Williamsburg 2007 Vacation

We got up early and went to Colonial Williamsburg and saw the recreation. It was very hot and with little shade it was a bit to much for the girls. But Sam, although hesitant at first, really got into it as he went from staging area to staging area in the the recreation and chased the red coats.

Some Photos:

Sarah exhausted —> the preacher —>

Benedict Arnold for the British —->

Some local who wishes he didn’t sign up for this in 90 degree weather —->

The Mayor of Williamsburg —-> The reading of the Declearation of Independence —->
We are planing on getting one of these for their room at home——>

Getting some rest——->

After Colonial Williamsburg, off to Water Country U.S.A., and then late in the evening off to Busch Gardens so Susan can complete her task of riding all five roller coasters at Busch Gardens so she can honestly where he 5 for 5 T-Shirt.

Well, Susan rode the Griffon. More importantly, Sarah and Sophia went on their first real roller coaster — The Big Bad Wolf

The proud riders:

Solely for purposes of fashion , Sophia demured on the T-Shirt.

Wednesday was a double duty day: morning at Busch Gardens; afternoon at Water Country. Susan starts building up courage to ride the Griffon, then starts losing it as we watch it come down over and over again. She reconsiders as some people tell her it really isn’t that bad.

One photo

Busch Gardens has a sister water park five minutes away named Water Country U.S.A. We bought a joint ticket so we could go back and forth between the parks. What we learned, which Busch Gardens neglects to tell you, is that you can use the parking pass for which you pay daily at both parks. The water park was refreshing and fun, and was clearly Sam’s favorite. On our first day here — we spent nearly 8 hours. We benefited from uncertainty in the weather and it was not very crowded and in the end the weather was not a problem. Some photos:

After our educational outing to Jamestown we were ready for some fun, or we would have had an insurrection on our hands. So off to Bush Gardens where a week long effort to have Susan ride the Griffon — a 205 foot, 75 mile per hour, 90 degree drop roller coaster — commenced.

Some other shoots from Busch Gardens from the nature preserve area:

All and all a very enjoyable afternoon.

Long car ride after a late start (couldn’t find the registration at start). But we did have a new twist on the age old question “Are we there yet?”

Sophia: “Dad, did I mention that I don’t like to drive in the car a long time on vacation?”

Sunday we went to the Jamestown Settlement. The exhibit was very well done and we had a good time and learned much.

We did learn, for example, that it was no surprise that the colony had a difficult time surviving considering the quality of the early settlers.

For example (click on photo to enlarge):

We also learned that the Americans we quite fortunate to prevail over the British considering this rag tag crew (obviously descendants of those first settlers).