Over spring break we drove up to Williamsburg VA, and went to two places, one educational and one less so. they were both fun. We went with some of Eleanor's friends from school.
Luke vastly preferred Busch Gardens. Although there were many rides we had to sit out from, one of the first ones we went up on was an "airplane" ride, where you control your height by pulling back on a stick. Luke got the idea right away. Later on, we spent a lot of time going from the gliders to the balloons to the gliders to the balloons---there were no lines, so we just got on. I think that was the most fun Luke had all day, no waiting.
Eleanor started out the day at the Loch Ness Monster, a roller coaster which has loop de loops. She claims to have had a good time, but after that she forswore any further roller coasters, to her father's disappointment. Eleanor especially enjoyed anything that got her wet: Le Scoot, Roman Rapids and Escape from Pompeii. Pompeii had real fire, which made it even more exciting.
Amanda had a hard time. She really wanted to go on all the roller coasters, but she is 41.5 inches tall, and most of them you had to be 42 inches tall. Some people would check rigorously, some not so much. Basically she could go on the flat rides (Scrambler, Monster, Teacups) but not the rollercoasters. She got all the way up to sitting in the car for Pompeii before they told her she was too short. Fortunately, she is not one to throw a temper tantrum and had a good attitude. She managed to enjoy the kids rides as well, like "King Elmo's Spire" and Oscar's whirly worms.
My favorite part of the trip was the train that went all around. The SkyRide was not open, which is my favorite ride back from when we went on the one at the MN state fair. I managed not to ride a single roller coaster, which astonished Eleanor.
Daddy got his wish to ride the big roller coasters at the end of the day. He claims he had fun.
Williamsburg with a 3 year old (an active, impatient 3 year old) can be challenging. To start with, Luke is terribly afraid of fire, even the thought of fire. So when we went to the Governor's palace (both British governors and Americans lived there) and heard that the place had been destroyed by fire, he got steadily more worked up. Then when we actually went into the palace and there were FIREPLACES everywhere, he didn't want to stay. We went out to the gardens instead. But his fear meant going inside any building was challenging.
On the other hand, he made quite the exploration of rocks all throughout the city. I think I will write a small monograph on the subject, "Rocks of Williamsburg." We had to tell him that they needed the rocks for the street, otherwise I think we would have brought many home with us.
Hope Plantation was interesting, and I'd like to see more of it. We need to go back for more than one day, I think.
One of the best programs that was going on while we were there was the "Revolutionary City". It was a series of short plays which told about the progression from Virginia as a productive British colony to a leader in the fight for independence. We came in on the scene where some patriots confront several officials in front of the coffee house, and then we went down to the capital where the British governor addressed the crowd about the "day of prayer and fasting" the house of Burgess had declared. It was very easy to follow the crowd from one place to another---Eleanor just got up and went, without consulting her parents! There were several recreators in the audience, including the wife of the only Virginian knighted before the Revolution (a loyalist, naturally). It was fun to hear her responses going against the crowd, who were almost all patriots. I felt a shiver go up my spine when I heard that the king had forbidden any "Days of Prayer and Fasting" except ones that he scheduled: "He can't do that! That's not right!" I'm certainly a "patriot" now.
Eleanor wanted a cotton cap (like the one Felicity wears) very much. She kept it on the whole day, wore it all the way home, and wore it much of the next day. Amanda wanted a tricorner hat, which would have put her in the artillery. She didn't keep it on. Luke also got an artillery hat, although he mostly wanted to use his for collecting rocks... It would have been fun to rent costumes, but they looked hot and I kept thinking, "I could make these..." Well, maybe I couldn't, but I didn't want to spend money renting one, since the hats were good enough.
Of course, my favorite part of the whole city was sitting outside Raleigh's Tavern, drinking root beer and eating ginger cakes in the sun. We need to go back to see inside more places, but I'm happy we went.
Luke vastly preferred Busch Gardens. Although there were many rides we had to sit out from, one of the first ones we went up on was an "airplane" ride, where you control your height by pulling back on a stick. Luke got the idea right away. Later on, we spent a lot of time going from the gliders to the balloons to the gliders to the balloons---there were no lines, so we just got on. I think that was the most fun Luke had all day, no waiting.
Eleanor started out the day at the Loch Ness Monster, a roller coaster which has loop de loops. She claims to have had a good time, but after that she forswore any further roller coasters, to her father's disappointment. Eleanor especially enjoyed anything that got her wet: Le Scoot, Roman Rapids and Escape from Pompeii. Pompeii had real fire, which made it even more exciting.
Amanda had a hard time. She really wanted to go on all the roller coasters, but she is 41.5 inches tall, and most of them you had to be 42 inches tall. Some people would check rigorously, some not so much. Basically she could go on the flat rides (Scrambler, Monster, Teacups) but not the rollercoasters. She got all the way up to sitting in the car for Pompeii before they told her she was too short. Fortunately, she is not one to throw a temper tantrum and had a good attitude. She managed to enjoy the kids rides as well, like "King Elmo's Spire" and Oscar's whirly worms.
My favorite part of the trip was the train that went all around. The SkyRide was not open, which is my favorite ride back from when we went on the one at the MN state fair. I managed not to ride a single roller coaster, which astonished Eleanor.
Daddy got his wish to ride the big roller coasters at the end of the day. He claims he had fun.
Williamsburg with a 3 year old (an active, impatient 3 year old) can be challenging. To start with, Luke is terribly afraid of fire, even the thought of fire. So when we went to the Governor's palace (both British governors and Americans lived there) and heard that the place had been destroyed by fire, he got steadily more worked up. Then when we actually went into the palace and there were FIREPLACES everywhere, he didn't want to stay. We went out to the gardens instead. But his fear meant going inside any building was challenging.
On the other hand, he made quite the exploration of rocks all throughout the city. I think I will write a small monograph on the subject, "Rocks of Williamsburg." We had to tell him that they needed the rocks for the street, otherwise I think we would have brought many home with us.
Hope Plantation was interesting, and I'd like to see more of it. We need to go back for more than one day, I think.
One of the best programs that was going on while we were there was the "Revolutionary City". It was a series of short plays which told about the progression from Virginia as a productive British colony to a leader in the fight for independence. We came in on the scene where some patriots confront several officials in front of the coffee house, and then we went down to the capital where the British governor addressed the crowd about the "day of prayer and fasting" the house of Burgess had declared. It was very easy to follow the crowd from one place to another---Eleanor just got up and went, without consulting her parents! There were several recreators in the audience, including the wife of the only Virginian knighted before the Revolution (a loyalist, naturally). It was fun to hear her responses going against the crowd, who were almost all patriots. I felt a shiver go up my spine when I heard that the king had forbidden any "Days of Prayer and Fasting" except ones that he scheduled: "He can't do that! That's not right!" I'm certainly a "patriot" now.
Eleanor wanted a cotton cap (like the one Felicity wears) very much. She kept it on the whole day, wore it all the way home, and wore it much of the next day. Amanda wanted a tricorner hat, which would have put her in the artillery. She didn't keep it on. Luke also got an artillery hat, although he mostly wanted to use his for collecting rocks... It would have been fun to rent costumes, but they looked hot and I kept thinking, "I could make these..." Well, maybe I couldn't, but I didn't want to spend money renting one, since the hats were good enough.
Of course, my favorite part of the whole city was sitting outside Raleigh's Tavern, drinking root beer and eating ginger cakes in the sun. We need to go back to see inside more places, but I'm happy we went.
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