SarasotaFL

We decided two nights ago to take a quick trip up to show our Florida kids, ages 10 & 7, autumn up north. My daughter, the 10-year-old, is studying the colonial era and so we chose Williamsburg. I don't have my usual amount of time to research and plan a trip and really need help, fast!

We are leaving Wednesday afternoon from Sarasota and driving roughly half way to somewhere in SC (maybe Charleston or Walterboro), then leaving Thursday morning for Williamsburg. We'll arrive Thursday late afternoon/early evening. I have reservations at the Hampton Inn on York Rd., which I made yesterday. Usually I try to find lodging which reflects an area, but I'm just pressed for time. We have reservations there for Thursday and Friday nights.

The plan is to visit Colonial Williamsburg on Friday, have my husband join us sometime Friday from Baltimore by Amtrak or one-way car rental, whichever is cheaper, and more CW on Saturday. Sunday morning we may have to leave right away to head to St. Augustine.

Q: Would you suggest 2 days at CW, or 1 day at CW and 1 at Jamestown/Yorktown?

Q: Suggested itineraries for family w/10-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy? Must-dos, or skip-its?

Q: Suggested eating places? I've jotted down Chownings for dinner 5-8 pm, Cheese Shop for sandwiches, Trellis for desserts, Williamsburg Inn for brunch, Christiana Campbells for seafood, Ford's Colony for dinner, The Fat Canary, The Kitchen at Powhatan Plantation, A Carrolls, Cities Grill, Le Yaca, Old Chickahominy House for breakfast, Aromas for coffee, Shields, White Hall on Jamestown, Surry House for breakfast. Please help me narrow it to 3 dinners, 2 lunches and 2 breakfasts, and good food plus appropriate/fun/good for kids. Also, should I make reservations for everywhere or just CW taverns right away?

Q: Renting bicycles at CW - good idea or bad?

Q: Carriage or wagon ride - anything special about this for kids?

Q: Suggested lodging for Saturday night? Hampton was booked. Heck, if it's a great place and available, I would even cancel the Hampton reservations. Preferred price range $70-$90. Must be kid friendly, i.e. not most B&Bs.

Q: Discounts on tickets, restaurants, lodging?

THANK YOU in advance for any and all help! The kids are elated, we're excited, but I've been stressed trying to get the details planned out so quickly. And we leave tomorrow!

reneeinva

Welcome to Williamsburg! Your trip sounds wonderful! I would suggest a day at CW and a day at Jamestown. All of your restaurants sound great. My 3 and 7 year olds love Cheese Shop, Chickahominy House would be fine, The Trellis does not have a kids's menu, we love Cities Grill, definately go to a tavern and make reservations right away. The bicycles are a great idea and people always look like they are having fun on the carriage rides!

I will think more on the rest of your questions...obxgirl and Birdie should be responding soon!

lisettemac

I'll try to help with some.

I would plan 1 day at CW and 1 day at Jamestown/Yorktown. One of them (I can't remember which now) has a replica colonial-era ship, Native American village, and British soldier encampment with actors dressed up to give info. It would be lots of fun for kids.

I would suggest you do at least one tavern just for the fun of it. It's a little hokey for adults (and the food is kinda' mediocre), but kids will love it. One tavern (Christiana Campbell's maybe?) has evening entertainment after dinner called "Gambole." It's intended for adults, but I didn't remember any of it that would be inappropriate for kids.

As for hotels, there are lots of chains there, but some are newer than others. We were passing through a couple of weeks ago and stayed at the Holiday Inn. It was okay, but an older property and slightly run-down. The Red Roof Inn looked newer and fresher.

As for discounts, if you go to history.org, there are package deals for Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown that might work for you.

Good luck and have fun!

cmeyer54

Our boys were about the same ages when we went to Williamsburg but we spent a full week. The highlights in CW for them were the brickmaking, courthouse and regiment/marching. These were good because they were interactive - the kids got to moosh around with the clay, participate as jurors and members of the regiment (marching, handling sticks like muskets, etc) and seeing a canon loaded and fired. We liked just walking around CW and stopping in at the various shops. Jamestown was better than Yorktown for us - more to see and do. We stayed at Kingsmill.

obxgirl

It's almost certainly going to be cheaper for your husband to take the train from Baltimore. I think Enterprise is the only rental agency in Williamsburg and they charge a hefty fee for one way. The train fare will be less than $50.

