The Environs of Williamsburg and Richmond

I think everyone who travels to Williamsburg goes to Colonial Williamsburg which is an important site. I recommend it as a good day for the whole family . . . I still remember my son (then about 12 years old) being chosen to tamp down the charge in the cannon in preparation for firing . . . a big deal at that age.

Having done that, there are a number of things that I recommend and some of them are covered in this journal and others are covered in my journal, "Wasting Away in Virginia Beach". In that I suggest day-tripping down to the Hampton Roads area to Norfolk and Newport News . . . they are a short drive away.

In the opposite direction, there is Richmond. For my day-trip, I chose the two sites I have covered in this journal . . . Richmond is an easy city in which to get around and you could probably spend two or three days touring various sites in the city.

I also recommend Williamsburg's shopping. Not only is there a lot of outlet shopping, the Pottery is worth the trip . . . not just to buy, but to see. In the same area there is a large antique market in which you could probably spend several hours . . . even if you don't particularly care for antiques. You will be spending a lot of time driving route 60 . . . lots of restaurants and access to all that shopping I mentioned.

Quick Tips:

When you arrive in Richmond, look for the tourist information signs . . . the city has an excellent tourist office and spending five minutes there probably saved us half an hour looking for different sites. They were able to make the route to the Museum of the Confederacy simple and quick. It is also important to know that you will be parking at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital's parking garage . . . have the museum validate your parking slip.

Getting to Agecroft was easy . . . the route is literally a straight line running parallel to the James River and gives you a good view of Richmond.

Williamsburg is an extremely well-marked town . . . all the sites are easy to find. This really is a tourist town as the number of motels, hotels and resorts testifies . . . you will feel very comfortable here.

Best Way To Get Around:

Williamsburg is really spread out. There is Colonial Williamsburg, the core of the town (and you could possibly stay close-by and walk everywhere), but much of the accommodations and shopping are spread along route 60, so I can't imagine doing this town without a car.

Best Things Nearby:
Colonial Williamsburg, outlet shopping, a multitude of restaurants, the Williamsburg pottery.

Best Things About the Resort:
Its location . . . it is in the midst of things.

Resort Experience:
Entry to the Fairfield Williamsburg at Kingsgate is through a security entrance off the Waller Mill Road. The reception area is to the left; its interior is very attractive. As prologue to your week’s stay, it bodes well. My thought at the time was that this was a class operation. Check-in was very quick… extremely quick for a resort with 600 units. The visitor is directed to a table, I believe it was for a parking pass, where it is suggested that a variety of gifts are available if you are interested in attending a presentation. The words, "tickets to Busch Gardens" immediately perked up my ears and I signed up.

Units are in numerous two and three storey buildings arranged fairly close together… a real warren of housing. The site itself is not particularly attractive geographically; it is flat, the trees are coming along, the lawns are well-manicured: pleasant in an ordinary way. The whole look is a pleasant neo-colonial… a bit of brick, shutters and clapboard.

The unit, a one-bedroom, was extremely compact. When we entered, the coffee table had a broken leg… a call and it was replaced. Otherwise, in terms of cleanliness and furnishings, it was completely satisfactory, but let’s go back to compact. It was suitable for a couple or a couple with one child (perhaps two small children)… after that it would be getting a little tight. I liked the bathroom arrangement… it had doors off the bedroom and the living room, a practical arrangement. The kitchen was a mini… fully equipped in a Lilliputian way, but satisfactory for our purposes.

We were fortunate to be quite close to the activities center… it too, was attractive and featured those things that one would expect… indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, whirlpool, an exercise room and a miniature golf course. The resort offers a get-together for guests with games and activities for prizes… everybody wins. Also offered are classes and activities in the early evening. My wife and I attended an aromatherapy session that was interesting, but of course, sales were involved.

Oh, the sales session that I had signed up for. I know you’re thinking, "Is he crazy?" Actually, it was quite enjoyable. The Fairfield offices are just down the road from the resort… the representative with whom we met was low-key, a multiple-timeshare owner himself and a literal font of information about Fairfield and RCI. It turned out to be time well-spent.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

The visitor to Williamsburg area would probably want to see one of the plantations along the James River, and there is quite a selection: Berkeley Plantation at $9.50, Edgewood Plantation at $8, Evelynton at $9.50, Sherwood Forest at $9.50, and Shirley Plantation at $10. I think it’s safe to say that you can’t see them all . . . and most of us can’t afford to see them all. So it’s pick and choose. After consulting the AAA Tourbook, we chose Shirley Plantation . . . of all the plantations it was the only one designated a "Gem".

I think I was expecting the Virginian equivalent of an English great house, and perhaps that was naïve of me, because let me preface this description by saying I found Shirley to be disappointing.

