The Visitor Center and hours
by matcrazy1
Everyone visiting the Colonial Williamsburg starts from this modern and quite large building on my picture that is the Visitor Center. The building is large but wasn't designed to host over 4,000,000 visitors each year (over 10,000 each day).
We arrived in the early afternoon and it wasn't crowded but... in the morning, around the opening hour, I would expect crowds.
There is the ticket office, restrooms, bookstore, gift shop, fast food bar, costume rental and a movie theater which showed the movie: Williamsburg. The store of a Patriot, in the Visitor Center.
HOURS
Colonial Williamsburg is open 365 days per year. The opening hours are different and depends on the season. Check here.
In October the area was open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Visitor Center 8.45 am - 5.30 pm, the Capitol and the Governor's Palace 9.00 am - 4.00 pm.
Boat-Building
by Tom_Fields
The settlers brought boat-building skills from old England. But they also learned new ones from the Indians, who constructed dugout canoes from trees. The Indians would chop down a tree, cut out a cross-section, cut it lengthwise, then burn out the center. Finally, they would scoop out the ashes with oyster shells.
Both English and local techniques are shown here. Re-enactors gladly demonstrate how it was done and answer questions.
Officer of Royal British Army
by matcrazy1
I met this guy, on my picture, in main aveniue of Colonial Williamsburg. He was a historical interpreter costumed in the uniform of a Royal, British officer. British troops resided in colonial Williamsburg since early colonial times (17th c.) till the end of British power over Virginia.
Virginia was a British colony till 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress - legislative body of 13 British colonies - in Philadelphia. Well, in reality, changing power was a process not a single date in history and was difficult as British, Royal troops attacked young American army which started the Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) won by the United States of America.
Busch Gardens
by bugalugs
Only 3 miles from Williamsburg is Busch Gardens. A must for kids especially. As we had our son and his friend with us, both 16 you can imagine that walking around Colonial Williamsburg didnt have the same appeal as riding white knuckle rides at Busch Gardens.
This tip is purely on what my son and his friend said. We dropped them both of at 10am when the park opens. They bought a 3 day pass which enabled them to go into either Busch Gardens or Water Country. As we were there only 3 nights and 2 days, they obviously could not use them for 3 days. Quite a good buy if you could.
Apparently the best ride was Apollo's Chariot and the queues for this ride were quite a long wait. The Big Bad Wolf was another ride they liked although my son said that the force of the ride did hurt his neck a bit. Escape from Pompeii was a water ride they liked but they did inform me that you do get very wet.
Amenities in the park, such as food and drink outlets, restrooms and locker facilities apparently were very good.
They really enjoyed their day there.
The park closed at different times depending on the day. Check their website.
How about a little wine and cheese?
by Jefie about The Cheese Shop
After a visit to one of Viriginia's wineries, you'll surely want some cheese to go along with it. The Cheese Shop has over 200 imported and domestic cheeses and you can also buy freshly baked bread and other specialty food -everything you need for a great wine and cheese! cheese, of course!
Gov. Palace
The Boxwood Gardens
The Governor's home
One of the stops
