Devonmcj

Our son likes history and, since he studied colonial America in 5th grade this year, we thought it was a good time to visit Williamsburg. He gamely went along with us most of the day, uncomplaining and trying to appear interested in the buildings and demonstrations. Unfortunately, CW doesn’t seem to make much effort to engage children - no hands-on activities, very few actual participation opportunities. His favorite thing was the hedge maze behind the Governor’s Palace. By 3:00, he was begging us to ride the shuttle bus because he thought it would be more exciting than watching Revolutionary City. (We rode around for a couple of loops and then rejoined the action.) The thing is, he actually knows a lot about colonial America and the American Revolution because he studied it for five months in his enrichment classes at school. He tried to interact with the costumed characters by paying attention and asking pertinent questions. For the most part, they answered him politely, although sometimes they seemed surprised to hear from a child, as if it doesn’t happen often.

As for the adults, we found things a lot more interesting. We visited on a damp, chilly Spring weekend which kept the crowd levels low. We didn’t have to wait for entrance to any of the buildings. While most of the interpreters willingly shared their wealth of information (the beer maker and the guy at the magazine are two examples), others seemed slightly annoyed at having to answer the same stupid tourist questions again and again. Do the guides at the Governor’s Palace get paid by the number of groups they take through? Our guide was in a big hurry and actually ignored some of our questions, even though there were only 5 of us in our group and we didn’t ask much. It would have been very helpful if there had been CW employees (costumed or not) on the streets who could direct and interact with the visitors. Other than the shop salespeople, the only park employees we saw were the bored-looking people who were checking passes and counting visitors as we entered the demonstration areas. I guess it’s hard to click a counter and answer questions at the same time, although it apparently isn’t that hard to click and talk to other employees.

On the positive side, we caught a very interesting “Conversation with George Washington”. The actor/historian who portrayed him stayed in character and was obviously an expert on all things GW. Gen. Washington even hung around quite a while after his presentation to talk to people who had important things to discuss with him.

As Revolutionary City (which is free to watch, by the way) wound up, we followed the excellent fife and drum corps down the street to the parade grounds. DS and DH were pulled out of the crowd to join the militia. The crowd thought it was hilarious when the soldier in charge yelled at the confused recruits to march in a straight line. DS took it all very seriously though and was not happy to be yelled at. A little taste of military life, maybe?

We paid extra to see the “Cry Witch” mock trial on our first evening in town. The crowd decided her fate by voting guilty or not guilty. When the program was over, the lady drill sergeant at the entrance answered one of our questions (before she not-so-subtly encouraged us to move on). She said that 90% of the time, the trial verdict goes the same way. Guilty or not guilty? I can’t tell you - that would spoil the fun.

We had reservations for the 8:30 Legends/Myths tour on our second evening. It was pouring rain as we ate dinner at Christina Campbell’s. Our waitress let us know the tornado watch had been cancelled (tornado watch!!??). The hostess tried to help us find out if the Legends program was still on schedule in spite of the lightning storm, but she couldn’t get a definite answer. We were getting wet and miserable, and tired of standing around in the rain, so we gave up and walked back to the motel. We got a refund at the Visitors Center without a hassle the next day.

I’ve heard some people complain about the steep entrance fees at Colonial Williamsburg, especially since you can walk through and see a lot of the town for free. I feel that as adults, we got our money’s worth. They’ve done an impressive job restoring the historic buildings. It provides an unforgettable way to experience the story of our country’s early history. On the other hand, they could make more effort to engage the children since they market the place as a family-friendly destination. It would also be nice if they kept it open in the evenings past 5:00. Duke of Gloucester Street felt like a ghost town as we walked to the CC Tavern - we were the only people on the street.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Jamestown Settlement on the previous day. DS got a chance to touch lots of stuff and participate in many hands-on demonstrations. The interpreters were mostly enthusiastic and informative (except for the snarky lady on the Susan Constant). We even saw a fascinating program where an actual NASA astronaut and an experienced tall ship captain compared exploration now and then.

We tried to visit Yorktown Victory Center, but the weather was so god-awful bad that we got discouraged and just drove home (after an excellent lunch at Water Street Landing). On the bright side, now we’ll have another thing to look forward to next time we visit the area.

seasweetie

Thanks for your report - my DD is the same age and had the same curriculum this year, and I had thought she too might enjoy Williamsburg, but she hasn't been too keen on it, so I decided to hold off a year or two. Based on your report, I feel like that's the right decision. But I remember loving it as a kid!

Devonmcj

Sorry to sound so negative, Seasweetie. The truth is that there is such a wealth of historic preservation and reenactment in our mid-Atlantic area that I may be a bit too jaded. The great thing about Williamsburg, Virginia is that if you are coming from a distance, there is so much going on in the area you can easily spend a week or two without running out of things to do and see. It's a true vacation destination.

seasweetie

You really didn't sound negative, Devonmcj! I appreciate an honest assessment. DD and I are acutally taking a long weekend in the Shenandoah Valley area in a few weeks, so we'll be visiting some battlefields, Harper's Ferry, etc. I'll save Williamsburg for a non-holiday period when we have a little more time - we'd love to have our time coincide with a Civil War reeactment. I'm a displaced North Carolinian so I now what you mean about the mid-Atlantic thing. Again, thanks for taking the time to post.

Haney20

Do you think a 13 year old male soccer player who likes history and an 18 year old male would enjoy the trip? They both used to like the history channel better than any other but not now. I went about 20 years ago and enjoyed it

Devonmcj

I also visited about 20 years ago and I don't think it has actually changed that much. They've added Revolutionary City, which is a series of mini-dramas relating to the American Revolution acted in the street. For example, in one "scene" British General (and American turncoat) Benedict Arnold sits on a horse in front of the Capitol and tries to persuade the people of Williamsburg to abandon the American revolt. Revolutionary City runs from 3:00 to 5:00 every afternoon.

Maybe you could let your boys take a look at a typical day's calendar of events and see if they think it interests them.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6lupsq

It definitely helps to plan your day in advance so you don't spend the whole time just wandering from shop to tavern buying expensive crapola and expensive mediocre food. Personally, I would only visit during a slow, non-holiday time because I hate wasting time waiting in line.

If they get bored, there's always Busch Gardens and Water Country USA nearby.