Colonial Williamsburg- Wednesday, July 1, 2026

     As our plans were developing for an "America 250 Trip," we looked at the map for what to do between the Battle of Sullivan's Island on one weekend and Philadelphia the following weekend.  Sitting almost right in the middle of them is Colonial Williamsburg, and Scott thought stopping here for a day or two was a logical choice.  We've been to Williamsburg many times, especially when we were living a short drive away in Petersburg.  We'd often come here to go shopping or walk the streets with visiting friends and relatives, but oddly enough, though, we've never paid to see the insides of the buildings.  We decided it would be an appropriate thing to do this week.

     We had breakfast outside at the hotel, and walked to the Visitors Center which is basically on the other side of the parking lot from where we're staying.  We browsed the stores there.  Abby fell in love with a fuzzy stuffed horse, but we told her we weren't going to get her until we were on the way back to the hotel later-- Our Disney World rules would work here too.

     We watched the lines for the ticketing grow longer and longer without moving very much.   We skipped buying our tickets here, and instead we rode the free shuttle bus to what would be our first stop, the Capitol building.  We ended up buying our tickets online, though Julie had to wrestle with the phone a little bit to get it to work.  We then went up to the Capitol building for our first tour of the day.

     We waited in the arched piazza which forms the breezeway in the middle of the Capitol, and a nice breeze was blowing through it just then.  Our tour began in the General Court side of the building.  This court was where you would be tried for capital crimes.  The governor's chair was in the center and the members of the Governor's Council flanked him on each side.  He represented the crown's presence here, and together with his council, he wielded executive power, headed the judicial courts and made up half of the legislative body.  We went upstairs to the council's chambers and into the Conference Room above the piazza where the Governor's Council would negotiate and compromise with the House of Burgesses from the other side of the building.  In the Conference Room, we heard about the origin and influence of the English Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta.  From there, we passed down into the room where the House of Burgesses met.  The House of Burgesses was the first representative body in the English colonies, elected by free, white men, over 21, who owned land.  It was in this room where Patrick Henry gave his speech In 1765, when famously declared, "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third—...may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it!"  Or rather, it was in a room like this one.  The original Capitol building burned down and the one we see today is a recreation from the 1930s.  The giant speakers' chair of black walnut in the middle, though, was original.  The interpreter who took us through was very knowledgeable, but his voice and delivery had sort of a drone to it.  It was a soothing sound and Abby was ready to go to sleep by the end of the tour.

     Scott feels a little sorry for the interpreters that have to say the same thing many times a day, every day.  Been there, done that.  Pro-tip: Don't ask them if they are hot in their clothes.  We're ALL hot today. 

     There were a lot of modern intrusions in the historic area this time, as tents, speakers and equipmen are being set up for the crowds that are expected on the Fourth.  One interpreter told us she had heard estimates from between 40,000 and a quarter of a million people expected for that day, which is a tremendously broad range for the guesses.  She figured that everyone was only guessing because they didn't have much to base it on.  They're also expecting temperatures over 100.  It was at least in the mid-90s today, and we were moving very slowly because of it.

     After the Capitol tour, we made our way up the Duke of Gloucester Street to the Raleigh Tavern.  Scott wanted to see this building, but we also knew that behind it was the Raleigh Tavern Bakery, where we could get a quick lunch.  We got some sandwiches and sat at the picnic tables in back.   After Scott was done eating, he went into the tavern itself.  During his time in the Petersburg City Museums, Scott attended a conference here in Williamsburg, where they talked about training museum staff and he acquired a copy of the large training binder that is used to prepare people to interpret the taverns here.  Like the Capitol, this building is a reconstruction, but Scott was interested in what it represented.  He enjoyed seeing the barroom and the billiards room, but it was the Apollo room that attracted him.  When the governor of Virginia dissolved the House of Burgesses for supporting the Boston Tea Party, they removed themselves from the Capitol and continued their meeting in this room.  True, it wasn't the same room exactly, but it was rebuilt from a picture by Benson Lossing. 

    Once Scott joined up with Julie and Abby, they decided to take the shuttle bus to the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.  We had never been in here before either.  Scott was amazed at several pictures that he recognized as we entered including one of Charles Wilson Peale's portraits of George Washington.  The ladies at the front thought Abby should see the large doll house, which was at the back of one gallery, so we headed there.  She was very fascinated by it, and since it's over 15 feet long, there's a lot to see in its detailed rooms.  Scott walked around the corner from the doll house and immediately recognized a portrait of Buffalo's own Peter B. Porter, a business entrepreneur of early Buffalo and a militia general in the War of 1812.

