Hartian Family Vacation To Williamsburg!!! (And, Um, Some Other Places.) – Saturday and Sunday.

We decided that on Saturday morning instead of leaving early like we had intended, we would stay that day and book a hotel in Roanoke, Virginia instead of driving as far as we could. We really did not want to leave! It has been so much fun exploring the places where America set its roots.

We got up early (for us) and packed the car as it started to rain… And didn’t stop… Until we left for home. Thus I don’t have a lot of pictures of outside at Williamsburg, because It was kind of like, “Alright, everyone ready?” *A general nodding of heads and chorus of yeses.* “Okay. On the count of three, everyone run as fast as you can to the store across the street.” *Grabbing bags and getting ready to run* “One…Two…Three…… GO!” *Everyone runs as fast as they can to the other store. Then we all freeze because of the air conditioning. 😑 It was kind of another Animal Kingdom, situation, except we didn’t have raincoats or an umbrella. And the rain didn’t stop. We seemed to be the only people in Williamsburg without an umbrella or a poncho.

We went to Blackbird Bakery for breakfast and got one egg sandwich, a couple mini quiches, a sticky bun and a few other things for later. Then, after running to a place across the street with a bathroom, we sprinted to the car and sat and dripped as we ate breakfast and drove to the Williamsburg museum. The entrance was through the mental hospital. 🤭😖 Ugh. I feel bad for the people who had to stay there. The room where mentally disturbed people stayed in 1773 was a literal cell. They had a mattress on the floor and a chain attached to the wall and that was about it for furnishings. The 1845 apartment for them was a little better, but still. Those poor people. It would be awful to be so depressed or mentally unstable you needed care.

The museum was really cool. We got to see 18th century furniture, instruments, clothing and paintings. We also got to see toys, muskets, china and silver and gold ware. There was a display showing all sorts of things they found when they were excavating Williamsburg, including a rats nest and a display showing how they built one of the buildings in Williamsburg and how they knew what it looked like and what was in there. The museum was so COOL! If you ever go to Williamsburg I totally recommend it. —>

We ate lunch at Aromas. it is one of the restaurants in the modern shops area.

After lunch we went to Everything Williamsburg, and I was able to get a quill pen with ink that I had been wanting. Then, we went on a search for a particular doll dress. Williamsburg sells matching doll and girl gowns at unreasonably high prices (the outfits are handmade though).  When we were there like three years ago, I was able to get a purple dress and sash of the evergreen pattern. (The dress was $80 and the sash was $13. I paid for most of it by myself. I think the dresses are less now and the sash comes with them).  They also had a doll gown of the same pattern and sash color. However, we learned that this year the pattern they had been using to make the dresses was no longer in use, and they had sold out of those particular dresses. The nice woman at the counter of Everything Williamsburg pointed us to a store that might still have them. It was the milliners. They did not have it, but Mrs. Robin, who worked at the counter of the shop told us that that particular pattern was on sale, so I should just buy one of the dresses and make my own. It would be cheaper than getting a dress anyway. She called the William Pitt store and checked to see if they had some clothes in the pattern. They did, so we went on over there, and were able to buy a skirt that I can make the dresses out of for $15.

One of the reasons we wanted to stay that day is because a friend of ours sent us a list of the reneactors to meet, and two of them were supposed to be out and about on Saturday. We were going to try to meet Lafayette, but he was only out for a few minutes, and we missed him. We decided not to try and wait for young Thomas Jefferson because of the rain. We ended up getting to our Home2 Suite (we totally recommend staying in a Home2 Suites hotel. They are newer and can fit six people, depending on the room you get. Also, the breakfasts are good)  around 10:00 – 11:00. We walked across the street to get Panera for dinner.

 

 

 

 

Sunday, we woke up, had everything packed by 9:00, ate breakfast, and left by 10:00. We’ve pretty much driven all day. I’ve just been writing/sleeping because we’re all exhausted. We stopped for lunch at a place called Tamarack in West Virginia. There’s a food court and they sell a lot of art. It’s fun to look around. Then we’ve pretty well been driving. As we were going through Chicago we saw IFI’s (Illinois Family Institute) Abortion takes human life sign. I think we’re going to get home around 11:00.

 

Hey! If you and your family are planning on going to Williamsburg, check out our list of things to do below. This makes a great trip for families, especially homeschoolers, because it’s amazingly fun, super educational, and great for bonding. A fun idea for your trip is to start reading The Voice, The Revolution, and The Key by Jenny L. Cote before you leave. This book is great for all ages (even adults and teens. I’m 15 and I love it!) and walks you through the beginning of the Revolution and Patrick Henry’s childhood and part of his adult life through the eyes of a group of seven animals who are on a mission from God to help the giants of the Revolution start a new country, while defeating and exploring a series of mysterious happenings by the enemy along the way.*  Anyway, without further ado, here is the Hartian family’s list of must do’s for a trip to the Williamsburg area of Virginia.

1. Visit the Williamsburg museum! It is chock full of so much cool stuff.

2. Go to Historic Jamestown. This isn’t the place called Jamestown Settlement, it’s where the actual fort and settlement were! You can visit part of it for free if you have a sibling in fourth grade thanks to our National Park System – get the details here

3. Go to the Revolutionary War Museum In Yorktown

4. Newport News. Go to the Naval station there and do both the bus tour, and the boat tour by Victory Rover Boat Cruises – you can find them here at https://www.navalbasecruises.com

5. Take a tour of the Governors Palace

6. See a Reenactment

7. Meet one of the Giants Of The Revolution

8. Go to Chownings, get the smoked turkey trencher and ask for Miranda to be your server

9. Get ice-cream at Bruster’s. And trust me when I say the small is enough! 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this journey of ours😀. If there is anything you want to know, or have any comments, let me know below. Have fun with your own adventures!

 

 

 

 

*note I’m not affiliated with Jenny. L. Cote in any way other than she’s awesome, and I love her books. 🙂