Well, I can’t include everything, since we took approximately a gazillion pictures during our day in Colonial Williamsburg, but here are a few highlights. It was amazing! I’ve wanted to go there pretty much forever. Colonial Williamsburg is a living museum – there is truly nothing else like it.
It is gorgeously restored, utterly unique and captivating. I was a bit worried about the kids losing interest, but we all loved it! Seriously – with all the technology we’re used to, who could have imagined how fun a stick and hoop could be? We were there all day and the kids were sad to leave – and were asking if we could come back tomorrow. Even Colin, who is only three, had a great time…
Whenever he saw a soldier, he got really excited and got out his gun. He is also quite fond of pointing it at his sisters. Imagine that.
The kids got really into talking to people, asking questions about what they were doing and such. When they ran through the town shouting, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” Gracie asked nervously, “They’re not really going to fight… right?” (Good question! Everything else was real!) The Revolutionary City Street Theater was so really cool – the kids were really into that! Colin loved seeing the soldiers ride their horses.
The kids had a blast playing RevQuest, where you play the part of a Patriot spy trying to thwart an assassination attempt by the British. The kids were running around, deciphering secret codes, and hunting for clues in secret locations around Williamsburg. It was a little advanced for our kids to do on their own (ages 8 and 6) but they still had a great time and were really into the whole process!
working together to figure out the clues...
A few tips with young kids:
- Plan on more than one day. We really found that one day was just not enough to see and do everything. With young kids, two days is probably the limit. Without the kids, I could probably wander around much longer!
- Bring some snacks. Colonial Williamsburg is truly restored properly – so there are not tons of drinking fountains and food stalls like an amusement park. Have bottles of water and a few snacks for the kids, especially if your kids are like mine and go from zero to starving in three seconds.
- Pack sunscreen, plenty of diapers and wipes, band-aids, and whatever else you think you might need. Again, not lots of supply shops in Colonial Williamsburg.
- Take advantage of all the programs for kids! Use the Kids Adventure Maps where kids can get a special prize for getting their map punched at different stops and the RevQuest activity.
- And don’t worry… if your kids aren’t behaving, you can just put them in a Colonial Time Out:
For more information on travel to Williamsburg, visit www.visitwilliamsburg.com.
disclosure: we received complimentary admission to colonial williamsburg to facilitate this post. as always, all opinions are my own.