Shirley is an extremely old plantation, settled c.1613. Granted to the Hill family in 1660, the mansion was begun in 1723 with the marriage of Elizabeth Hill to the son of "King" Carter. It was completed in 1738 looking very much as it does today. It is an extremely impressive building, a study in symmetry. Unfortunately, all you will see is the ground floor as the family still lives in the house. I find it disingenuous to claim that this National Historic Landmark receives no funds from government or private agencies, that the admission helps to preserve it . . . and at $10 a head, allow the family to occupy it. That may be the only resemblance that it has to an English great house, but at least in the latter, the ground floor or the north wing is a treasure worth seeing.

What you will see is a magnificent flying staircase that rises three floors with no visible means of support. You will see comfortable principle rooms filled with original woodwork and family portraits and mementos that hearken back to colonial America. It is a home through which the tide of history has flowed . . . it has been part of the Revolutionary and Civil wars and it sits in a particularly attractive position overlooking the James.

I had said previously that the house is an exercise in symmetry and I think that the site and the layout are what the visitor will take away with him. The outbuildings are situated to create a forecourt as one approaches the house. The whole effect of a long walkway with first the tool barn and the granary straddling it and then the similar-looking laundry house and kitchen in the same juxtaposition is one of extreme order, and of course, extreme wealth. It is in those buildings, as well as the stables, the dovecote and the smoke house where one is expected to spend much of his time here . . . which means you will be poking about in empty buildings.

By now, you might have noticed that I had mixed feelings about Shirley. The one effect of the visit was to discourage visitations to the other plantations. Should you wish to explore further, try shirleyplantation.

Jamestown settlement, along with the Yorktown Victory Center and Colonial Williamsburg are the big hitters in the area historically. Jamestown is a total recreation… it didn’t even sit on this site but nearby. What it does do is initiate the visitor to the hardships and lives of the early settlers and the role of Native Americans in that area in the 17th century. What the visitor will experience is a visit in four parts.

It all begins in the Visitor Center where the visitor gets the background. In it, you will learn the story of the early settler, lured to the New World by the promise of gold and finding instead famine, disease and unfriendly natives. It contains artifacts demonstrating life at the time and tells the stories of Pocahontas and John Smith and a film tells the story of how events here unfolded. I must say, that the coverage of Powhatan culture and tribal structure is extensive and enjoyable… it is not the story of the good guys and the Indians… it is the story of two equally-complicated cultures on a collision course.

Leaving the visitor center, the visitor arrives at the Powhatan village. Powhatan houses (they were part of the Algonquian culture) are not like any native dwelling that I’ve seen before… closer to Pacific longhouses than teepees. An oblong structure reminiscent of half a watermelon consists of a framework covered by straw mats. Curiously, the interiors, with sleeping platforms and skins hanging reminded me of the 2000 year old Celtic homes (recreations) that we had seen in Wales just months before.

Leaving the Indian village, the visitor travels to the waterfront where three ships are moored, the largest being the Susan Constant. I think that every visitor is struck by the small size of these reproduction vessels and walks away wondering how could they put so many people into a vessel and then sail it across the Atlantic over several months. From the ships the fort is visible.

The fortification is a good size, a number of buildings surrounded by a palisade… the buildings being frame structures with wattle and mud construction… we would recognize them as Tudor in style. The most noticeable building is the church and again, the impression… this must have been tough in winter. There are the usual static displays… the places where people slept and ate and then there are the live displays… as we visited there was a demonstration of musket firing, 17th century style. Interpreters on site helped make sense of it all. All in all, a total sensory experience… a good visit. (For more, try Jamestown.

Any visit to Richmond would be incomplete without a visit to the Museum of the Confederacy and the White House of the Confederacy which can be seen on a joint ticket or individually, if you wish. The ticketing for both is done in the lobby of the museum and the tours of the house leave from that point.

The museum contains a huge collection of Confederate artifacts presented fairly chronologically. If you didn’t really appreciate the scope and breadth of the Civil War before you entered, you will have a good grasp when you leave. There are displays of equipment belonging to such Confederate luminaries as Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, paintings, uniforms, models and documents. It also covers life on the home-front and the black experience in the south. It is an excellent exhibit in a complex built especially to house it… good lighting, good traffic flow and spaciousness. Your house tour will be timed… you can explore the museum until it is called and return afterwards.

The house is not like the northern White House other than it is white and it has columns. Rather than spacious lawns, it finds itself crammed into its setting, surrounded by other buildings. It may be lucky to exist at all, as after the war it served a number of functions including use as a school. It gradually became dilapidated and was to be torn down but it was saved by the Confederate Memorial Literary Society in 1890. It was the first site of the museum. It had begun as a Richmond physician’s residence and was purchased by the Confederate government at the beginning of the war. As such, it served as the home of the president, Jefferson Davis.

