Was It Worth It? Colonial Williamsburg

We just returned from our first big field trip of the year. Quite a few people from our local homeschool community went over the past week or two. I thought it was worth gathering our thoughts on it as an educational experience for others who may want to consider this in future years.

For starters, while I am typically a SUPER type A person and like to have things planned fully, this was an exercise in “letting go,” for me. I bought a 2 day homeschool ticket, scheduled a hotel, looked over a few things, and just went for it. Thankfully, a local friend LOVES the area and reassured me that with nothing more than an entry ticket, I would not run out of things to do, even if I had no plan. So, we did not purchase any additional tours or activities, simply a 2 day homeschool ticket.

Day 1 was our drive down.

We stopped at Bangles and Beads in Richmond on our way down because the kiddo was itching for a boutique bead store. If you do ANYTHING with beads, I HIGHLY recommend it. Great prices, huge selection, easy to find, parking garage in the back that, at the time I went, was $1 to park for the day. We scooted across the street for some Boba Tea and macarons, and would absolutely recommend that spot too. Their pumpkin macaron was delicious. We finished our drive into town and stayed at the Comfort Inn at 331 Bypass Rd. At the time, I think I paid about $80 a night. It was incredibly clean, comfortable, quiet, and located in a safe space. We usually don’t branch outside of the Hampton Inn when we travel because it’s consistent (especially when just my kiddo and I). But, in an effort to save some money, we swapped. I wouldn’t have known I wasn’t at the Hampton. We stayed in a 2 queen bed room. It was about a 5 minute drive to the Visitor Center at Williamsburg, tons of food around, and 13 minutes down the road was Great Wolf Lodge, which our friend’s found for $99 a night. It also included breakfast which looked like waffles, eggs, sausage or bacon depending on the day, juices, oatmeal, cereal, fruit, muffins, donuts, bagels and breads.

A note on Great Wolf, while it was enjoyable for a day or two, I’m not sure it would have filled my 11 year old’s, “bored,” quota for much more than that as a solo kid. But, if you have a group of kids that all enjoy water slides, this could be different. It was small, and perfect for our 2 days (we visited friends who were staying and enjoyed the space with them) but she would have gotten bored with more than that).

Things to note about Williamsburg.

• The main road is closed down, which is great if you have kids who like a little bit a freedom to move.
• There are fields they can run in too if they need to get wiggles out.
• Feel free to pack food. Plenty of people packed picnic lunches to eat in one of the grassy areas, or even go back to the car and get food from a cooler.
• Snacks and candy aren’t really in your face, so you could get through it without kids nagging for all the extra food and things.
• You can ask any tradesman questions, you can talk to impersonators of different historical figures and get information from them. There is TONS to learn and see and do all included with your ticket
• Parent hack: You’ll have to show your tickets. Either print them out and put them on a sticker or a clip for your kids, or just set the tickets from the email as your lockscreen image on your cell phone.

On to Williamsburg itself.

We went for 2 days, and we did not see everything.  We arrived at open (8:45 am), and left around 2 each day (it was warm, and the full sun and walking did us in early).  I’d do more days next time, and plan for partial days in the morning, and then something fun in the afternoon.  Between Great Wolf Lodge, Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, and of course Virginia Beach or Newport News just down the way, there would be plenty of other activities to participate in. I think if I were making an entire week or so of things and intending to do Williamsburg and the surrounding areas, I would plan for 1/2 to 3/4 of the day in Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown, and then I would spend the afternoon poolside or beachside. Definitely worth keeping in mind that if you come from somewhere that doesn’t see a lot of full sun, and you go when it’s still quite warm, plan for something slightly more recreational to do in the afternoon because little’s will probably tap out.

On day 1 of Williamsburg we saw/toured the Gun Smith, Capitol Building, Public Gaol (jail), Charlton’s Coffee House and Apothecary. Then we stopped in to Kings Arms Tavern for lunch. We ordered 1 house made rootbeer, and 1 housemade cider (the cider is totally worth it). The Brunswick stew was DELICIOUS, and the Crock of Cheese was not what I was expecting (a cold cheese ball type dip rather than a melty cheesy dip). And we ordered the vanilla ice cream (highly recommend) and the butter pecan (vanilla was better, in my opinion). While walking the main drag, we stumbled upon a reenactment happening in the street, then into the William Pitt store, the Bookbinder, and then we ended our day at the Courthouse for another reenactment. We hopped the bus on the backside of the magazine and went back to the car, and then to swim. A note about the 3pm bus ride back to the car. It was PACKED. They were squishing on as many people as they could. Sitting or standing did not make a difference to them. With a lot of littles, that might have been difficult. You do not, however, HAVE to take the bus just because it shows up. They’re continuously cycling. So, if you find one is too crowded, you could wait for another.

