Colonial Williamsburg

When we got married during the school year we wanted to take a short trip to celebrate without using all of my personal time and then take a longer trip the following summer. When we picked Colonial Williamsburg, we never expected it to become a place we visited repeatedly, but from that very first visit we have found Williamsburg to be a relaxing and enjoyable destination. This year there were several reasons we weren’t able to get away closer to our anniversary so we decided to use Thanksgiving vacation for a trip to Williamsburg.

Initially we had planned to leave after Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, camp and return home on Sunday and had made a reservation at Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center because we know the campsites are nice and it’s never crowded. Mother nature had other plans though so at the last minute we cancelled our campsite and booked a pet friendly hotel. This was the first time we’ve taken Sirius with us to a hotel and I wasn’t sure how nice the rooms would be. Fortunately the Red Roof Inn was nicer for the pet friendly rooms than I expected, although I do think if we need a pet friendly hotel again a king size bed will be considered a necessity. Traveling with Sirius in cooler weather also made us search more for places to eat, but we found a cute hot dog shop and brewery that allowed him to come inside with us. We also tried the Mellow Mushroom just behind the main area of merchant square because the patio was pet friendly and heated. I’d seen this one multiple times, but I thought it was a vegetarian restaurant rather than pizza. All three got two thumbs up and tail wags!

This was the third time we’ve visited during the holidays so we knew the decorations would be starting to be placed on buildings and we’d enjoy seeing the various wreaths. On previous visits we had never made time to visit the art museum and I’d read about several exhibits that I thought would be of interest so we made that a priority this time. While we enjoy touring the various buildings, with Sirius along we knew most tours would not be options this time, so we bought a museum only ticket for me and Shawn and Sirius waited in the car for me. Sirius isn’t used to all the activity we do while traveling, so he took advantage of naptime.

I was glad to see that the Christmas tree was already on display in the art museum. I think I could have spent an hour or more just looking at the various folk art ornaments they used for decorations. There was a book of projects inspired by the ornaments that looked interesting but when I looked through the one on display most of them were not projects I thought I was likely to complete.

It took me some time to figure out the map of the museum and find the exhibits I was most interested in and I’m sure I missed a lot. One of the things that impressed me most was that they had an area where you could watch the conservation work being done on a vintage chandelier. Having taken some classes in museum studies in my grad schoolwork, I know that a lot of work is done behind the scenes to keep displays looking nice but I didn’t expect there to be an area to watch the work happening. One of the conservationists took time out of her work to come explain the steps that had been undertaken to make the chandelier as authentic as possible. I also enjoyed the Navajo weaving and rug hooking exhibits. There are several hands on activities happening during the month of December that I’d love to take advantage of, but the only events during our visit were guided tours.