This is a popular time to visit Wmbg so I am not surprised hotels are full. Earlier this morning I booked some friends into the Hampton Inn on Richmond Rd for Wed-Sun so you might try that one if you don't want to switch hotels. It's newer than the one on York St. Another possibility in your price range is the Days Inn Historic Area. It's a cut above your basic Days Inn and I've put family up there before. Both are in areas with lots of other chain motels and restaurants (Outback, Olive Garden) which can be both good news or not. Very convenient to the restored area.

You can rent bicycles from the Jamestown Bicyle Rental Co. which is practically next door to Jamestown (phone 258-1338). They used to have a deal where they'd deliver the bikes to your hotel but I have rented from them in awhile.

If your budget allows it, I'd do one day in CW and one in Jamestown/Yorktown. I'd opt for Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center (as opposed to the NPS sites) because there's tons of hands on and interactive stuff for the kids. They sell a combinaton ticket. Be sure to take the Colonial Pkway from one to the other. The drive along the river is beautiful altho it's heartbreaking to see some of the trees downed by Isabel. You've received some good ideas for CW. I might add checking into a ghost tour (walking tour at night). When my girl was 10 she was a horse lover and enjoyed the "Bits and Bridles" program. Check the CW website for info. Carriage or wagon ride? Mine loved it but that was before she discovered roller coasters!

Speaking of roller coasters, Busch Gardens is doing their Halloween thing so if have unlimited energy, you could add that to your schedule Saturday evening.

Dining. Are you looking for family friendly places? For dinner I'd recommend Chownings (for the atmosphere and colonial entertainment. food is fine but not great), Sal's (great pizza and pasta in the Wmbg Shopping Center), and the Cities Grille (more upscale and interesting food, but casual and with a kid's menu). Just to be safe, I'd book at the Cities Grille but I think Chownings and Sal's are first come/first serve. Pierces BBQ is legend around here. Locals like the Polo Club and Second Street for your basic buger. For lunch, definitely Cheese Shop. Aroma's has good sandwiches too. Also, the Carrot Tree Kitchen & Bakery (on the way to Jamestown) is good for muffins & pastries. They do brunch on Sunday as well.

Have a fantastic trip!

SarasotaFL

Thank you all for your quick responses! Based on what you've said, we'll definitely do one day in CW and one in Jamestown/Yorktown.

My husband just booked his ticket on Amtrak and will arrive at the Williamsburg station at 9:20 pm. Hopefully it won't take too long to get him back to hotel (since kids will be up late).

Sounds like Chownings one evening is a must. They don't accept reservations, so we'll just show up at 5ish. We'll go to the Cheese Shop for lunch on Friday.

We'll drive the Colonial Parkway on Saturday between Jamestown & Yorktown, thanks for the advice. Sounds like the bikes and wagon or carriage ride are both good bets for us. Thanks for the bike rental number. The ghost tour sounds great, but I doubt it'd be a good idea for my imaginative, sensitive kids. Even the slightest bit of "scary" could cause problems for us that night (the 7-year-old).

I will check Hampton's site again. I didn't know what the difference was between the two, and I was just trying to get the closest one. They aren't within walking distance of CW, are they? York Rd. or Richmond Rd. Hampton Inns.

I'm going to check out their evening programs now.

Yes, I'd MUCH rather be spending a week there. Leisurely vacations are more fun than the breakneck kind, aren't they? But this is really our only chance this fall.

I'll check back tonight or tomorrow morning in case anyone else has ideas or advice.

Thank you once again!!!!

obxgirl

If you're staying at either of those two Hampton Inns, you'll be within 10 minutes drive of the train station. The HI on York Street is walkable to CW allthough you will be on the extreme south eastern end of the restored area near the Capitol. There's a good PDF map at the CW website which shows the layout well. The Amtrak station is marked on it too. The Richmond Rd. HI is much more of a hike to CW along a very commercial road.

Looks like you'll have good weather. Hope you have a super trip!

rb_travelerxATyahoo

If you would be willing to drive to Richmond (about an hour), there's many more trains that go from Baltimore to/thru Richmond than those (few) that go thru Williamsburg. You'd be going to the one on Staples Rd, not the new Main St one. The trains that do go to Williamsburg go sooo slowww thru the Richmond yards, that you'll still beat the train he's on were you to pick him up at its Richmond stop.

