DC Trip Highlights – Colonial Williamsburg
When the Major and I started talking about this trip, he asked if we wanted to go to Colonial Williamsburg. I had been there 20 years ago, but because it was a school trip, all we got to do was the evening lantern tour and that was it. And I barely remember it, it was such a blur.
So I jumped at the chance to go and see everything as an adult.
It was about a 2 hour drive from the Major and Q-Bee’s house, but we got there at an early enough hour, and started seeing the sights. I have so many pictures that I’m just going to go over the highlights.
First of all, Colonial Williamsburg is a city frozen in time – specifically, the year 1775. The surviving buildings from that time have been carefully preserved, and other buildings have been reconstructed on their original foundations to be as historically accurate as possible. Anyone can walk through Colonial Williamsburg, but only with paid admission passes do you get to go into the exhibits and tours.
Original structures include Bruton Parish Church, which has been an active church since 1715…
… and has a churchyard surrounding it filled with historical graves. Some predate the American Revolution. But these here are unknown Confederate soldiers from 1862.
The George Wythe House is also an original structure. George Wythe was Thomas Jefferson’s law tutor and friend, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The Governor’s Palace is a 1930’s reconstruction of the original, which burned down after the Revolutionary War while serving as a hospital. The kids and I took the tour, and it is very fascinating to see, even if it isn’t the original.
It makes a great backdrop for family pictures, though.
We visited a good chunk of the exhibit houses and trade shops. Plus there were plenty of places to go shopping. The people who work there are always in period-appropriate costume, and visitors are welcome to be in costume as well. There was a costume rental place at the visitors’ center. Plus, you can always buy clothes and accessories while out at the stores. Rerun swapped his baseball cap a couple of times to try on a girls’ straw hat…
… and a more appropriate tricorner hat.
Thumper even tried on a tricorner.
The kids had a good time getting to run around and look at things. Especially when it was stuff like the stocks outside of the courthouse.
We also ate at two of the historical taverns – the King’s Arms Tavern and Chowning’s Tavern.
We made this an overnight trip, so we could see more things, and stayed at a nearby Holiday Inn Express. It was such a great experience for us all.
If we lived in Virginia, I could easily see Colonial Williamsburg being something that our family would buy an annual pass for. It was a fascinating blend of Revolutionary history and modern-day tourism and shopping.
The Webmaster and I hope to take the kids there again someday, when the little ones are old enough to appreciate it more! Ane loved it, and she loved the time with her cousins, too.
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