We hadn't planned to take a week-long vacation this summer. However, my parents had purchased a week in Williamsburg, VA and were unable to use the trip. We were more than happy to make take them up on the offer to go in their place. So we packed up our suitcases, beach towels and pool gear, shut down the house, stopped the mail and set out early on a Saturday morning. With the kids happily watching a DVD in the back and Mike at the wheel, I started going through the paperwork for the resort. Something caught my eye. Check-in: August 16th. That didn't sound right. I looked at Mike. "Today's the 16th, right?" I asked hopefully. "Uh, no." he said and I could see the look he was giving me. Uh-oh. I had the date wrong. It was kind of late to turn around and go home. After a few minutes of discussion, we decided to head to D.C. first and get a room for the night. After all, we'd planned to take the girls into Washington sometime on our trip. D.C. was two-plus hours away from where we were staying in Williamsburg so this way we wouldn't have to make it a day trip with 4 hours on the road. My little mistake also worked out well because D.C. is only about 6 hours from our house, so it broke up the trip a little. Here is day by day account of our week in Virginia:
Day 1 Saturday August 15th
After realizing that we (ahem...I) had the Williamsburg check-in date wrong, we secured a room in Falls Church, VA. We took the Metro from where we were staying to the Federal Triangle. Both girls loved their first Metro ride, although the idea of staying in your seat alluded Emily. She was pretty squirmy. We braved the heat and saw the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument. Actually, Emily and I sat at the bottom as I had just been there two months ago and Mike and Ava climbed to the top. By now, we were hot and tired and hungry. We walked a looong way to the nearest Metro station to wait for a train. The tracks were under maintenance, so it took a even longer time for a train to arrive. We finally boarded a train. A broken one! Apparently it was experiencing mechanical problems. Stopping and starting. Losing electricity. It completely shut down once. It is really dark underground! Then as it lurched forward, it rocked on the tracks so far back and forth that I thought that we were going to fall right off of the tracks. Yikes! You could tell that everyone on the train was really nervous (including us). Luckily, when we finally pulled into the next stop, it was ours. They made everyone get off of the train and it rolled away empty. We made our way back to the hotel and the girls had their first experience as roommates. Crazy kids! It was like they were having a slumber party. Ava pulled Emily out of the pack and play and into her bed. We would have been none the wiser, except an hour later they started to giggle. I went in to check on them and they were all snuggled up in Ava's bed. Hard to be stern when my heart was swelling out of my chest. They were just so sweet.
Day 2 Sunday August 16th
Off to the National Zoo. It was ridiculously hot. We saw almost everything in less than three hours. We were craving the air-conditioned haven of the van! We hit the road to Williamsburg. It was supposed to be a 2-1/2 hour drive. Traffic was horrible. It took us almost 4 hours! Checked in to our hotel/condo. Then off to shop for supplies. We had our first Sonic for dinner. Yum!
Day 3 Monday August 17th
We started off the day in Newport News, VA for some shopping. Mike forgot his tennis shoes in Ohio and walked right through his sandals at the monuments and zoo in D.C. After some shopping we made our way to the Yorktown Waterfront where we sat overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and had a relaxing picnic lunch. We climbed a tree and walked on the rocks and Ava saw her first live starfish. It was huge! We made it back to Williamsburg via the scenic Colonial Parkway for naptime and then spent the evening grilling out and swimming in the pool.
Day 4 Tuesday August 18th
Out the door to Historic Jamestown first thing in the morning. The museum was awesome...and air conditioned! Next, we toured the settlement. First the fort, then the waterfront and the first ships that landed in Jamestown, and finally the Powhatan Indian Village. Then, back to the room to cool off for Emily and I. Mike and Ava went on a miniature golf adventure. Dinner was at Hooter's next to the resort. All you can eat wings! When we'd had our fill we headed to William & Mary, the second oldest university in America. Spent some time in the bookstore and walking the streets while waiting for our candle light ghost tour of Williamsburg. This was educational and fun! I'd definitely do this again. Unfortunately, during the tour, I noticed that Emily was "not herself". When we got back to the room I noticed that she felt warm. I mean, even warmer even than the hot night would warrant. We took her temp. and she had a fever of 102. Ibuprofen and off to bed for her! Actually, after a big day of sight-seeing it was bedtime for all of us.
Day 5 Wednesday August 19th
Not only did Emily have a fever, I had developed a nasty cold. We rented movies and hung out at the resort for most of the day. In the afternoon, while Emily napped, I took Ava back to Yorktown. We toured the Watermen's Museum and then walked out to the beach on the Chesapeake. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon! We waded and collected shells and sponges and explored the shoreline. Before heading back to our room for the night, we grabbed some Ben and Jerry's to cool off.
Day 6 Thursday August 20th
Em and I were still under the weather, but we decided to head down to Virginia Beach anyway. We figured that we'd stay in the air conditioned car most of the time and just see the beach. We drove all the way down to Sandbridge Beach next to False Cape State Park and decided to go ahead and put on our swim suits and experience the beach for a bit. The beach was perfect. So beautiful! And it was fun to watch all of the surfers too. We only spent an hour and a half on the beach, most of it in the water 1)because the waves were big and so much fun and 2) to keep cool. We definitely fell in love with Virginia Beach and would like to return one day. We did our best to rinse off the sand and hopped in the van for the trip back to Williamsburg. We returned just in time for dinner and filled up at Captain George's giant seafood buffet. Hey, you've gotta chase a day at the beach with a big seafood dinner!
Day 7 Friday August 21st
Despite the fact that Emily wasn't "100%" we had already purchased tickets to Busch Gardens Europe and needed to use them before our trip came to an end. We made it into the park just as the gates opened and spent the day enjoying the variety of attractions that Busch Gardens has to offer. The girls had a blast on all of the kiddie rides, at Dragon Land, and at the new Sesame Street attraction. Mike's favorite coaster was the Griffon and I thought the DarkKastle 4D experience was pretty cool. I had planned to take Emily back to the resort for a nap, however, she fell asleep in the stroller and took a two hour nap despite all of the excitement around her. By 4 pm we were sufficiently sun-baked, so we made our way to the room for a shower and then met up with our friends Brian and Anne for a delicious dinner at Food For Thought. I definitely recommend this establishment if you find yourself in the vicinity of Williamsburg. Great food and service!
Day 8 Saturday August 22nd
We awoke to raindrops on the window. Ate a quick breakfast and headed to the Williamsburg Winery. As we listened to the weather report, we realized that Hurricane Bill was the cause of the rain drops and stormy weather was on the horizon. The only item on the agenda for the rest of the day was a little time by the pool before packing for our departure in the morning. With storms in the forecast, pool time seemed unlikely. We decided to pack up our things and move out a day early, rather than fight through the storms and Sunday traffic. We fled like fugitives, and here I sit, 13 hours later, typing this. It was a long trip home, but now that I sit here with our bags around me and the girls sleeping peacefully in their own beds, I'm glad that we left when we did.
Rather than make a montage of our trip pics I decided to put them on Shutterfly, so that I could post descriptions with the pictures. After you click on the link below, then click on "View Album" under the picture of Emily. If you want to read the descriptions about the pics click on "detail view" at the top of the next page rather than just clicking on "slideshow".
Here's the link to the pictures: Summer Vacation Pictures
And here are a couple of clips from Virginia Beach and Busch Gardens:
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