BTW, I highly recommend the 18th Century Plays usually presented Saturday nights at CW. They rotate thru a few, so I don't know which one might be scheduled during your stay.

SarasotaFL

We're back from our trip and it was great! THANK you to everyone, especially Obxgirl, who gave us great recommendations.

We left Wednesday after school and drove up to the Hampton Inn in Florence, SC. Just off I-95 by a conference center and very comfortable room.

We left Thursday morning for Williamsburg and arrived in the afternoon before the Visitor's Center closed. Of note is the fact that you can purchase passes for the next day if you arrive around 4:30 or later, which saves time in the morning! Thursday night we ate at Chownings which was okay, not really a must do, and since it was appetizers only we then went to Aroma's Cafe. The kids loved it because they could order fondue and also "make your own s'mores." I also liked the food I ordered and would recommend it to others. Just before leaving, one woman had her entire tray on fire from her fondue. Nearly everyone just sat there staring in amazement and no one seemed to be doing anything about it! One man said he'd better take it outside and grabbed the tray, and I walked over with what was left of my coffee and dumped it, putting out most of the flames. My kids were quite impressed.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on York Road, which I would not recommend as it is not your usual quality of Hampton Inn. The pool was closed due to being redone and filled while we were there, which disappointed my kids, although we were allowed to go next door to the Sheraton Four Points to use their pool if we wished. I understand that Hampton bought this particular motel and is going to be upgrading it, but until then, I recommend the Hampton Inn and Suites on Richmond Rd. We really couldn't quickly walk from the York Rd. Hampton Inn to the Visitor's Center anyway, so the proximity didn't matter much.

Friday morning we went to Jamestown Settlement, which was overrun with school groups (over 2000 children an employee told me that day!), but which my children really enjoyed. They loved the Powhatan area especially, but also liked the fort and the ships. The interpreters there were all knowledgeable and friendly, with only one of them babbling on about the problems with technology and how screwed up the world is with terrorism and computers (he really needed to get a grip on himself) and how superior life was in the 1600s. I definitely recommend asking questions as you go, the interpreters seemed to enjoy answering and were full of interesting information.

We drove on the Colonial Parkway as suggested to Yorktown. It was pretty, however I was disappointed that the trees had not really changed color very much yet as it had shown on the weather.com map. Anyway, we got to Yorktown and ate lunch at the Carrot Tree, which was very tasty. Sort of a "ladies lunch" type restaurant, if you ask me. We ate outside because the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so I cannot comment on what it is like inside the restaurant. My children ran over to the nearby cemetery to read the gravestones while we waited for our food, and we could see the river between the houses from where we sat.

Friday afternoon we went to the Yorktown Victory Center (I think that's what it's called) and, among other things, saw a cannon being shot off. Their presentation was interesting and entertaining. My kids tried on colonial clothing and also my son tried on a soldier's coat. We wandered around the soldier's encampment and the farm, and pretty much skipped all of the timeline on the way in except for the facts on the circles, pointed out to us by someone at the entrance. Again dodging school groups, we finished up our afternoon there around 4:00, I think. Then we drove to a AAA office and bought reduced rate Freedom Passes for Colonial Williamsburg, something I would have done at home had I had the time.

We zipped over to the Visitor's Center to get our pictures taken for the passes and made any possible reservations. Some reservations have to be made the same day, such as the carriage ride.

After that, we went straight to dinner at Cities Grill, which was very tasty. At first when we entered, I was afraid it was not really a restaurant for children, and indeed my kids were the only ones in there that night, but they did have a children's menu and no one seemed to notice or care that children were dining there. Our food was tasty and again, I would recommend this restaurant to others.

We went back to Market Square after this, tagged along behind a walking tour for about 5 minutes, shopped a little at the toy store, then headed over to the Amtrak station and picked up my husband. Went back to the hotel tired, full, and happy.

Saturday morning we went to Colonial Williamsburg and did all the "kid friendly" events we could manage that had been marked on the visitor's guide. The children's favorite was the play and puppet show at the outdoor theatre, and the carriage ride we took in the afternoon.

