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story of our trip to Williamsburg over April vacation. There are so many of
them, it took me hours to go through and choose the ones that reflected
the way we spent our time, the fun we had, the history we immersed ourselves
in. When I look at them now I think ‘How did we do so much in one week?’
Because these pictures don’t even show the hours in the pool, the great meals,
or much of our last day which we spent in Yorktown. And to think that we thought
we might be able to stop in DC on the way home for a National Museum quickie.
HA!
Although I normally try to post the photos in chronological
order (mostly for my own benefit—to remember the way the trip went) these
aren’t exactly right. We actually started our trip at Busch Gardens because at
this time of the year they are only open on weekends. We arrived first thing on
Sunday morning and stayed until the place was closing. I’m quite sure we eked
out every penny of our money’s worth and it turned out to be just a perfect
amount of time. Franny was a roller coaster demon and Theo was up for skin-drenching water ride after water ride. It’s funny the way their different
personalities shined though at the park, and I have to say I wouldn’t have predicted
that they’d like such different things. It worked out just fine though, because
Franny was old enough to do any of the rides by herself and Dave was willing to
get soaked with Theo over and over again.
The next day we were off to Jamestown. We’d read that it
helps to do the triangle in correct historical order, so that’s just what we
did. We started at the National Park where the kids planned to earn Junior
Ranger badges. We had a fascinating tour of the dig they have going there and
we spent some time at the Archaearium, which was equally interesting. We easily
could have spent more time there, but we headed to Historic Jamestowne so as to
try to stay on our rather tight schedule.
I was less interested at our second stop. They do have
interpreters and hands-on things for the kids, but we didn’t have time for a
guided tour and I didn’t feel as though the outdoor exhibits were as engaging
as some living history museums we’ve been to. The kids didn’t notice and were
happy as clams immersing themselves in the native village, the seaport, and the
settlement. We’d done a lot of reading to prepare for the trip, so they knew
what they were looking at and they jumped right into their imaginative play.
While the outdoor part of the museum may have been a bit of
a disappointment to me, the indoor section was not. It seemed to go on and on
and had many different films to sit and watch. It was not as interesting to the
kids, but I thought it was a perfect ending to our day.
By Tuesday we were ready to hit Colonial Williamsburg. The
kids couldn’t wait! On our last trip we had splurged on new costumes for both
kids. This time we made do with what we had and I’d say that worked out just
fine. The photos aren’t quite as precious, but the kids still felt as though
they were playing a part, and they got plenty of attention from the
interpreters and docents for being in costume. We started strong because the
weather was most temperate on Tuesday (it became more hot as the week progressed)
and we still had lots of energy. Unfortunately for us, Tuesday was pretty
crowded at CW and we didn’t know it would lighten up towards the end of the
week. We dutifully waited in lines with school kids and senior citizens to get
in to houses we would’ve been able to skate through two days later. Lesson
learned! The kids didn’t seem to notice, especially by the time the trip was
done since we’d had the chance to see everything we wanted to see and revisit
those of most interest. Franny especially enjoyed the milliner’s shop, the wig
maker’s shop, and Mary Dickinson shop, where we purchased the hat as an early
birthday present. Theo soaked up everything the silversmith had to say and couldn’t
get enough of the wheelwright, especially now that he is considering that as a
future career! We all enjoyed our two
visits to Charleton’s Coffee House for the delicious hot chocolate and also
watching some of the performances in Revolutionary City. A lot has changed
since we visited CW the last time, not least of which our kids. I was glad to
see that they still enjoyed themselves, but I will say that our Christmas visit when
they were 7 and 3 was pure magic and could not be topped by this recent trip.
After a couple of days at Colonial Williamsburg we had a
planned break from all the history immersion. We headed to Go Ape!, a treetop
adventure/ropes course. It was just the right speed for our kids, though I was
surprised by how differently they approached this, too. Franny whizzed right
through after getting her bearings on the first go-round, Theo, who was raring
to go until he actually got up there, continued to get more and more stressed
out as he approached each new challenge. He hung in there and really pushed
though, but you can see on his face that he was disappointed he wasn’t having
more fun. Looking back on this and a few rides he attempted at Busch Gardens, I
think his trepidation might be a consequence of the 9-year change, as Kristen
often points out to me. I think he understands the risks better now than he
would have a couple of years ago and simply doesn’t feel comfortable with it.
Before he heads in, it all looks great. But once he gets going, he can‘t enjoy
himself because he’s thinking about how scary it is. Last summer he’d caught a
glimpse of a ropes course in Maine and he’d been begging me to take him ever
since. I don’t know. Maybe I missed the ideal developmental window for him.
We’ll try again and see how it goes!
We spent so many extra days at Colonial Williamsburg, we
only had the morning of our last day to spend in Yorktown. I think it worked
out just fine because by that time our brains were a little fried. We watched
the film, had a great tour of the battlefield, and visited the museum. The kids
earned their Junior Ranger badges and we took a walk out to downtown Yorktown,
which was nice to see even if it was totally deserted. On our way back we
spotted this reptile and snapped a photo so we could try to identify it when we
got home. We’ll have to get out the books this afternoon and see if we can find
it.
On our drive home, (I’ll spare you my thoughts on I-95
traffic in Northern VA, but let’s just say I did not think it was possible to
beat rush hour in Metro Boston. I was wrong!) we stopped to pick up lunch boxes
at Sally Ann’s in Richmond. What a find!! I’m not a fan of potato salad, but
the little container they included with my ham sandwich was just perfect and
totally hit the spot. The whole thing was like a trip back in a time machine.
It really made the rest of the drive bearable knowing that we had a couple
leftover cupcakes for when the going got rough.
It was quite a trip and even though there were some hairy
moments (particularly trying to get the kids to go. to. sleep. in the same bed.
I think those golden days are over.) I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
It just takes a little bit of time and perspective to really appreciate these
trips we take but I never, ever regret them. Sometimes it can feel like a White
Mountain slog to get going on the planning and executing, and I’m the first one
to complain about all the work I’ll have to do to be everyone’s Julie, but I’m
going to just have to try to remember that we wouldn’t be us without these
trips. I like who we are, so I guess I’ll have to stick with it!
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