Friday, October 27, 2006

Our trip to Williamsburg...

So, my mom, my sister Michelle, Savannah and I flew to Williamsburg last week. We took two planes and then rented a car and drove 3 hours to see my nieces. They go to school at Liberty. We met them at Applebee's for dinner. My niece, Tabitha, brought her future inlaws to meet us. It was a nice dinner and fun to meet Tabi's "other" family. BTW, Tabi is the one with the wax lips. She loves to eat wax, so Michelle brought her those. We finished dinner and headed back to the hotel to catch Grey's Anatomy and McDreamy. After that we left my mom to sleep and we went back to see the girls' house. It was so cute that I told them we had to bring Grandma back in the morning. We headed back to the hotel and talked for awhile longer. The next morning we did take my mom back and I took a few pictures of her with Sarah and Tabi. Then we said our goodbyes and headed back to Williamsburg. I had printed directions, but somehow I don't think we followed them right or something. I don't know. We got lost, but it was an INCREDIBLE journey! We ended up on the road that the Civil War ended on. I saw a historic marker and pulled off to find that we were where General Lee surrendered to General Grant. The road is supposed to be the same as it was back then. They had 13 soldiers buried there and lots of information to read. It was so very interesting and the day was just beautiful. We left there and went winding up and down roads with the most wonderful fall color. I haven't see autumn like that is a very long time. It was just amazing. We did finally find our way back to Williamsburg. It took longer, but was extremely worth it. We headed over to the Trellis to have a dessert for dinner. Isn't that a good thing? Savannah and I shared Death By Chocolate. When we finished there, we had reservations for a Mysteries, Legends, and Ghost walk that Colonial Williamsburg does. It was very interesting. We got to go to three different spots and had a person dressed in that time tell us a story. After a long day, we headed back to the hotel. The next day we went to Colonial Williamsburg. We got there in time to hear Thomas Jefferson speak. I thought it was great, but Savannah was a little bored. We headed to the Cheese Stop and got sanwiches. They do have great sandwiches to whomever told me to go there. The rest of the day we wandered in and out of the different buildings and saw some of the Revolutionary Show they put on there. I liked what we saw, but I have to say it was different then I imagined. I think I have been to Disney World too may time and am used to things on a the GRAND Disney scale. Williamsburg is true to the time and a much smaller level of entertainment. That is not to say it is not good, just different. We made reservations to see another nighttime show called Mama Said, Papa Said. That had different slaves sharing the wise stories they had been told as children. We really enjoyed this. Afterward, the cast came out and talked with everyone and posed for pictures. The one woman in the picture with Savannah was named Venus in the show. She was so lively and fun to watch. This was a huge highlight of our trip. If you ever go, you have to do the night shows. They are just great. We headed to Cracker Barrel for a late dinner. They were having a sidewalk sale!!! I never knew they did that... what great deals they had! On Sunday, we were supposed to go to Yorktown, but it was rainy and cold. We decided to go to the outlet mall to find Savannah a belt. I had forgotten to pack it and she really needed one. We shopped a little there and found some great things for the kids. Next we went to the Yankee Candle store. This is not your typical Yankee Candle store like in the mall. It is HUGE! It had all sorts of things including a Christmas room that has "snow". We also found where you could dip a candle that you choose into candle colors. Savannah made one for herself and one for her brother. Best of all it was so reasonable in price at only $3 per candle. I think this was a big highlight for her. Next, we went to a small homemade craft store. I love these kinds of shops. So much to look at and all very different. After a long day shopping, we opted for pizza in the room. What is better than a day of shopping, pizza in bed with your warm jammies on? On Monday, we decided to head to the Old Chickahominy House for lunch. I had heard they were great and not to be missed. It is an old plantation style house with lots of antiques and odds and ends for sale. This part was really nice. I found a few things I "had" to have. BUT... the food was AWFUL!!! I mean really, really bad. I thought maybe it was me, but my mom hated hers too and there was another man that refused to eat what he had gotten too. I would still say to stop in and shop, but I would never eat there again. We left there and headed on to Jamestown Settlement. We all really loved Jamestown. It was very cool. Savannah and I had read so much about the Indians and Jamestown and it felt like it was all coming together for us. The people showed us how to shoot, blacksmith, make rope, carve arrowheads and more. We got to go on a replica ship. The people that worked there are so interesting to listen too. If you go to this area, I would say Jamestown is a must even over Colonial Williamsburg. They just opened a pretty extensive museum this month too. We left there and headed to dinner, then back to the hotel and jammies. It was getting COLD!!! On Tuesday morning, we packed up the car and went back to spend the day at Colonial Williamsburg. This time we saw more things than our first day. My mom treated us all to a carriage ride. I thought Savannah would turn inside out waiting for our time to go. She was so excited because she is in love with horses at the moment. Our horses were named Jack and Jill. We also went on a tour of several of the homes including the Governor's Palace. These buildings were really something to see. We made another stop for sandwiches and then we shopped a little in Merchant's Square. I wish we had more time to shop there, but it was all we had. We got in our rental and headed back to the airport. It really was the most amazing trip. I am so glad that we decided to just go ahead and do it. I think it will be one of those things we always remember and think back to how nice it was to take a trip with just the girls.

















1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the trip comments! Me and the "album girls" are heading up there for a scrapbook weekend this Friday. When they leave on Sunday, my husband is joining me for a week without kids! If we venture outside the room, we will now have some ideas to try!
- Bev G.