     We were waiting for a program called,  "Hands On: Toy Making."  We knew Abby would want to do anything that was arts and craftsy.  In fact, back at the Visitor's Center this morning, when a woman told us about the art museum, Abby immediately asked if there was an activity that kids could do to make something.  The toy today was a "thaumatrope," which was an 1820s invention that basically creates an optical illusion.  It consists of a disc with two strings attached that allow you to spin the disc rapidly.  If you draw of two different pictures, one on each side of the disc, the spinning creates the illusion of the merging of the two pictures.  The example given had a bird on one side and a cage on the other, so when it was spun, the bird appeared to be in the cage.  Abby drew a two girls that got stars over their heads when it was spun.  Julie drew a dog that was...driving a car?

     After that, it was going on 2:00 and we went separate ways.  Julie took Abby back to the hotel.  They stopped at the gift shop to get Abby's horse, and then went back to the pool.  Abby got some swimming googles yesterday and she was anxious to try them.   After a long time in the pool, they returned to the room and ended up taking naps because the heat had taken so much out of them.  Abby slept until way past 7:00 that evening. 

     Scott continued at the museum.  He wanted to see a presentation called, "Designing Virginia's Seal."  In this play, George Mason and George Wythe were working to design a new seal for Virginia.  The audience acted as if they were the 5th Virginia Convention, meeting shortly after Virginia became a commonwealth in 1776.  Mr. Mason was chairing the convention and Mr. Wythe was acting as secretary.  They went through some symbols and mottoes that were "rejected" by the committee, and then went through suggestions for the obverse (front) of the new seal.  They needed a motto, a symbol for virtue and a symbol for Virginia.  Each man came up with a suggestion and the audience voted three times.  Each time the decision of the audience was displayed on a screen behind the actors.  Our votes created a seal that ended up looking like the one on today's flag- an Amazonian warrior standing over a fallen tyrant, with the motto "Sic Semper Tyrannus."  In the question an answer period that followed, the two actors shared that they were prepared in case the votes went the other way, and shared the image of a turkey sitting on a chair with the "skin of Sisamnes" from Herodotus.  It was a delightful presentation with just enough humor to carry it along.  (Sadly, photography and videography were forbidden because it was a theatrical production in a darkened auditorium.)

     After the play, Scott continued to look around the museum because there was a lot to see.  As part of a program called "Music in the Galleries," he found a woman singing period songs and playing a guitar.  He stopped to listen to her for a while, and enjoyed her rendition of "Over the Hills and Far Away," but was afraid that if he stayed sitting in the air conditioning there, her voice would lull him to sleep.  He continued to explore around the galleries.  He was fascinated by an exhibit about musical instruments from the time.  He saw a recreation of a gourd banjo based on a painting that he has often used in class.  He also saw a "kit" violin that had a neck as long as usual, but a tiny little body making it more portable.  In other exhibits, he saw a silver tankard created by Paul Revere and one of 50 surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence from its first printing on parchment.  There was a large exhibit called "Centennial!" since this year is the 100th anniversary of the start of Colonial Williamsburg.  There were a lot of exhibits throughout the museum showing how the restoration or reconstruction of the buildings were done.  There was a very cool film that was taken in the 1930s that was taken by someone riding through the streets of Williamsburg.  It was running alongside of a modern video of the same places to show how much they have changed.  Scott also got to see the copper plate engraving that was discovered in Oxford which showed the Capitol, the Governor's Palace, and the Wren building at William and Mary.  It was crucial for the reconstruction of the buildings in the 1930s.

     When he had finished in the museum, Scott had a few other things to check off his to-do list while he still had a valid ticket.  The big thing that he wanted to see was the inside of the Governor's Palace.  He walked in that direction, and passed by the George Wythe house.  Since he had just "met" Mr. Wythe in the play, he decided to stop in and pay his respects.  George Wythe was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and was at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as well.  He was a law professor at William and Mary and taught Thomas Jefferson among others.  He apparently was a man of many varied interests, like Jefferson, because his dining room table was prepared with scientific instruments and models for a meeting of the Virginia Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge.  Scott asked about a case that looked like a metronome, but was shown that it was actually a case for a microscope. 