The house has been extensively restored and many of its original possessions, some of which had disappeared with the Union army that used it as a headquarters, have been returned to it. It exhibits now as a fine Victorian home with eleven rooms open to the public. Among others, you will see the State Dining Room, once used for Councils of War as well a dinner parties for the Confederate elite. As with all the ground-floor rooms, it is high-ceilinged, wallpapered and newly carpeted with an interesting chandelier and massive table. The house has two parlours separated by pocket doors; beautiful, matching rooms for receptions, one of which was normally used as a ladies’ drawing room. Upstairs the visitor will see the master bedroom with its high-backed bed and dark furniture. Nearby there is a wonderful Victorian nursery, with its child-sized furniture and children’s toys. It is on this floor too, that visitors can see Davis’s office, a simple room for conducting the business of government.

You’re going to want to set aside at least two hours for these buildings… there is much to see. I can’t recommend this site for children; unless they are extremely precocious, they might find it a bit of a bore.

I had seen Agecroft Hall on television, probably an episode of "America’s Castles", and like most of the homes featured, it was a beautiful home, but more than that, it had an intriguing story behind it. Agecroft was built in the late 15th century in Lancashire, England… the large Tudor home of the Langley and Dauntesey families respectively. It didn’t do well in the industrialized England of the 19th century and was gradually being undermined by coal tunnels and getting in the way of the age of steam. Finally, it became a case of either tearing it down or auctioning it off for removal. Richmond businessman, Thomas Williams, seized the opportunity, bought the home, had it carefully dismantled and shipped to America.

Williams saw Agecroft in two lights: it was to be his home, and more than that, it would be the anchor of his new subdivision, Winsor Farms. It would be an upscale project and Agecroft would lend it that air of "old money" that Williams was looking for. Before you begin your tour, you will watch a slide-show describing the history of the house and William’s involvement with it.

The home that the visitor enters has been decorated to the Tudor period and as such, houses a fine collection of Elizabethan furniture and household goods. The Great Hall of the house is authentic, with leaded glass windows featuring the stained-glass arms of the original owners. It is beautifully paneled in dark wood and dominated by a massive stone fireplace. A long trestle table completes the effect, taking one back to a period when people would have gathered in front of a blazing fire to feast… not entirely a pleasant picture as the fork wasn’t invented until the 17th century.

The guest has the opportunity to see most of the home’s principle rooms, the dining area, the great staircase and the bedrooms upstairs. The bedrooms, in particular, feature some superb furniture, rare pieces that one won’t see in other homes in America. Only the library is true to the time of Thomas Williams. It was actually my favorite room in the house with its book-lined walls, huge library table, over-stuffed furniture and minstrel’s gallery.

Having finished your guided tour, you may wish to go to the extensive gardens… the house did have the prime location at Winsor Farms. The rest of the subdivision that Williams had constructed skirts his 23 acre property and features Virginia House, a second old English manor house that is also open to the public. For more on Agecroft, try agecroft.

You may, or may not, enjoy amusement parks, but Busch Gardens has something for everyone, so you will probably enjoy your day here. The central theme of this park is a trip to Europe, and in the course of your day you will travel through six countries: Ireland, Italy, England, Scotland, Germany and France. Each country contains restaurants, snack bars, rides, souvenir shops and entertainment. As a result, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is an extremely attractive park.

The highlight of Ireland (a good place to begin your visit) is Corkscrew Hill, a 4-D adventure. Don’t miss it: you’ll ride the back of a white horse as a witch tries to shrink you… just great. Ireland packs a triple punch, there is also the Abbey Stone Theatre featuring dancing with Irish Thunder and the wonderful story of Castle O’Sullivan. Both are timed shows, so the most important document you may have at Busch Gardens is your schedule so you can see as many of the entertainments as possible. Around the square here in Killarney you will find an Irish pub and the possibility of buying fine goods: Waterford crystal, Belleek porcelain and Irish linens.

Consulting your map, you can move on to Aquitaine in France. On the way, you might want to drop into Jack Hanna’s Wild Reserve for either the bird show or the reptile show. When you arrive, you will find not only Aquitaine, but New France. In New France there are 50’s and 60’s good times in a jukebox show. The ride here is aimed at the young and their parents… the LeMans raceway. As you move on to Germany, you have the option of getting wet on a flume ride or riding the Alpengeist roller coaster. In the huge Oktoberfest hall there is, guess what, an Oktoberfest show. Don’t forget to take a look at the Big, Bad Wolf, a second coaster with hanging cars.

In no time you’re in Italy where you can see "Holiday in Roma" in the Teatro Di San Marco. Italy, of course, features good food as well as a coaster, Apollo’s Chariot, and two water rides, the Roman Rapids and Escape from Pompei. In England, a.k.a. Banbury Cross, there is a wet theatre (the Globe)… don’t worry, it’s just a gentle mist and it’s a lot of fun. In Scotland (Heatherdowns), you will want to ride the Lock Ness monster and visit the Budweiser Clydesdales.

It’s a busy day. My wife refuses to go on rides, but she did enjoy all the shows and shops. I liked it all… and it would be great for the kids. It’s clean and attractive… a good family destination.