Not so great was Patrick Henry's lonnnnnnng presentation. Many children in the audience looked extremely bored. I would say age 10 at the youngest, unless they'd recently studied quite a bit of American history at school. Older children seemed to enjoy it a bit more, but I'd definitely skip this with kids unless we were there several days, and I'd definitely not take a 7-year-old again.

The shops were a hit, of course, although my son was very disappointed the jail/gaol was closed. We purchased hot apple cider (good, but sweet!) and apple turnovers, and gingerbread cookies for snacks as we wandered around. We really didn't have enough time in one day to see everything we'd have like to, but we knew beforehand that at least two days were needed.

At this point, we had reservations at Shields Tavern at 8:45, something I'd have like to have done with my husband, but the kids were tired and hungry, so we cancelled our reservations, switched to the Richmond Rd. Hampton Inn (pool! clean! nice! yay!), and immediately drove to Pierce's Pitt BarBQue. Yummmmy! Oh my goodness. I had fairly high expectations when we went, but you know that barbecue is really a hit or miss kind of food. This was a big HIT with all four of us. Highly recommended, and also affordable! The place was hopping on a Saturday night. Thank goodness the friendly concierge had given my husband directions because if we'd just followed my AAA triptik, I think we'd have thought we were in the wrong place. We could smell it before we got there, though, and so knew we were heading in the right direction.

Then we went back to Market Square because my kids wanted to go to the toy store again. We also went to a gift shop called Everything Williamsburg which was great because no one was there and it had all the Williamsburg souvenirs all in once place. Almost anything that you could have purchased at Williamsburg was there, including cookbooks, bottled drinks, toys, clothing, etc.

We didn't really have time to look at any other shops, because it was 9:00 by then. So, despite the fact that we were still absolutely stuffed, we decided to do ourselves in and shared one piece (last one in the restaurant that night) of Death by Chocolate at the Trellis restaurant outdoor. Ohhhhhhh myyyyyy goodness. It was delicious, and one piece was DEFINTELY enough to feed the four of us, at $6.50. Recommended, and if we go back this year, we'll try their desserts again!

We went back to the hotel, let the kids swim a half hour (the water was FREEZING according to my daughter), and passed out.

Sunday we drove all day to St. Augustine, stopping in Roanoake Rapids, VA, for lunch. We ate at a place called David's, which has an inexpensive Sunday brunch buffet. The green beans were delicious, EXACTLY like the green beans my husband and I ate at our WV/VA/NC relatives houses when we were kids. I had an omelette because buffets tend to make me eat more than I should. The place is definitely not trendy or posh, but was filled with churchgoers in their suits and dresses, heaping their plates with southern food. Service was questionable, so I don't know whether or not to recommend the place.

Anyway, we arrived in St. Augustine Sunday night. Stayed (again!) at the Hampton Inn, which was fine. Monday morning I took the children to the fort, which they declared "kind of boring, Mom," and then we ate lunch at the A1A Alehouse. Tasty food, nice view, good service.

We hit the Government Museum (okay) and the Spanish Colonial Quarter (very good!). The Spanish Colonial Quarter had very knowledgeable interpreters and again, I recommend asking questions. VERY informative, and well worth the ticket price of $18 for a family to include the Government Museum, the Spanish Colonial Quarter, and a film at the Visitor's Center, which we watched at 4:00. After this 40 minute film, we went to a very large children's playground just behind the visitor's center, which my daughter declared "the BEST ever" and where we spent about an hour.

Next we drove over the Bridge of Lions to the Gypsy Cab Co. for dinner. It was also good, and doing a nice business for a Monday evening. Right after this we headed home.

Hope this can help others in planning their trips!

obxgirl

I really enjoyed your trip report and am glad to hear you all had such a great time. You really packed a boatload into the time you were here!

Everyone is remarking on how slowly the trees are turning colors this year (which apparently has to do with the inordinate rainfall). We're normally into raking mode by late October!

sinehat

Great trip report. Enjoyed reading it.

Birdie

It sounds like you planned the perfect quick weekend for kids in Williamsburg. I'm sure others will be able to use lots of your info. You hit a lot of my must-dos. My kids love Cities Grill. It may have to do with those yummy oreo sundaes or the fact that the open kitchen gives them something to watch. Glad you enjoyed the trip.