Thanksgiving in Williamsburg, VA

michigansandzilla wrote:
You drove for 7 hours with four children and only stopped once for a bathroom break?
You are a road trip God. ;)

Yeah, the kids were amazing!!! On the drive home we made a pit stop 30 mins in to get breakfast and let the kids go and they never asked to stop after that. It was a feat we never experience before and don't expect to be repeated;)

Carb Cleaner wrote:
Just to be clear, I was talking about roller coaster rides, not beer.
After 5 or 6 years of crying and moaning, from me, about wanting to ride roller coasters before it's too late, we finally loaded up and headed to Busch Gardens for my 49th birthday, this past September on a Friday. I bought us a couple year passes and had a great time. Two weeks later, I found out I have a pinched nerve in my neck (non-roller coaster related). I'm really glad we went when we did. I love roller coasters.
There are fantastic bicycle trails in the Williamsburg area, too. Everything from wooded, mountain bike, hard core trails to gentle, paved paths. The best part was hanging out with my favorite gal, much like you getting to have Thanksgiving with family. Gotta enjoy it while you can.

I completely forgot the roller coasters were closed for Christmas. They only has one open and they needed to shut it down when the temp dropped below freezing (and we got to the mid-point of the line. My oldest daughter started riding roller coasters last summer, so I think we'll be making a return trip during the season.

You drove for 7 hours with four children and only stopped once for a bathroom break?
You are a road trip God. ;)

Just to be clear, I was talking about roller coaster rides, not beer.
After 5 or 6 years of crying and moaning, from me, about wanting to ride roller coasters before it's too late, we finally loaded up and headed to Busch Gardens for my 49th birthday, this past September on a Friday. I bought us a couple year passes and had a great time. Two weeks later, I found out I have a pinched nerve in my neck (non-roller coaster related). I'm really glad we went when we did. I love roller coasters.
There are fantastic bicycle trails in the Williamsburg area, too. Everything from wooded, mountain bike, hard core trails to gentle, paved paths. The best part was hanging out with my favorite gal, much like you getting to have Thanksgiving with family. Gotta enjoy it while you can.

Carb Cleaner wrote:

RVcircus wrote:
... Busch Gardens ... ups and downs...

I get it.

Ha...I didn't even think of it. The up's weren't much fun.

Sounds like fun and you missed the heavy snow further west.

RVcircus wrote:
... Busch Gardens ... ups and downs...

I get it.

Thanks for that report. As I've just finished listening to a bio on Thomas Jefferson, that area is quite interesting to me right now. Sorry about the little one's upset tummy, but sounds like it was a great holiday that none of you will ever forget.

The traditional Williamsburg stuff does lose the little ones after a bit, but I have a few specific recommendations of things to consider if you've got kids 3rd grade or under -

Play in the dirt/make bricks at the brickyard - http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradebri.cfm - take an extra set of clothes, too!

Do the maze behind the Governor's Palace - http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/do/revolutionary-city/tour-the-city/governors-palace/

Thanks for sharing. On our first trip to Williamsburg, our two girls were about the ages of your older two. They did get bored after a few hours. Years later, when they were in high school, they remembered back on that trip and wished they had paid more attention. They even used some of the photos and souvenirs for school projects all those years later. Our trips to Busch Gardens went a bit better than yours and no midnight surprises.