Ch. 2: The Time I...Traveled to the 1700s (Feat. My Vacation to Colonial Williamsburg)

   

Image Credit

    Welcome back everybody to the next installment of "The Time I..." series!!! (*shakes head* I still can't get over the imagination of that name. Total sarcasm, btw.) Anywhooo, no, I did not literally time travel back to the 1700s (you know my stance on that kind of thing 😉), but it sure felt like it! And according to the graphic and title up above, you know exactly were my fam and I went. 

    La Great Colonial Williamsburg!

    Seriously, it was more than great—it was awesome!!! And if y'all haven't gone there yet, you can just go ahead and click the linky-dinky-doo at the top (the Image Credit) and it'll take ya right to the official Williamsburg site so you can book your next historical experience! (Actually I don't know if you have to "book" anything or if you can just go...my parents handled all that lovely stuff.) XD

    But anyway, today I'm gonna share allll about my trip there a couple weeks ago so buckle up and make sure you have plenty of time to read this 'cause it'll be preeetty long. (Huh, I feel like I said that for my last TTI post...*shrugs* Just pretend that every post in this series will be long. 😉But hey, it sure makes up for last week's, amiright?)

    [Disclaimer: I'll try to remember most of the trip correctly, but I don't have superhuman memory or anything, so I *might* end up accidentally lying to you about some of the details. #SorryNotSorry] 

    D-Day (a.k.a Driving Day)

    We got up early on Father's Day morning to pack up the car and leave. Sounds simple, right? Hah, NO. Whenever my family goes on vacation we always set a time to leave and end up actually leaving an hour later. So this time, we decided to set a time range and I think we did okay by leaving around 9:30 a.m. for a 10-ish hour drive. At least my sisters and I aren't snotty little toddlers who have to use the bathroom every hour anymore. XD Surprise, surprise, the trip up there actually wasn't so bad and we only stopped three times (once for lunch, once for gas, and another to stretch our legs at a scenic spot off the interstate)!

Here be a pretty farmhouse and some cows.
Oh, and a photobombing car.

Here lies the scenic view at the rest stop. Look-y there, another farmhouse in the valley!


The memorial at the rest stop.

Some flowers (yeah, don't know their name. I'm not nature smart like that.) 
My sister, Lydia, took this picture, though! Isn't the flag in the background cool?

The memorial up close with the flag's reflection! (Lydia took this one too.) 😉

        After the rest stop, we continued our journey to Middle Earth Williamsburg. And lemme tell ya, it was a long one. But I, being the cooperative girl I am, I can guarantee you my sisters just snorted if they read that  XD contented myself with staring out the window and daydreaming, reading a little bit, writing some, and watching the 2019 Aladdin. 

    Then, long at last, we arrived at Williamsburg! Or more correctly, Toano, which is right outside of Williamsburg. We got dinner, drove an itty bitty more to the adorable lil' Airbnb we were staying at, and went to bed in preparation for the following day's adventure. 

    Day 1: Jamestown (or better yet, In Which We Almost Die of Heat Stroke)

   We got up Monday morning and prepared to leave for Jamestown. I ate breakfast, got in trouble for reading my book too long instead of getting ready to go don't ask, and then we headed out to The Home of John Smith!

And his knife. 😐

    We got to Jamestown and while Mom and Dad went to get the ticket things, my sisters and I did what I most look forward to on vacations: We hoarded the gift shop. Okay, okay, not hoarded, but we did infiltrate it with our presence for about 15 to 20 minutes or so. I mean, c'mon. What's the point with going on vacations if you can't bring back a souvenir or two? Uhhhh, maybe to spend quality time with your family and create lasting memories of joy and happiness and stress? Eh, sure. But for the gift shops too. 😜After looking around the gift shop, we walked out of the visitor's center and straight into...a blistering mess of heat. 

Lucky him. I didn't have a paper fan.

    But y'all we were at JAMESTOWN. There ain't no way I was letting some 90 degree weather keeping me from seeing this place. (Admittedly, I wasn't thinking that at the moment more like remembering how amazing the AC in the building felt, but I put on a sweaty brave face anyway.) We walked down some paths and to the area where there were some indigenous people's huts and other cool things. 

Look to the left. You'll see a quiver made out of a fox's body.

Some tools and, would ya look at that! Handmade arrows!!! 

A log being burned out for a canoe.

    After walking around there, we headed down to see replicas of the ships that took the Jamestown colonizers to the New World. (At least...I think so. I didn't really do a good job at reading the history behind everything...)

You wouldn't believe how tempted I was to jump in the water. 
    
HALLELUJAH the Sacred Fan! I'm sure those colonizers enjoyed it as much as I did.


Ropes and rigging. What else can ya say?

    After touring the ships we finally went to the actual Jamestown! (Well, not the actual thing, 'cause you know...replicas. But you get the picture.) 😉Speaking of which, here are some more! (Man, this might turn into a photo album rather than a post...) 

Some humble crops.

A building. Wow, so observant, Victoria.

A table with *whimpers* a sword I couldn't touch.

An empty blacksmith shop thing.
I always thought horses would be nearby, but...*sighs* not here.

    After trekking around Jamestown, we headed back to the visitors' center, grabbed lunch at their café, walked through some of the indoor museum galleries, watched a couple videos in the theaters (my favorite was the 4-D video of Bacon's Rebellion. And no, it wasn't about dead pig meat—it was about a rebellious arsonist) and then we finished up the day with another emotional visit to the gift shop! Emotional? That's a bit dramatic. 'Tis not I tell you. I really wanted this certain T-shirt (it was love at first sight, y'all) but there were only three left in one size. A size that I was sure to fit, but didn't). 😢

    So, after getting over a 5 minute fit of stewing depression, I ended up buying a stuffed animal instead. And no, you are not allowed to judge. I like to think of myself as a Professional Stuffed Animal Collector and tend to buy one each time I go somewhere for vacation. Not to mention I like getting slightly odd animals...last year I bought a skunk but this time I bought an otter! And I named him Oliver.

Yeah. Your namesake is a stuffie. Deal with it, pal. 😏
 
    Once we bought our gift shop goodies, we left Jamestown, grabbed dinner, and went back "home".

    Day 2: The Piano Store + Inception

    Or more correctly, this was the day it rained monsoons and kept us inside all morning. HOWEVER, we didn't stay inside at the Airbnb. Instead, we visited this little piano store called Parker Piano Outlet and hung out there while it rained! And y'all. I'm tellin' ya. It was heaven on earth. Only the manager of the store was there and after he talked to us about the pianos for a while, he said we could play on any of them we wanted (well, except for the ones with the 'Sold' signs).
    So we did.
    And I took the opportunity to play on a $30,000 Yamaha. 
    And it epic.
    Lydia was the star of the show, though, when she played one of her awesome compositions for a music teacher (who came in later) and got a lotta praise on it! Seriously, that teacher was IMPRESSED. Which *cough* is no surprise. (I'd brag about my sista's talent more, but we'll move on!) 😉
    
    Around noon, we left the piano store and went over to a locally owned restaurant called New York Deli & Pizza which, lemme just say, if you ever go to Williamsburg, DO NOT MISS A CHANCE TO EAT THERE!!!! Their food was THE definition of FANTABULOUS! 😋😋😋See? Even the emojis agree. (My parents joked that they would drive all the way back up there just to eat at that restaurant.) XD So if you're ever in that area go check it out! You won't regret it!! (Here's *cough* the link to their site *hacks* if you wanna check that out too *wheezes* NY Deli.) 😉After lunch, we decided to go back to the house and chill since we weren't sure how rainy the weather would be in the afternoon. ('Cause it was raining mammoths and dinosaurs when we were at the restaurant.) 
    
    It ended up being super sunny for the rest of the day, but we still stayed inside to rest up and relax since we had been on our feet so much the day before (and would be the next two days). Additionally, it was on that glorious day when my sisters and I watched the movie Inception for the first time! I'll admit, it wasn't my favorite movie ever, but I still thought it was pretty cool and the whole dream concepts were intriguing! (After watching it, I could also understand why it got like four Oscars and a bunch of other awards.) XD

    Day 3: Williamsburg

    YOU GUYS. This was probably my favorite day of the whole trip!!! (Actually, I take it back. Day 4 was my favorite...heheheh no spoilers until we get there!) But I still LOVED it!! We got to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors' Center when it opened (although there were still a bunch of people there typical) and went inside. My parents, Lydia, and my other sister Emma, stood in line to get the tickets and I went off with my grandmother, Nana, to scout out...you guessed it, the gift shop. *evil laughter* But...wait. What's this I see? It's...It's closed??? 


    Fine then. 😑Maybe it'll open later. Once we got the tickets, we went outside and hopped aboard the shuttle that took us to the Colonial Williamsburg area. When we arrived, we made a beeline for the tour of the Governor's Palace. The line was pretty long but the wait wasn't terrible (I've suffered worse at amusement parks) and we had a delightful time touring the palace (which *cough* in all honesty, was more like a mansion. Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC is waaaay bigger than this place.) But it was still cool! Besides, I would go on the tour again, just to see the entry hall. These pictures show why:

Swords...

More swords...

OooOooh, some guns!

SWORDS AGAIN!!!

    Might I just add, if I remember correctly, there were 540 swords just in the entry hall. 

^^ Me ^^
    It was glorious indeed. XD The tour ended in the backyard of the of the palace where there was a huge garden. I thought it was really interesting how the paths through the gardens were covered in crushed shells during the colonial times because it reflects the moonlight at night!

A few houses in front of the palace.

A candelabra in the ballroom. I find the simplicity of it comforting. 😊

The back of the palace. Y'all, I love looking at this one just because of the dressed up guy tipping his hat. Actually, I think he's shielding his face from the sun, but we'll pretend it's the former...

The palace again...

A garden...

An archway...

A pond...

Some trees...y'all are probably so tired of me stating the obvious. XD

A couple lovely impersonators riding down the street.

Some hungry sheep.

A scowling Wolf.
OH! Hehehehee, oopsies! Dunno how a character from The Lunar Chronicles got here....😅😏Yeah, I was SO seeing if y'all were still awake.

    After we walked through the gardens, we spent the rest of the morning touring Colonial Williamsburg and ultimately killing our feet in the process. It was a loooot of walking! XD We finally ate a late lunch around 2:30 p.m. at the café in the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg and then looked around the museum afterwards. Once we finished at the museum, we took the shuttle back to the visiter's center, rummaged through the gift shop (yes, it opened up) 😉, I bought a T-shirt (I still liked the first one more, but this one is really pretty too!), and then we went back home!

    Day 4: Da BEACH!!!

    Let it be known, my excitement is perfectly legit. I haven't been to the beach in 7 years (until this trip) so I was really looking forward to it! We traveled about an hour and a half to a southern part of Virginia Beach which wasn't as crowded as the main tourist spot would've been. I must say, the ride was slightly scary at one point when we had to drive in a tunnel that went under the bay. Like, under the water. My imagination immediately conjured up nightmares of the tunnel busting open and the water sweeping me away to my death, but if that happened I obviously wouldn't be writing this right now. So yes. I survived! 

The Tunnel of Doom

A real battleship stationed in the bay.

    Finally, we arrived at the beach. We set up our tents and then hit the ocean! (Or, at least my dad, my sisters, and I did. XD Mom and Nana stayed on the shore.) Here be some more photos with *cough* much less unnecessary commentary. 😜





Okay, but here I HAVE to mention my Hobbit hole sand structure! Isn't it neat?
 






    We didn't do much besides swim and hang out on the shore that day, but it was nice to just be outside and relax. 😊(That is...until I discovered my massive sunburns despite applying and reapplying sunscreen. *scowls* Guess I missed some spots.) But other than that, it was great! Some classics moments that afternoon were:

    Lydia: *is sitting right next to me and says something about Funyuns*
    Me: *doesn't hear her because I'm serenely staring out at the ocean*
    Lydia: *interrupts my serene staring and deepens voice* HEY! I'M TALKIN' TO YOU, BOY!!!

    That SO sounded like something Cregan would've said in The False Prince. Later...

    Me: *joins my sisters under the tent while holding a Little Debbie*
    Me again: *opens my hand and finds it smushed* Awwww, my Little Debbie!!! I knew something didn't feel right. 

    Nothing is worse than finding your delicious oatmeal cream pie destroyed by the clutches of your own hands. 'Tis tragic indeed. 😢Late that afternoon, we packed up, drove back to the Airbnb, and prepared for tomorrow's long drive back home. I have to say, it was a great last day in VA! 

    Reverse D-Day: In Which We Go Back Home

    Don't worry, I'll spare you the details on this since it was very similar to drive up. HOWEVER, we did finally get to stop by Cracker Barrel for lunch!! (There's a story about how many times we tried going to CB that week and the wait was always an eternity, but I won't go into that.) 😉Once we filled up on food, we finished the drive back to our house and thus concluded our trip to Colonial Williamsburg! 

    THE END, we're done! Told ya this would be long. 😜But I hope you enjoyed reading about this trip and the time I, well, traveled to the 1700s! Oh, and real quick. I'm starting school back next week and don't know how busy I'll be (the beginning of school is always the craziest), so I'll be taking a hiatus for the rest of the month. *sobs* I know, I don't wanna leave you either. 😞But never fear! The only thing I'll be gone from is posting new content for the next few weeks. (Which is really just, what, 3 posts?) I'll still be responding to all of your comments ('cause those always make my day!) and be hanging around your blogs! (Yeah...can't get rid of me that easily.) 😉So obviously, this isn't a goodbye. It's more like a...


Tally-ho and have a FABULOUS July!

    All right, after that photo-filled insanity, now I have to know: have you ever been to Colonial Williamsburg? What did you do there? What about Jamestown and the NY Deli? Who's seen Inception? Which picture was your favorite? Which GIF was your favorite? Who else loves gift shops and stuffed animals? When was the last time you went to the beach? Talk to me all about it in the comments below! 




Comments

  1. Ahhhhh, Victoria, that was SO COOL!!! Your trip must've been amazinggggg!! And those beach pictures...*gasps* they are SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!! I may or may not also be suffering from some sunburn on my shoulder......not exactly fun. ;-)
    Your posts are always so awesomeeeeee, and I always look forward to reading them!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awwww, THANK YOUUU!!!! It was!! *Gasps with you* IKR!?!?! I just LOOOVE the beach!!! Ooooh, girl, I so feel ya! *cringes* My shoulders got sunburned the worst too...don't know why that spot's so popular. XD
      AWWWW!! Thank you so much, Sierra!!! I'm sooo glad you enjoy them!!! *hugs* <333

      Delete
  2. Wow!! Sounds like you had so much fun!!!
    I enjoyed all the pictures very much, girl!
    And those beach pictures! *dies* So. Beautiful. <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Awww, we did!!!
      Haha, thank you!! (There were a lot more, but I probably would've crashed the internet uploading that many...XPP)
      YESS!! *dies with you* The beach pictures are definitely my favorite! <33

      Delete
  3. OH. MY. GOODNESS! This is gonna sound really stupid XD, but reading this post and looking at the pictures made me well up. It brought back so much nostalgia of my 8th grade school trip to D.C. and the day we spent in Williamsburg and Jamestown. I remember going on those ships with my classmates and how excited we all were! You just resurrected a ton of happy memories for me, so thank you. That was the greatest trip of my life. I really want to go back someday!
    Thanks for sharing your experience! It was so enjoyable to read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *GASPS* Girl, that's not stupid at all!!!! I'm so happy to hear this was such a sweet reminder! (Ooooh, D.C. is awesome!! We obviously didn't go on this trip, but we did a few years ago and had such a good time!) Ahhh, yes, the ships were SO COOL!!! We actually only went on two 'cause the other one was closed, but it was still really fun! Awww, you totally should!! I'd go back again too to hit some of the places we didn't make (or take one of those carriage rides)! XD
      Awww, you're so welcome, girl!!! I'm so glad you had a good time reading this and reminiscing! ;) <33

      Delete
  4. 😱😱😱 I literally did this trip at the same time. (Okay, like the same week) ITS AWESOME THERE!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WHAAAAT!?!?! Girl, no way!!!! Too bad we missed each other! ;) And YES!!! It's so epic there!!!

      Delete
  5. Also- it was seriously soooooo hot 🥵
    Especially since I’m not from that climate 🥵🥵🥵

    ReplyDelete
  6. Girl, you're tellin' me! It wasn't just hot—it was roasting!! XD
    Oooh, you poor thing! That must've been hard. *cringes* But hey, you're still alive to tell the story so that has to count for something! ;P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 🤣 Abby Elissa (https://abbyelissa.blogspot.com/?m=1)
      will tell you I hardly survived 😛
      I drank more water then I ever have.
      And am so thankful for AC (where I live no one has it cus it doesn’t get hot enough…)
      Except for the western state heat wave right now 😂

      Delete
    2. Lolol!!! Hey, water is a lifesaver in desperate and suffering times like that! XD Oh YES A MILLION TIMES. AC is pure MAGIC when the world seems like it's melting! XD

      Delete
  7. The sacred fan, lol. You are so funny! Great post! I loved learning all about your adventures!
    Check out my blog here: https://mizziz.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehehe, yeah, as soon as I saw that fan I thought, "Yep! That's going in a blog post!" XD Awww, thank you so much!! I'm glad you enjoyed reading this!!! :D

      Delete
  8. Wait a minute, let me just say the most surprising thing in this post that it seems everyone forgot to mention: YOU'RE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL NEXT WEEK??????!!!!!! You do know it's the middle of July, right? Man, I hope you got out back in April or something. Well, good luck and I hope you have an awesome first week of school, but I shall miss your posts. It may only be three, but everyone is pure gold, girl!!!!! I LOVE THEM ALL!!!!!!

    Anyway, I actually HAVE been to Williamsburg VA, but it was waaaaaaay back in the day. Like I might've been eight or seven or something so I hardly remember it. BUT YES I LOVE GIFT SHOPS and the whole part of the gift shop was (1) relatable and (2) HILARIOUS! Do you know how many times I almost cracked up after reading this post? But, yeah, like I said my trip was yeeeears ago and with my poor memory I don't really remember what I did. All I remember was being upset with my dad who turned our VACATION into a school field trip. *sighs* Oh the pains of being a homeschooler, the learning never stops. XDDD The two pictures you said Lydia took would have to be my favorite!!! THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!! Like I'm jealous at her amazing photography skills. HOW??!!!! XDD And that Hobbit Hole beach image was FANTABULOUS!!! *chef's kiss* My favorite GIF was the one with John Smith's knife (mainly because I don't know the movies those other ones came from XD). So as far as beach vacay goes, my fam hadn't been to the beach in forever but then a couple years ago we went back and kinda made it our annual vacay trip, though this year we're planning something else, so no beach. *sniffs* XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eheheh...yeeeah, we gotta start school again next week. *cringes* But, to surprise you even more, this summer break was actually a treat 'cause we got an extra week off! (We usually start back the week after the 4th of July.) XD However, we did get out near the end of May, so we had about six weeks off!! :) (I dunno how that compares to other people (our homeschooling schedule is really different), but *shrugs* that's just how we've always done it!) XD Awww, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH, girl!!! That means a lot (and I'm glad to know I'll be missed)! XDD

      Whoooaaa, that's so cool!!! Oh wow, that is a long time ago! XD Aahahahahaha!!!! YES!!! Gift shops for da win!!! *high fives* Lolol, I'm glad you found it entertaining then!! XD Oh man, you poor thing! *pats you on the back* That would have made me so mad if it turned into a field trip. XD (I mean, we did kinda go because we're learning some more about the American Revolution this year for school, but it was more like a "how-cool-our-vacation-kinda-ties-into-that" scenario. Not sure if that makes sense or not.) XD Lol, but YES, you're so right about that!!! The learning just keeps on a comin'!! XDD GIRL, you and me both!!! I dunno how she does it, but her pictures are always A M A Z I N G!!! Haha!! Why thank you very much! *bows dramatically* Lolol, I like that John Smith one a lot too!! XD (Haha, yeah, I actually don't know where the sweaty guy GIF came from...I just found it somewhere on the internet.) XD Ooooh, that's so cool!!!! Well, *mimics fancy British voice* I wish you Godspeed and good luck on wherever your next vacation takes you! XD

      Delete
  9. First off, let me start by saying THIS. COMMENT. IS. SO. OVERDUE. Like seriously though, I'm a month late. A MONTH! I do remember reading this post but I guess I never posted a comment. UNTIL A MONTH LATER. *hides in corner and scolds self* How could I never post a comment on Victoria's fantabulous blog! (Is fantabulous even a word?) *looks it up* IT IS!
    *cough* Back on subject. Your vacation looked SO fun! (And burning hot) Now I really want to visit Jamestown and Williamsburg. Darn it, if only I could've snuck into your car. Maybe I will on your next vacation, so check your trunk! 😉

    And man, I ADORE all the pictures you took! Love Lydia's pictures, love the HOBBIT HOLE!!, and love your blog name written in the sand. I also love the heart cross sand picture with the ocean waves at the bottom. Oh and we CAN NOT forget Wolf's picture. (Yep, I saw that XD) Now I really want to go to the beach! *dies inside* The last time I went was *thinks* one month ago. Wow, it hasn't been that long and I'm still missing the beach. *shakes head* And of course a beach picture has to pop up on my Alexa right this second. *sighs* (Yes, I've got an Alexa, don't ask 😂)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lolol, girl, don't worry at all!!!! XDDD I post overdue comments alllllll the time so I TOTALLY get that!! ;)
      AHHH!!! YES IT WAS!!! Hahaha, well, the car was pretty packed but then again all the luggage would've hidden you well....XPP

      Awwwww, THANK YOU!!!!! Lydia will be so happy to hear that! And YES. I could not for the life of me pass up a chance to make a sand Hobbit Hole. XD Girl, me too!!! I actually got the idea to write my blog name in the sand (and to do the other sand art stuff) from you, so you can take all the credit! ;) (And I'm glad the cross looks like a cross...I kept wondering if it looked more like a lowercase 't'.) XD Aaahahaha!!!! WOLF FOR DA WIN!!! XD I wasn't sure if there were any TLC fans who read this post so I'm glad you liked it! XD (Honestly, I love that picture way too much...*coughs*) Lolol, girl, I so feel ya! I miss the beach already too!! (There's just something about that place...*happy sighs*) Whoa, for a minute I thought "wait, Alexa has herself??? What does that mean?" but then I realized you were talking about the OTHER Alexa! XD Hehehe, the things AI does... ;) XD

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Daylight: A 9/11 Short Story// Interview With Author Grace A. Johnson!

I'm Leaving the Blogosphere?