Since we were meeting up with friend’s while there, we all went out for tacos Jose Tequilas which, while good, wouldn’t have made it to my “must do it again next time we’re down,” list of foods. It was delicious, clean, and polite wait staff, it just wasn’t anything I couldn’t get at home.

Day 2 we arrived at 8:45 again. Again, parked in the visitor center. If you happen to be morning people, I highly recommend getting there earlier. At least during their homeschool days, the parking lot was empty and it gave you the pick. We found a large tree to back in under, and then put the sun shade up in the windshield. The car was noticeably cooler on day 2 with that planning. It was appreciated.

That morning, the bus arrived more like 9:15. So, we were waiting around for a bit of time. But, we were talking to some people while in line who had done the Jamestown Settlement. He was saying there is the commercialized one, sort of like Williamsburg, where you can go onto ships and interact with the space around you. And there is another, the actual site of the settlement, in a national park close by, that they went out to. So, that’s worth noting if it were on your agenda to do. There is a little path that is mabe a 10 minute walk that would spit you out by the bus stop for the Governors Palace. We took it on the way back. Knowing what I know now, we would have taken it on the way down too instead of waiting around for 30 minutes between the time we got there and the time the bus finally showed up.

We toured the Governors Palace to start our day. I highly recommend it. The woman giving the tour was AMAZING about all the different views that would have been represented in that house at the time. The view/feeling of those representing the crown, local Virginians, Native Americans, and those who were enslaved there. I think that was one of my favorite parts of this experience (of the entirety of Williamsburg, not just the palace). They did their best to stay true to history. The courthouse reenactment has someone say, “There may be views and language in these reenactments you may be offended by. We do our best to keep things historically accurate. It does not mean we agree with them, endorse them, or believe in them. However, if this is something that could be offensive enough to detract from the experience for you, we encourage you to come back at 3pm and tour the property at your leisure without a reenactment going on.” Nowhere was history portrayed as only from the English perspective and therefore amazing and carefree. All perspectives were accounted for. There was a lot to make you think (even if you had already considered all the perspectives). A lot that we came back to the hotel and looked up to read more on. It was really a diverse representation of everyone who was living in the area at the time.

After the Governor’s Palace we moved on to the Peyton Randolph property. This is a property that is still in it’s original position and building. It was inhabited up until the 60’s. And while they recreated some additions (such as the kitchen which had been moved into the home during the time people were living in it, but needed to be moved back outside to best represent what they would have looked like in the 1700’s), much of the house is original. It was very humbling to be in the same space, same building, that our founding fathers had been in. There was also a very somber realness in the discussion that those enslaved to the property played in history. We have had these talks with our 11 year old, but the way our guide presented this certainly hit home a little more for her. We hit a few other trades and then made our way to the Art Museums for the afternoon for both walking through, and eating lunch. Their smoked chicken BBQ sandwich and their mac and cheese were delicious, and I would absolutely go back for those.

We went back to the gardens at the Governor’s Palace, and to tour the wine cellar (which is in the original foundation with the original bricks) before walking the path back to the Visitor Center and making our way back to the car.

All in all, it was a great 2 days. My daughter learned a bunch. Both random facts, and a wonderful jumping off point for some of our history studies this year. We continued on to do 2 days at Virginia Beach, which the laziness was welcome after 2 days of walking around. Should you continue down, Shorebreak Pizza and Taphouse was delicious. Although it was also really loud (Saturday is not the night for this. College football is serious down south). We also went to May’s Parlor at the suggestion of friend’s living there and it did not disappoint. We would definitely be back again should we be in Virginia Beach.

On our way home, we stopped by the Luray Caverns which I’d also recommend, and will make a separate post for those who may be interested.

All in all, it was absolutely worth it, and I am already anticipating our next trip down.