Independence Day in Williamsburg

We took a fun trip down to Williamsburg this week for the 4th of July. We were worried that with the holiday weekend that everything would be ridiculously crowded, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case.

On Thursday we drove down to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. We were concerned that our day may be cut short by thunderstorms from Hurricane Arthur, but we had hot sunny weather the whole day. We think the hurricane may have scared others from coming though because we had almost no lines the entire day. We usually just walked onto the rides. This was our first time at this park and we were really impressed with their rides. They don't have as may coasters as some parks we go to, but the rides they have are really fun.

This is the first hill of the Griffin. This was Trevor's favorite coaster there. You might think I was lucky to get the shot right as the car was going over the edge, but the coaster actually pauses there and lets the riders look down the drop before they go down it. It is a steep drop, and a fun roller coaster.

Another coaster we liked is Verbolten. It is a mostly indoor coaster, which is especially nice on a hot day. They unique thing about this coaster is that at one point in the ride you slow to a stop and the track drops with your car on it. This is especially exciting if you are not expecting it.

The park had lots of fun rides and good shows to watch as well. It was a really fun first day of our vacation.

On Friday, the 4th of July we went to Colonial Williamsburg. The whole area is set up as a museum, but within that they also have a traditional museum to go through that has furniture from the time period, portraits from the time period, musical instruments from the time period, etc. We took a tour that focused on the fashions of the time and the kids got to make their own fans. After that we went to the other parts of the city where the kids got to learn about spinning thread and weaving fabric, help carry water from the well to water the garden, write with a feather quill pen, and play games from the time period.

We also got to learn about their food preparation, at least for the gentrified class. They would spend the day making a huge meal and have it for dinner between 2 - 4 pm. They would eat the same meal for supper around 8 pm and again for breakfast the next morning. But they made so much variety for the meal that you could have different things for each meal if you wanted to. We also got to tour the colonial capitol building.

In the evening we got to watch the Fifes and Drums play and march. After that an orchestra gave an open air concert that we got to listen to. The concert ended with a spectacular firework show over the palace:

On Saturday we saw more of Colonial Williamsburg, where the kids participated in a reenactment of the storming of the palace to get the cities gunpowder back from the royal governor. In the end we were talked out of storming the palace with our muskets and took the more peaceful approach of making an official inquiry to have the gun powder returned instead. The way they do the reenactment it really gets you to think about the decisions each colonist had to make. It was really interesting.

After that we toured the palace and the palace gardens:

We also learned about their apothecary, taverns, public jails, courthouses and court systems, woodworking and more. It is fascinating to see how efficient they were with everything they had and the clever ways they used to accomplish things without electronics and other modern gadgets. Alexa and Trevor also got to play a harpsichord and help mix clay to make bricks.

The other interesting thing to me about Colonial Williamsburg is how they make so much of their own stuff. They have a wheelwright shop that makes all the carts and wheels used in town using the technology available to them at the time. They even make wheels for use in other museums around the country. They make their own tablecloths for use throughout the town on their looms. The brick yard even makes bricks for them to use in a building they are going to reconstruct soon.

It was a fascinating trip.