     Scott continued on to the Governor's Palace nearby.  At four o'clock, the palace uses self-guided tours instead of one led by a guide, and he had to wait a few minutes before being allowed to go in.  He saw a demonstration in the kitchen while he waited.  Once in, he was able to see the building that was originally the home to Virginia's royal governors.  The royal governors were appointed by the crown and, as we saw in the Capitol, were basically in control of all three branches of the colonial government.  By this point, in July of 1776, Virginia had chosen its first governor of the commonwealth, Patrick Henry, and he would have been living in this residence.  The second governor, Thomas Jefferson, lived here too, though it was in his term that the capital was moved to Richmond.  Like the Wythe house, there was less interpretation in each room, but at this point in the day, Scott was happy to be moving a little faster through it.  Of course, a person notices all of the guns, swords and weapons on display.  When he asked, Scott was told that there were over 230 "brown bess" muskets on display among other weapons.  Scott had been looking for the big circle of muskets on the ceiling, shaped like a giant pinwheel, but he did not see it.  When he asked about it in the ballroom, an interpreter explained that even though they had been displayed like that for years, further research has failed to find a reference of guns on the ceiling.  The guns on the walls were mentioned as a way to emphasize the strength of the governor, but no one mentioned them on the ceiling, so they were taken down.    

     From the Governor's Palace, Scott went toward the Powder Magazine in the middle of town.  Here he watched the fife and drums who were playing retreat in the military camp to end their day.  An interpreter explained how it was the ceremony that ended their day and included a roll call, an equipment inspection and a health check.  Scott listened for a while and then tfied to catch a bus.  As he approached the bus stop, the bus was pulling away.  He backtracked on the bus route and missed a second one.  He eventually got the bus and rode it to the Visitors Center.  He used the time there to shop again.  He bought the newest version of the Colonial Williamsburg guidebook.  Since ours dates back to the 1980s or 1990s, he figured it was time to update it.  He got a couple of pins and a bottle of beer brewed with a 250th anniversary label.  He's not sure when he'll drink it though, and it's currently in our cooler.

    When Scott got back to the hotel room, Abby was still asleep.  We were hoping to go out for dinner somewhere, but we didn't want to wake her up.  Julie decided to go out for Papa John's (and Starbucks).  When she returned it was after 7:00.  When Abby finally woke up, her first response was, "Aww!  Whenever I take a nap I miss dinner."  We had saved her some pizza, though.   We went back out for some more time in the pool.  

 

Virginia Beach, Yorktown & Williamsburg- Tuesday, June 30, 2026

      From our balcony in Virginia Beach, we were able to watch the sun come up over the Atlantic.  It was probably the first time that Abby actually watched a sunrise.  She spotted several big cargo ships but was most excited when she saw a "pirate ship."  Scott took a look at it through the zoom lens of his video camera, and it was indeed a big, 4-masted tall ship with her sails furled.  The AI on Google identified the ship as the BAP Unión from Peru.  She was sitting at anchor, but was here for some of the VA 250 events.

     We needed to find breakfast because our hotel didn't serve any.  We took a five minute walk down Atlantic Avenue to a place called the Atlantic Waffle Company.  It was a great choice.  The staff was very friendly and our waitress wanted to talk to us about Disney after she saw Julie's Haunted Mansion phone case.  When the food came we had no idea how to eat all of it.  We all got pancakes of some kind-- Abby, with chocolate and Julie with bananas.  Abby also got tater tots, and they even brought more out because the first serving was "small."  (We didn't think so.)  It was a little on the expensive side, but we were pleased with it.    

    Of course, Abby wanted to head to the beach before we left.   She and Dad went down to play in the surf a bit while Mom packed.   She liked trying to build sand mounds up before the next wave came in to knock them over.   Abby didn't like the Navy jets that kept flying overhead, and they did make a lot of noise.  Mom eventually came with a boogie board for Abby.  Abby tried it once or twice, but neither of her parents were dressed to pull her out a little deeper.  Abby decided she liked it better on the beach at Sullivan's Island because the water there was more smooth and the waves was not as rough.

     About 9:30, the car was packed and we headed towards Yorktown, a little more than an hour away.  Scott wanted to go to the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown again today.  We had visited there when Abby was little back in 2021.  When we first arrived there, Abby had fallen asleep, so as she was waking up, Scott went in to explore the galleries alone.

