Susan Corbett - Insiders Guide® to Williamsburg: And Virginias Historic Triangle

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information is available

ISSN 1541-454X

ISBN 978-1-4930-1831-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-1832-1 (ebook)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Sue Corbett has been a journalist for more than 20 years. She is also the author of several novels for young readers, including The Last Newspaper Boy in America and Free Baseball. She lives in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

For a small town, Williamsburg is big on things to do. Visitors have a lot of decisions to make. Should we get our fill of history before hitting the roller coasters? Is it possible to get to all the stores at Premium Outlets in a single day? And there is more to see here than just the sites in Williamsburg. No visit to the Virginias Historic Triangle is complete without imagining the end of the Revolutionary War on Yorktowns battlefields or stepping aboard a replica of the (tiny!) ships that brought Captain John Smith and his crew from England to Jamestown.

This book lays out the best sites to see, things to do, and places to eat and stay. Recognizing that families are always on the lookout for adventures that will broaden their childrens horizons, weve added more activities that can be enjoyed in the great outdoors to our Kidstuff and Parks and Recreation chapters. Likewise, Colonial Williamsburg offers a long list of programs designed to entertain and enlighten the entire family. Its a selection you can review with your children as you sit down and plan your vacation.

To help you decide where to rest your weary head, our Accommodations chapter gives you more than 60 choices, from familiar chain hotels to unique bed-and-breakfasts, with an easy pricing key. Entries are organized by category, in alphabetical order. In our Dining chapter, eateries are listed in alphabetical order.

Weve included information about the best places in town to shop, grouped by location or type of merchandise.

Our chapter on Attractions highlights the two major theme parks, Colonial Williamsburg, and lesser-known places, like beautiful plantation houses and historic churches.

If theres a duffer in your party, peruse our Golf chapter for the lowdown on local courses. Other outdoor pursuits are explored in Parks and Recreation, which directs you to places where you can hike, bike, swim, or drop that hook, line, and sinker in and around the Williamsburg area. Our Day Trips chapter can tell you how to get to points of interest outside the Historic Triangle and what to do once you reach them.

As in previous editions, we have dedicated considerable attention and space to Newport News and Hampton, adjacent cities on the Virginia Peninsula that are just a short jaunt east of Williamsburg on I-64. This in-depth chapter includes information on attractions, restaurants, accommodations, and shopping. In essence, its a microcosm of the information we give you on Williamsburg and shares enough data for planning a separate visit to this area, dubbed the Lower Peninsula.

Moving to Virginia or already residing here? The Living Here appendix offers information on relocation, retirement, education, health care, and local media.

Williamsburg claims a long and fascinating history. In its three centuries, Virginias former capital enjoyed both periods of great fortune and dramatic decline before reinventing itself through an unprecedented restoration process that began in the mid-1920s.

This successful effort at re-creating Williamsburgs past in a way that it can be enjoyed in the present is what draws visitors to the 18th-century buildings and brick-paved streets of the city. Most find themselves moved and inspired by seeing this re-creation of early American life spread out in front of them. In town to discuss his documentary on Thomas Jefferson, filmmaker and historian Ken Burns called his visit to Williamsburg the highlight of my professional life.

Speaking at a convention at the College of William & Mary several years ago, Pulitzer Prizewinning historian David McCullough said exploring the past is an antidote to self-pity because no matter how bad off we might think ourselves now, others have had it worse.

Of course, we dont think for one minute that youre here in Williamsburg to gloat over your forefathers misfortunes. We do believe, however, that if you have come to town to seek a little respite from the cares and speed-of-light pace of 21st-century life, youre in the right place.

WHY WILLIAMSBURG?

Did you ever wonder why the early colonists chose Williamsburg as the seat of government for Virginia? Believe it or not, you can thank the lowly mosquito for getting Williamsburg off the ground. When English settlers set foot on New World soil in 1607, they made their homes in Jamestown, which became the center of the Virginia Colonys government. But Jamestown lay on a low, marshy island that was also home to a well-established (and quite nasty) population of stinging and biting insects. Some settlers, fearing island conditions could lead to epidemics and finding the current site not grand enough for the capital city of Americas largest colony, lobbied for relocation to a place called Middle Plantation, 5 miles inland. This settlement, which had grown up around a 17th-century palisade built as a defense against Indian attack, was a small village composed of stores, mills, a tavern, a church, and an assortment of homes by 1690. In reality, there was nothing grand about it, but it sat on relatively high ground and had access to both the James and York Rivers via navigable creeks.