Trip to D.C., Williamsburg, etc. in Spring – What not to miss

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  • missceegee
    Participant

    We are planning a 1-2 week trip in late March, early April to our nation’s capital and surrounding areas. I want to put together a great itinerary of things to do and build in some relaxing time for our family. We have 4 kids who will be dd11, ds8, dd almost 5, ds2.5 at the time of travel. We will travel from FL either by train, air or possibly car. We can time it to be there during the Cherry Blossom festival, too. 

    All tips and tidbits are welcome. We’re studying Module 5 this next year and I want this to be our trip of the year, so to speak. 

    Thank you,

    Christie

    momto2blessings
    Participant

    Oh, how fun!!!  We took a last minute trip there this summer for the first time and had a wonderful time.  So much to do, and a beautiful area.  You’ve probably seen this link: http://historictriangle.com/williamsburg.cfm.  We only did Williamsburg this trip, but plan to go back soon to see Yorktown and Jamestown.  My friend went to Monticello to see Jefferson’s home and said it was worth it.  If I had the time and $$ I would definately spend 2 weeks, esp. if you want to balance the sites with relaxing. 

    The Kids Intro. at the start of the day at Williamsburg was worth the time.  They got to play with some old-fashioned toys, learn a proper curtsy and bow, haul a bit of wood, learn a bit about life in those days.  Terrible how they would talk about the founding of our country and not even mention God in many talks.  A must-see is the slave/preacher…forgot his name!  It’s at the large, main museum (Dewitt?).  If you go, hopefully you’ll get the guy we had.  A very passionate man w/James Earl Jones type voice sharing about faith, had us sing a hymn, and the audience was very into it…lots of amens:)

    Since it was summer, we bought a pass for unlimited entry for a week to Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and the Water Park.  It was very reasonable, and we enjoy not paying by the day and feeling like you have to exhaust yourself to get your $$ worth.  I’m sure there’s other passes, since water park won’t be open, and depending on whether you want Busch Gardens.  I’m not a big amusement park person, but my family loves the rides and this is probably my favorite park (and we’ve been all over!) because of the beautiful grounds and European theme.  We saw a celtic dance in Ireland, German food and dancers in Germany, a simulated ride that takes you over ths sights of Europe…really cool. They also have the world’s largest American Eagle reserve, I believe, and different shows and talks about wolves, birds, etc. 

    If you don’t have a place to stay, http://www.skyauction.com is where we always book our trips.  They have quite a bit in Williamsburg. When RCI timeshare spots are empty, they dump them into Sky Auction for a very cheap price.  My husband is a VERY patient bidder, always checking in.  He found us a 2 BR/2BA beautiful condo w/washer/dryer, full kitchen, pantry, balcony for about $225 for the whole week. It was probably 1,000 sq. ft. Online these rooms go for $250 per night. 

    Oh, and one thing I wish I would have known is that there’s a Trader Joes in Williamsburg!  I always stock up and bring along a bunch of their food to eat healthier on the trip and here they have one:)  HTH some. Please feel free to ask any qu.  Blessings, Gina

    momto2blessings
    Participant

    Oh, just noticed you saic D.C., too.  I haven’t done this, but would like to: http://www.christianheritagetours.org/index.htm.  Got this link from a friend who heard the site-owner speak. She worked for many years in the Library of Congress and is appalled at how schools (including Christian schools) have changed the facts of the Christian Heritage of our nation and she developed her own curriculum.  :)Gina

    artcmomto3
    Participant

    Williamsburg has special events going on for homeschoolers in late February/early March.

    http://swww.colonialwilliamsburg.com/History/teaching/groupTours/SchoolandYouth/homeschools.cfm

    I don’t know much about this.  I just received it from a friend who attended last year.  Hope you have a great time!

    Laura.bora
    Participant

    We just went this past May to the Williamsburg area, Northern Va and Baltimore and had a BLAST!!!  I used this website for a lot of my planning:

    http://www.virginia-beach-family-fun.com/jamesriverplantations.html

    It was here I found out about Shirley Plantation and it just happened to be Homeschool Days when we went.  We had a BLAST.  If Homeschool days will be there while you are there, try to go.  It was wonderful. 

    Also, we stayed for a week at Chippokes Plantation and LOVED it.  We rented a cabin (the Spratley House).  It was a replica of one of the slave houses. 

    Have a GREAT TIME!!!!

    missceegee
    Participant

    We’re leaving on this trip next month and I wanted to bump it back up to see if anyone can add to these great ideas.

    We are taking 1.5-2 weeks for this trip. We will be taking the auto train to DC and that in itself will be a fun adventure. We’re planning to see most of the sites in DC and the historic triangle.

    We’ll be driving back to Florida. Are there any “not to miss” sites along the way that you’d recommend, especially those related to early modern times as we’re studying module 5 this year. 

    Thanks,

    Christie

    meagan
    Participant

    Are you planning on doing the Natural History Museum?  We did just a part of it (we could have spent a whole day there, but only had about 3 hours to spend), and we bought a guide to go along with it by Ken Ham.  I would highly reccomend it.  I can’t think of the name of the top of my head.  I will pull it out later, though.  There is so much free stuff to do in DC!  My dh’s kids just moved to below DC, so we are trying to visit more now that we are in that area quite often!

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