      The American Revolution Museum hasn't changed much since we came back in 2021.  Scott's biggest complaint is that it's a little hard to follow the story.  The gallery areas certainly have a beginning, middle and end, but it isn't always clear where to start.  The first rotunda area has a copy of a broadside of the Declaration of Independence, and judging from the way it's carefully lit, it seems like an original.  It's the kind of thing that would be posted somewhere in town to let people read the news for themselves.  Around that is a series of mannequins showing the uniforms of the Continental soldiers, their French allies, the British redcoats, and the German soldiers and the weapons each used.  From there, though you might not find the right path at first, you can follow a gallery about the causes of the war and the opening battles of the war, which includes a life-sized diorama of the Battle of Long Bridge which was one of the first fights here in Virginia, and which had African Americans fighting on both sides.  The display on the turning point battle of Saratoga had black curtains over it for some reason.  Scott casually perused other galleries on various aspects of the war, but he dived in deeper when he got to the maps and displays of the later phases of the war in the South.   Was he taking notes for future trips? 😉

     Julie and Abby had come into the museum, but spent time out at the children's tables in the main hall.  Abby colored in a picture of a tent.  Hers had rainbow-colored sides and a little girl peaking out of the front of it.  She was torn whether to leave it at the museum or to take it with her.  She decided to bring it with her.  Meanwhile, Scott went to the gift shop and bought himself 250th anniversary copies of Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence, a guide book to the museum, and a pin.  Together, the three of us went in to see the movie called Liberty Fever.  In 2021, Scott wrote, "The film had an interesting framing device.  It was told as a magic-lantern/shadow puppet presentation by a man who was living 40 years after the Revolution.  As he related each of the stories that he had been told, actors replaced the shadow puppets to tell the stories."  Abby didn't like the shooting and fighting scenes.  

     After the movie, Julie and Abby went to get lunch at the cafe while Scott went to finish up the galleries.  He decided to skip the presentation about the fight at Yorktown (leaving something for 2031, perhaps?) and continued through the galleries about the aftermath and effects of the war.  Eventually, he joined the girls for lunch and shared their sandwiches.  We stopped to get a picture with George Washington's statue, but we skipped the re-enactors' camp outside and the Revolutionary era farm. 

     We continued to our hotel in Williamsburg, the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel and Suites, which is part of the Colonial Williamsburg complex.  It's like staying on property at Disney World to be in the "Disney Bubble."  We are right next to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors Center, and free shuttles connect you to several stops in the old town.  We plan to make use of them tomorrow.    

     While Julie was checking in, Abby spotted a blue-tailed skink on the brick walls, and she and Dad watched it scurry back and forth.  Once we got into the room, the smell of it reminded us of Disney.   (THe lobby smells distinctly like wood too, but its a different smell in the room.)  It's a cute room, nothing fancy, but it's wallpaper has 18th century scenes on it and the room feels cozy. 

     Abby was very anxious to get to the pool, so while Julie took a short nap, Scott took her over to the pool.  It's a very big pool, twice the size of the usual hotel pools.  It has 3' shallow end at both ends, which Abby liked.  The water wasn't as warm as the Charleston pool, but it was warm enough that you didn't have to get used to it while still being cool enough to be refreshing.  There is also a pirate-themed splash pad that Abby played on.  (Julie had called it a "water park" before we got here, but "splash pad" is a better description of it.)  After Julie's nap, we got dried of and dressed and headed out looking for dinner.

     We drove along Richmond Road looking for a place that looked like a good place for dinner.  We finally settled on one called Route 60 BBQ.  (Richmond Road is Route 60.)  We recognized it as place we had eaten before, and sure enough, when we looked it up in the blog, we had eaten here that same day that we went to the Yorktown museum in 2021.  We had similar things to say about it this time.  It was mysteriously empty and we were the only ones there each time, but the food was good.  Julie and Scott both got pulled pork, hoping again for something like King's.  The food fell short of King's, but it was better than the barbecue we had yesterday.  Abby tried banana pudding, but didn't like the pieces of banana in it.

     Like that previous trip in 2021, we then went shopping at a few of the gift shops along Richmond Road. Scott and Julie both got Williamsburg t-shirts that they will probably wear tomorrow.  Abby got a pen with pictures of cocker spaniels on it.  She also got an axolotl finger puppet and a t-shirt that says "I axolotl questions!"  We were hoping to find some swim goggles for her because she wants to be more adventurous and put her head under water more.  When the gift shops didn't have any, we found a Dollar General store nearby that did.

     After that, we went back to the hotel.  We want to rest up for tomorrow when we will be hitting the historical parts of Colonial Williamsburg.  The temperatures today were in the mid-80s, which was warm but more bearable than the high 90s we saw in Charleston.  Unfortunately, the temperatures are supposed to be creeping higher tomorrow.