Colonial Williamsburg Family Vacations

Mulling over a trip to Colonial Williamsburg? For those ready to experience this amazing living history museum where our country took root, the questions pile up quickly: can it all be seen in a day? (Not really.) Anything for kids? (Yes!) What about pools? (Sparkling ones at that.) Some even wonder: any roller coasters? (Um, no.)

But before we go into the cool experiences for families that you'll find in Colonial Williamsburg you might give silent thanks to two men who saved this historical marvel for you and I to find at all. Once upon a time, the town of Williamsburg -- Virginia's hotbed capitol in the eighteenth century -- was disappearing before everyone's eyes in the early twentieth century. Houses were rotting. Filling stations were springing up. Utility lines were littering the skyline. Townsfolk cared, but nobody knew what to do. Without the white knight mission staged by a reverend and a millionaire the colonial world would exist only in fifth grade textbooks. Ten year olds would talk about the colonists ("Not just the men had muskets, boys too?"), but even they'd grow up and stop caring.

Yet that's not how our story ends. In our story, the good guys win. Two men cared, Reverend W.A.R. Goodwin and Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and because of them Colonial Williamsburg is alive, thriving and just waiting for people who care to drop by.

Today stepping onto this 301-acre living museum is like stepping into a storybook. You'll walk streets Patrick Henry, young Thomas Jefferson and other patriots regularly trekked. You'll hear them speak in passionate voice through skilled interpreters about the issues of their day. You'll see highly skilled trade folk like blacksmiths and brick makers hard at work. You'll see women dressed in lace and caps and men dressed in powdered wigs and buckled knee breeches or sturdy trousers and linen shirts. You'll eat in taverns where General Washington dined. You'll snoop through the beautiful home where Thomas Jefferson's mentor, George Wythe, lived. You'll see a whopping eighty eight original structures including the "gaol" (we say "jail) that held Blackbeard's pirates before they faced the noose.

Whew. Colonial Williamsburg is large. In fact it's so large that I haven't even mentioned the many cool tours and shows you can actually participate in. To give you an idea, Colonial Williamsburg is home to six official on-site properties (including twenty-six Colonial Guest Houses nestled in the Historic Area), sparkling swimming pools, three spectacular golf courses, well-equipped fitness rooms and a world class resort spa. Each hotel boasts dining rooms and four taverns inside the Historic Area bearing their original names from the eighteenth century and serve authentic meals from yesteryear in equally authentic surroundings.

It's true that you can see a good amount of the exterior of Colonial Williamsburg without a pass, but you can't get into any of the buildings with tours or into the trade shops and listen to the super skilled share their stories. By mid-afternoon you won't be allowed past a certain area to experience the Revolutionary City where exciting interpretive programming is staged.

When you buy a ticket for a day or more in Colonial Williamsburg you're helping to preserve the Historic Area for your grandchildren. All income from Colonial Williamsburg admission tickets, hotels and restaurants supports the educational mission of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the not-for-profit organization that operates the Historic Area.

This living museum can take hits for being too "theme park," but keep in mind the modern times Colonial Williamsburg is up against. Twenty first century kids are raised with electronics, cable and Star Wars. Can a horse and carriage compete?

With advanced planning on your part -- it sure can.

For more information on the Williamsburg area, see our Williamsburg destination page.

WE visited Colonial Williamsburg June 10-16. We were a party of 4 adults and 1 toddler. We stayed at the Historic Powhatan Resort. The ...