Colonial Willliamsburg

Last Friday and Saturday we got the chance to go to Colonial Williamsburg for the first time. Twice a year they hold a couple of weeks special for Home Educators, with heavily discounted prices and special programs and events. Instead of paying $36 a day per adult, we only paid $8 each for two days....and kids under 6 were free...which meant all of ours! What a bargain!

There is much to see, learn, and do there.....such a wealth of history. The problem with going there with young children is that they just don't appreciate all of that as much as we parents do and attention spans are pretty short, so we didn't get to experience all that families with older children would....but even still, we had a great time. We were blessed with perfect weather, cloudy and highs in the mid-70s, just wonderful.

Here are the highlights from our trip. I didn't take photos in all of the shops and historical buildings we went into, for the record. These are just photos of the most fun things for the kids.

DAY ONE

At the Great Hopes Plantation, there were several hands-on activities, including sawing wood, grinding corn, dipping candles, and gardening. Lots of hard work!

The Governor's Palace entryway....truly impressive. Marble floors, guns and swords on all the walls, it was gorgeous.

In the grounds and garden behind the Governor's Palace was a maze of bushes that the kids loved running through.

Marissa in the garden.

View of the back of the Palace. The grounds were so beautiful.

This is a pretty big tree!

There are lovely carriages that you ride around town in for a fee....

we just stopped to pet the horses.

This tree was one of the favorite parts of the day for the kids.....we ended up eating our picnic lunch on it.

Corban would be in heaven if we had a tree like this in our yard.

Marissa too.

Sharing an apple in the tree.

Apple sharing and lounging.

Ironically, Corban and Marissa both said that riding the bus (free around all of Colonial Williamsburg) was the best part of the day. Seeing as it was their first time on a bus, I guess I can understand the excitement.

DAY TWO

We started out the day at the Capitol, which was just so pretty. We debated whether or not to take the 30 min. tour and ended up so glad that we did!

Our kind tour guide made Corban "Governor" and Marissa his "Council Person" during the presentation in the courtroom....they were both delighted with their positions!

On our way to the Jail, we spotted a tree across a brook. Corban was thankfully very successful at crossing it!

This Jail is one of the oldest buildings in America - parts of it are 304 years old. Blackbeard the Pirate was actually confined here. The jailer and his family lived in the house attached to the jail! There was very little crime in those days......everyone owned guns, there were no police, and if you did something wrong, the whole town would get you!

Sign outside the Jail.

The blacksmith's shop was very interesting.

Peering out the window from the Magazine, where all the arms and ammunition used to be held. Very cool building.

The kids and I in the Magazine.

The kids and I outside the Magazine.


The Rest of Day Two.....

We had a birthday party to go to across the James River that afternoon....so we made our first trek to the Jamestown Ferry. It's free, which is super cool.....and just takes about 15 minutes to get from one side to the other. Annika fell asleep on the way there and missed out on most of it, but Corban and Marissa were beside themselves with excitement about their first ride on a boat. It was actually my first time on a ferry, also. We were lucky and got the best ferry, the Pocahontas, which has an upper deck for passengers to enjoy.

Watching the shoreline move away.....

Look at those happy faces!

It was pretty windy up there!

We had a great time and will certainly take advantage of the Home Educators Weeks at Williamsburg again.....and we'll definitely have to go on the ferry again. Hope I didn't bore you with all the photos. :)