Williamsburg Favorites

Favorite thing: If like me you’re fascinated by the human stories behind the big historical events, check out this website:
http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/bios/biohdr2.cfm

Here you’ll find biographies of many Williamsburg residents, from slaves and trades people to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Favorite thing: Your admission ticket for Colonial Williamsburg includes a 30 minute Orientation Tour. Even if like us you don’t like to go round in a tour group this is worth taking, especially if you only have one day for your visit, as it gives you a quick overview of the site. It will also help you focus on the things you most want to see and plan your day in a logical way to fit as much as possible into it.

Favorite thing: The very first thing all visitors to Colonial Williamsburg see is the visitor's centre. This is where you buy your tickets to tour the historic area. In October, 2004, the ticket prices ranged from $29-69. The plan that gives you the most bang for the buck is the $45 Key To The City plan. This gives you access to the whole historic area including the Capitol and Governor's Palace. The only hitch is, it's good for two days and I do this in a day. It may seem like a waste, but the Capitol and Governor's Palace are well worth the extra money. There is also a theatre where they show you a short movie Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot. There are numerous gift shops on each level of the visitor's centre. After you buy your ticket and see the movie, you go down the stairs to meet your shuttle bus which takes you in a circuit around the historic area back to the visitor's centre when you've had enough history for one day.

NOTE: Click here to check on current prices and new features.

Fondest memory: The tour guides dress like it was 1776. This one pictured here, outside the Capitol building, even remembered me from previous visits. I had been 8 times before this and we're bound to have met at some point. Another one, the guide at the Governor's Palace, knew my cousin Hazel when she was a guide here years ago. Matt says the folks at Colonial Williamsburg ought to let me in free or offer me some kind of discount when I bring folks from out of town with me because I've done it so much. Since 1988, I've brought Pierre-Olivier Pelletier (France), Phil Costello (New York), Fernando Pensado Miguel (Spain), Javier Espejo Pinto (Spain), J.D. Sitton (Georgia, now New Jersey), Eric Rauschenberger (New Jersey), Mark Jones (North Carolina, now Pennsylvania), and Matt & Urszula Niwinski (Poland). Bobby and Katey Clark, y'all are next!

Fondest memory: Urszula is new to this colony and she didn't know to mind the company she kept. Back during the Revolutionary War, these guys were Tories (British loyalists) and they tried to keep us from gaining independence from England. To my friends in England, I'm only kidding, folks.

Favorite thing: I live in Williamsburg, so I have tons of memories, but what I will use this space to tell you is how much you will love Williamsburg. You have never been on a vacation that had this much to offer you and your children. It's fun, it's educational, it's romantic...It really has everything.

In this day in age, it's hard to find activities for your entire family to do together that don't involve a TV or computer. Come to a place where TVs haven't been invented yet. You will be amazed by what your child--or you for that matter--retains just from walking through the colonial area. When he to the blacksmith, makes a mudbrick with his or her own hands, and watches the Patrick Henry deliver his Liberty or Death speech.

Favorite thing: If you've been reading through the Williamsburg tips, then by now you've figured out the ticket structure... but here it is again...

Colonial Sampler - $34 ($15 youth) - One day admission, but does not include Capitol, Governor's Palace, DeWitt Museum & Bassett Hall. Essentially worthless.

Governor's Key-To-The-City - $48 ($24 youth) - Two day admission and includes all of the above, but does not include Walking Tours and Behind-the-Scenes Programs. A much better value.

Freedom Pass - $59 ($29 youth) - Good for unlimited admission for up to a year, plus 50% discounts on Walking Tours and Behind-the-Scenes Programs.

Independence Pass - $72 ($36 youth) - Same as Freedom Pass, but you get free tickets to Colonial Evening Performances (except dining events and certain holiday times), and the ability to reserve time slots for the Capitol and Palace tours (avoiding the huge lines).

If you only have a half day at Williamsburg, don't bother paying. Just stroll around for free.

You should really plan on spending two full days at Williamsburg, or at least a day and a half. One day is just not enough time, and the one day Colonial Sampler is a colossal waste of money - the ticket omits all of the best attractions. If you arrive in the middle of the day, I would strongly suggest going to the Visitor's Center, picking up the free "This Week" guide, and taking the brief walk to the historic area to soak up the ambience, and make plans for a full day tomorrow. Then, since you have a two day ticket, plan to spend the following morning at Williamsburg before hitting the road - or stay all day.

Favorite thing: Perhaps my favorite little place in Williamsburg was a small shop on Duke of Gloucester Street called Mary Stith Shop.

It's just a one-story brick structure with a bay window and dormers that almost looks like a doll's house; however, it made a big impression on me. Why? I was fascinated by the story of Mary Stith. For the times, she was remarkable. She wrote her will in 1813, and left most of her belongings to her African-American servants. A quote from her will says a great deal:"All the coloured people in my family being born my slaves, but now liberated, I think it my duty not to leave them destitute nor to leave them unrecompensed for past services rendered to me. As in the cause of humanity I can do but little for so many, and that little my conscience requires me to do, therefore I subject the whole of my estate to the payment of my just debts, and to the provision which I herein make for them."

What this means is that she left three buildings and the ground on which they stood; she also left clothing, furniture, and cash. Today, special programs and performances are presented in her shop.

The Golden Ball (Silversmith) I really enjoyed seeing the silversmith create beautiful object by hand. They actually do the casting and forging of silver here! They sell jewelry and silver hollow ware. We purchased jewelry.

Shoemaker's Shop It was great to see a tradesman make shoes using the tools and techniques of the 18th-century. He actually hand sews the soles and uppers.

Fondest memory: But, my all-time favorite place was The Public Hospital. It was the first public institution that took care of the mentally ill.

The Public Hospital was the last major public building in Colonial Williamsburg to be reconstructed. There is a re-created cell with a pallet on the floor, chains on the wall, and bars on the window (18th century); they also have a reproduction of a comfortably furnished apartment from the mid-nineteenth century.

There's also a great exhibit that graphically traces the different theories about mental illness and the methods used for treating it. They even had sound effects which made it seem so real.

By 1883 there were over 400 patients and it was obvious that they had decided to care for the mentally ill but did not have much of a plan. In 1885, a fire completely destroyed the Public Hospital Building (reconstructed by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1985).

The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery is entered through the lower lobby of the Public Hospital.

The photo shows the interior of a patient's cell during the late 18th century.