is willing to let you stay on their lot after your meal.  All of these places were extremely close as we entered the beach from I-295.  Again, Virginia Beach feels like an urban beach to us--lots of beachwear stores, people selling timeshares, ice cream stands, etc.  It put K in mind of the area near the Gay Dolphin and the former Pavilion at Myrtle Beach, SC, in the 1980s with its bustle.

One of Our Favorite Traditions: Williamsburg for Christmastide

We're so glad we've learned over the years that Williamsburg, Virginia, is a wonderful place for Christmastide.  Colonial Williamsburg follows a traditional "12 Days of Christmas" calendar, drawing the celebration through to Epiphany on January 6, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg's ChristmasTown lasts until December 31.  From this has evolved several great years of "after" Christmas celebration for our family, a group of notorious holiday people.  It's a simple enough trip to arrange: we hit Hotwire for a hotel, spend an afternoon and evening in ChristmasTown, and spend a day walking Colonial Williamsburg.

We were truly blessed at this year's ChristmasTown.  The weather was so warm that Gwen took her coat off without our protest and everyone else, including the employees, seemed to think major rainstorms were imminent, resulting in the park operating with about 10% of the visitors it can handle.  Keeping in mind that ChristmasTown, like Howl-o-Scream in the fall, sometimes closes due to capacity, this made for an amazingly low-crowd trip.  If you go, we'd share these tips:

* Visit the penguins close to park close when the lines and crowds are the most limited.
* One coaster is usually running, weather permitting.  If you really want to ride, ride early--if the temperature dips below a certain point, staff do not run the coaster.
* Yes, you can take your own pictures with Santa (see above).
* Holiday Hills in the Festa Italia section of the park is far and away our favorite area.  As our late Granny Helen wonderfully put it, "It looks like it is really Christmas."  There are lots of blow mold Christmas decorations, colorful lights, and retro Coca-Cola ads--what a nostalgic 1950s atmosphere. Holiday Hills is also a great place to eat dinner--Rudolph's Diner is a buffet and one of the best deals in the park.
* We hear great things about all the shows, but usually, we just do the show in the Globe Theatre as we enter the park and spend the evening enjoying the outdoor lights.  This year welcomed Scrooge No More!, a succinctly-adapted version of the Dickens classic.  Justin is a Christmas Carol expert, and he approved.
* Elijah recommends the sky cars Flight of Lights, what he formerly called "the buckets."  Gwen recommends the kiddie hot air balloon ride.

Our vote is that Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas is well-enjoyed simply walking through it, especially if you do not have time for a multi-day visit.  Justin and Kim have enjoyed their "holiday package" of admission, accommodations, and decoration walking tour before, and we'd recommend it to couples.  The decorations tour nicely explains Christmas traditions in Williamsburg historically and in today's Colonial Williamsburg, giving you tips you can use for years to come in scouting out your favorite decorations.  Don't forget to also walk the village at night--and walk in to the Williamsburg Inn if you can--and stop in Bruton Parish Episcopal Church to smell the wonderful greenery.  A few of our favorite decorations from this year appear below.  Merry Christmas!

Ship bound!

Justin and Elijah took in Jamestown Settlement (formerly Jamestown Festival Park) this summer.  They tell me, their humble blogger, that they really enjoyed the ships, exploring every inch of them.  The festival park is the site of Jamestown's living history exhibition and includes reconstructions of the ships and dwellings of settlers and Native American Indian constructions.  Our son wanted to be sure he visited each of the Powhatan homes furnished with furs and turtle shells.  At the fort, expect artillery demonstrations with cannon fire, and you'll have an opportunity to try on armor from the time period.  Don't be one of the folks there that says, "So this is where the Pilgrims landed?"  That's a different place, plus you'll view an immersive museum on your way in that should contextualize Jamestown nicely.  Do ask questions (or read more) about Jamestown history, which has been fairly sanitized here. 

If you haven't been to the park (or haven't been in a while), know it was remodeled for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement in 2007. The center now welcomes you with flags from all 50 states, a large lobby/ticketing area, and a pretty comprehensive gift shop. The food in the food court/cafeteria is perfectly acceptable for families and student groups.  They sell some unusual "local" foods including peanut soup and bread pudding, as well as classic tourist food like pizza.  It's good food, but the ordering environment can be confusing and the food's a bit pricey.  If it is going to be a hot day, go early and do the outside exhibits first, returning to the museum.

If you have more time, drive out to Historic Jamestowne, a site that incorporates a great deal of information on historic preservation and archeology because it is the site of the original settlement.  It's typically the Jamestown we hit--we really like the walk it affords across a small marsh on a nice wooden bridge, not to mention the walk along the water to the Archaearium (museum of archeology).  And if you know us personally and are headed here (or anywhere in the area), you simply must talk with Justin.  He'll give you great tips.  Also very nearby?  Jamestown Glasshouse, a free live demonstration of glass blowing with an attractive gift shop selling glass creations and souvenirs.

Relevant Twitter Handles:
@Virginia1607

Merry Christmas, Williamsburg!

By far, one of the most beautiful Christmas sites in Virginia is Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg's creative decorations demonstrate ingenuity in as much as they are attractive. A walk through the colonial area (which does not require a visitor's pass) is an inexpensive delight that lasts long into the season, as Williamsburg marks Christmas through Epiphany (January 6). The tours offered by the Foundation help one to appreciate the "how" of the decorating--and encourage walks off the beaten path--and are valuable if time permits. If you have visitor's passes, visit the Rockefeller home sporting its 1950s Christmas decor, too!

Now, Christmas visits are also possible at gorgeous Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a real festival of Christmas lights in Christmas Town. The park, which is open in the late-day/evening seasonally, impressed us with a twinkling Peace on Earth display and a skycar ride over above thousands of holiday lights. Elijah enjoyed the Christmas on Sesame Street show, a perfect length for a toddler's attention span. We hit a small artic animal exhibit called Polar Pathway right before park close, resulting in sharply-reduced wait times and good "look time" for a young child. Know that Christmas Town is a time for taking in shows and decor more than rides.

If you go, know that you will also encounter outlet shopping in the Williamsburg area, adding to the holiday potential of such a trip. Merchants' Square in the colonial area boasts specialty store shopping including an upscale toy store and the Peanut Shop of Williamsburg, a great place to snack on samples and buy stocking stuffers. Additionally, there's excellent Christmas ornament shopping at Bassett's and Christmas Mouse. As frequent visitors to the area, we recommend eating at Food for Thought, a unique American restaurant, and Milano's, a quiet Italian place, both on Richmond Road. For lodging, try Colonial Williamsburg's Woodlands (nice walk to the historic area), the economical Governor's Inn (quick walk to Merchants' Square), or Embassy Suites Williamsburg (for a less-pricey suite-style room).

Relevant Links:
Colonial Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg