williamsburg vacation day 2

Wednesday was Day 2 of our Williamsburg vacation.  We began our day by trying the continental breakfast at our hotel.  There was a lot of food, but not one thing that Bob liked.  I was able to grab a banana for him.  SJ had two boxes of dry cereal.  My husband and I opted for pastries.  It was very crowded in the breakfast room, so we chose a table outside.  The problem with going outside was there were bees everywhere.  SJ kept going to other tables, but the bees were relentless.  He was getting very agitated, so my husband found us a seat in the lobby. 

When we were done with breakfast, we walked the half mile to Colonial Williamsburg.  It wasn't a bad walk, but it was so hot.  The boys were dragging before we even got all the way to the historic area.  Once we made it to the historic area, we were trying to decide what to look at first.  We chose to go on a tour of the Governor's Palace.  When I say we, I mean my husband and I.  The boys wanted nothing to do with going on a tour of the "fancy" house. 

Their behavior was okay during the tour, but I would have liked them to be a little more attentive to the guide.  After the tour was over, we made our way through the town.  We stopped at the Wheel Wright's shop, the Gunsmith's shop, the Blacksmith's shop and toured some of the "gentry" (well-to-do) houses. 

Bob and I took a few minutes to try our hand at a lacrosse type game.  It was much harder to play than you might imagine.  We could see the boys’ energy was quickly diminishing, so we stopped for lunch at Shields Tavern.  I was nervous stopping to eat at a historic tavern.  I was concerned they wouldn't want to eat anything on the menu and I knew that would aggravate my husband. 

Fortunately, there were a few items on the kids' menu that they liked.  Bob got the Chicken Fife and Drumsticks (chicken tenders and fries) and SJ got the Young Patriots Burger (hamburger and fries).  Bob actually said that the fries were the best steak fries he ever had! 

After lunch, we did more touring of the town and then walked back to the hotel room.  After we got to our room, we made dinner reservations at Chowning's Tavern.  We had a little time, so Bob and I went to play some badminton.  SJ and my husband took that time to rest after the busy day.  I thought I was going to collapse while we played badminton, since it was so hot and humid.  Bob and I walked back to the room and we got ready for dinner.

We decided to take the shuttle bus to go back to Colonial Williamsburg.  We were a little early for our dinner reservations, so we toured some more of the town.  We went into the colonial Courthouse to get out of the sun.  After we left the courthouse, the boys goofed around in the punishment methods that were outside of the courthouse.

I was hoping the restaurant behavior would be at least equivalent to the earlier behavior, but I was wrong.  The menu wasn't as kid friendly at Chowning's Tavern.  Bob was willing to try Gloucester dinner (fried chicken and chips) and SJ again had a Patriot burger (hamburger and chips).  He was very grouchy about having a burger twice in a day.  Bob's behavior was so embarrassing with the chicken.  He acted like he never saw fried chicken before.  I wish they would eat better.  It is so frustrating to have such picky eaters.  (I take full responsibility for this.  I should have made them eat more things when they were younger.)

While we were at the tavern, we were serenaded by a violinist.  The boys did not know what to make of the music, but I thought it was pretty cool.  After we left the tavern, we took the shuttle bus back to the hotel.  When we got back, we drove to Busch Gardens for our second visit.  There were a few rides we hadn't gotten to the first visit and we wanted to try to stay for fireworks. 

My husband told me to jump on Loch Ness Monster (a classic coaster) while he looked after the boys.  When I was done, he told me to go ride Alpengeist (a hanging coaster).  It was quite far away, so it took me a while to find it.  The boys were going to ride the swings again and then meet me at Alpengeist.  I was so out of breath and sweating when I finally made it to the ride.  I texted my husband when I made it there.  He said he and the boys would meet me at the exit. 

There was no wait for the ride, so I told my husband to jump in line.  Unfortunately, the ride broke down and he didn't get to ride it.  We walked to New France and the boys rode Le Catapult (similar to a Scrambler ride).  While the boys were on the ride, my husband got an airbrushed mustache to surprise the boys. 

SJ was so excited when he spotted my husband's new mustache.  He was beaming and pointing at my husband to show Bob.  "Where did you get that mustache, Dad?" he asked when he exited the ride.  My husband told him and said the boys could get one also.  Bob shook his head no, but SJ was all about getting one too.  He looked so funny with it.  What a great moment!

It was about 30 minutes from the scheduled fireworks, but the boys were definitely spent.  We made our way through the park and left to return to the hotel.  My husband decided that we would definitely stay for fireworks the next night.  Even though we didn’t see the fireworks, we had another full day.