Road Trip 2010: Day 8 of 17 (Williamsburg - Chesapeake)

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First reenactor we met in Colonial Williamsburg. We found the characters to be extremely knowledgeable and intelligent - not your typical theme park workers.

Real meat being preserved. It's neat how the place strives to be self sustaining.

The Great Hopes Plantation. One of the many places that make up Colonial Williamsburg.

We stopped and talked with some guys that make all the woodwork - by hand. That looked like hard work.


The scenic Colonial Parkway which connects Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg

Rebuilt Colonial era Governor's Mansion

Evidently it was important to show off your weaponry. The kids loved all the guns and swords.

Beautiful grounds



The Powder Magazine

One of the many trades being reenacted

This guy did a terrific job of explaining the legal process of the day

Printing press

This guy was sizing the boys up for possible trades they might pursue

Burning our feet at Water Country USA. The temps were approaching a 100 degrees.

Finally some relief from the heat

Can we go to the pool since we didn't get to stay at the water park very long

Derek is done. Put a fork in him.

I really wanted see the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel and everyone else was game so we made the trip

Just when we thought there was no place to eat on the desolate other side of the tunnel, we happened upon StingRay's Restaurant which is just the kind of local fare we love to find on our road trips

We couldn't believe our luck when we saw that our RoadFood.com guys had blessed this place

Friday June 4, 2010

It was hot as a mofo - approaching a 100 degrees. We were not happy about the sudden heat wave. We had hoped to avoid the heat of the Summer by doing our trip early in the Summer.

We started the day off in Colonial Williamsburg. I was really looking forward to visiting the place. It was nice but I think my expectations were too high. I'm sure the heat put a damper on things to some extent, but I envisioned a larger town teaming with people, animals, and activity. That wasn't really the case. There were reenactors, but the place and the activity was not to the scale that I expected.

It's fairly big and there are plenty of things to see, but I guess I expected it to be more happening with crowds hustling and bustling about walking about in colonial garb and talking all colonial. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of things that make the place worth visiting. The reenactors were excellent. You get the feeling that they're history majors because they really know their stuff. I would like to go back someday when the weather is nicer and there's more activity.

We told the kids that we would take them to Water Country USA after Colonial Williamsburg so they kept asking when we were going to leave and go the water park. I don't know if it was a terrible mistake telling them about the water park since they were pretty worn down by the heat anyway.

We made it to the water park for a couple hours before it closed. The kids weren't happy about only getting a couple hours at the water park, but we told them we might be able to return the next day.

Williamsburg really is a great family destination. The hotels are relatively inexpensive and we bought 7 day all inclusive passes for Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and Water Country USA at a reasonable price. You can come to Williamsburg and have plenty of activities for a lot less than going to Disney World.

We went back to the hotel for a swim and to get cleaned up. I really wanted to go through the Chesapeak Bridge Tunnel, but I was finding it difficult to fit it in. I floated the idea by the rest of the family and they were up for the drive so we did it. It was pretty cool and I'm glad we saw it, but at the end of the day it's a tunnel.

The Delmarva Peninsula is on the other side of the tunnel and the area is a big National Wildlife area so it's pretty desolate. We were just about to give up on finding any food when we happened upon StingRays's restaurant where we had a terrific meal and experience.

We got back to the hotel in Williamsburg late and exhausted after another long and eventful day.

Road Trip 2010: Day 7 of 17 (Williamsburg - Busch Gardens)

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Adam has the breakfast routine down at Hampton Inn

Since we always get in so late that the pool is closed we decided to do a morning swim


We spent the day at Busch Gardens. It's a beautiful park, in fact, it is supposedly the "World's Most Beautiful Theme Park" for 20 straight years.

The theme is a European Village

Too bad you can't really put your kids in the stockade for these offenses

I love the sky buckets to get a feel for the park

The kids always want to do stupid stuff like this that costs extra. Usually I say no on principle, but it must have been a weak moment.

Soaked after the log ride

Derek and I rode the Griffon with its 90 degree let you hang there for a while and think about it drop

All smiles after the Griffon - and to think Derek used to be scared to go on roller coasters

I loved that there was more to the park than just the rides

Adam wanted to see all the animals

The kids always ran to see what kind of frightened expression Helen had in the photo after every ride. She's notorious for looking scared out of her mind while everyone else in the picture looks normal.

Loch Ness Monster coaster was a favorite

Adam played and played in this kid's area for a long time. We sent Derek to find him a couple times but Adam wouldn't leave until he had his fill.

We ate a Bavarian lunch while we watched a show

Adam was still a couple inches short of being able to ride many of the thrill rides, but he still likes to ride the little kid rides

We had some good bumper car grudge matches

Adam got stung on one of the last rides. He felt better when a medical person bandaged him up and gave him a fast pass to a ride of his choice, the Loch Ness Monster coaster.

After the park we drove to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center. Most of the areas were closed but there were still some displays open so you could get a feel for things.

They even have a shop where you can rent colonial costumes to wear around Williamsburg

I liked how they marketed the Historic Triangle (Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown) towns together. They are all connected by the Colonial Parkway, which is a national scenic byway.

We had to stop by the exercise room each day so the kids could try to beat their record

Thursday June 3, 2010

It was a nice feeling to know that we were going to be staying in one place for a few days. Packing up each day was wearing on us.

We felt bad that each night we would return so late that the pool would be closed so we decided to let the kids go swimming in the morning before heading out.

Derek has been psyched about going to Busch Gardens since I told him that there was one in Williamsburg before the trip. We thought Derek might not be as into Colonial Williamsburg if he was wishing he was at Busch Gardens the whole time, so we decided to go to Busch Gardens first.

While we're on our road trips we make an effort to "unplug". We don't watch any TV or read any newspapers, although sometimes the TV is on in the breakfast area or we'll catch a headline on a newspaper. It's a little strange but very liberating. We usually don't even look at the weather forecasts, but happened to see that the expected highs were going to be approaching 100 degrees. We were in shock. One of the reasons we go on our trip so early in the Summer is to avoid the hottest days.

Thankfully there were plenty of trees and water in Busch Gardens so it didn't feel too bad, but you could definitely tell that someone turned up the heat. We found Busch Gardens to be very nice - maybe as close to the Disney World feeling as you can get for a non Disney Park, but it still falls pretty short of Disney. Derek says Busch Gardens in better because there are more thrill rides and shorter lines. Adam was still a couple inches short of being able to ride all the thrill rides, but he seemed content to ride the kid rides.

After Busch Gardens we drove to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center to get a feel for the place. Most of the displays were closed, but you could tell from the scale of the place and the parking lot that the place is a popular destination.

For dinner we went to a local restaurant called Food For Thought, which seemed to get good reviews. It was a neat place with lots of thought provoking puzzles and high brow displays that fit in with the "have fun while you learn something" feel of the area.