Patrick Henry Square/Shenandoah

[marshalldillon Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshalldillon]

Going for a trip to these two places in a couple of weeks. Spening four nights in Williamsburg and 4 nights at Shenandoah Crossings. We are planning to visit Coloial Williamsburg while in Williamsburg and then hit a few highlights in DC. Kids are 7 and 9. Any advice/info anyone would like to share? Thanks in advance!!

[amoljac Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close amoljac]

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum are popular with kids. Our kids have field trips just to this attraction. There is also the Natural History which has dinosaur bones, if they have never seen this before. American History Museum would dovetail with Colonial Williamsburg history also. Traffic in DC can be a nightmare and parking expensive. Avoid rush hour and consider the Metro(Public transportation) as an alternative to driving all the way into 'the Ciy'. Contact your congress person and see if you can get tickets for a special tour of the White House. Lincoln and Jefferson memorials are classics as well. There are many "free" things to see but food is more expensive. ....I really prefer Almost Heaven

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Not sure if it's close to Shenandoah Crossings, but we loved Luray Caverns!

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

Going for a trip to these two places in a couple of weeks. Spening four nights in Williamsburg and 4 nights at Shenandoah Crossings. We are planning to visit Coloial Williamsburg while in Williamsburg and then hit a few highlights in DC. Kids are 7 and 9. Any advice/info anyone would like to share? Thanks in advance!!

Colonial Williamsburg
www.history.org

JamestownSettlement
www.historyisfun.org/jamestown/jamestown.cfm

Also Historic Jamestowne
www.historicjamestowne.org

Jamestown National Historic Site
APVA: www.apva.org
National Park Service: www.nps.gov/jame

Yorktown Victory Center
www.historyisfun.org/yorktown/yorktown.cfm
www.nps.gov/york/index.htm

more Yorktown
www.yorkcounty.gov/tourism

Busch Gardens and Water Country
www.buschgardens.com/BGW
www.watercountryusa.com

Ghostly Lantern Tour
www.williamsburgprivatetours.com/ghost.htm
and other walking tours

WilliamsburgWinery
www.williamsburgwinery.com

Newport News
Lee Hall Mansion, Endview Plantation, & War
Museum
www.newport-news.org

Virginia Air & Space
www.vasc.org

VirginiaLivingMuseum
www.valivingmuseum.org

Presidents Park
www.presidentspark.org

The Mariners’ Museum
www.mariner.org

Watermen's Museum
www.watermens.org

Virginia Zoo
www.virginiazoo.org

Science Museum of Virginia
(and Ethyl IMAX Dome)
www.smv.org

Virginia Aviation Museum
www.vam.smv.org

Nauticus National Maritime Center
& Battleship Wisconsin Exhibit
www.nauticus.org

Norfolk Botanical Garden
www.nbgs.org

Paramount's King's Dominion & WaterWorks
www.kingsdominion.com

James River Plantations
www.jamesriverplantations.org

College of William & Mary
www.wm.edu

Fort Eustis U.S. Army Transportation Museum
www.transchool.eustis.army.mil/Museum/Museum.html

Children's Museum of Portsmouth
www.childrens-museum.org

Children's Museum of Richmond
www.c-mor.org

Chrysler Museum of Art
www.chrysler.org



Shopping

Merchant's Square by Colonial Williamsburg
www.merchantssquare.org

Williamsburg Pottery Factory
Williamburg Pottery

Prime Outlets
Prime Outlets ? Williamsburg, Outlet Mall near Williamsburg, Richmond,Norfolk and Virginia Beach | 65% Savings on Designer Brands



MAP!!!
www.williamsburgmap.com/view_the_map.html

[VA_Traveller Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close VA_Traveller]

Not sure if it's close to Shenandoah Crossings, but we loved Luray Caverns!

Luray would be a hike. Grand Caverns in Grottos is a bit closer (Grand Caverns - Virginia Is For Lovers). If your kids are into theme parks, there is Busch Gardens (Busch Gardens Williamsburg | Amusement Park, Rides & Tickets) in Williamsburg, and Kings Dominion (Kings Dominion | Virginia's Premier Themed Amusement Park (Richmond)) in Richmond. If Mom and Dad are into wine tasting, there are lots of great wineries in the Charlottesville area (Central Virginia - Regions & AVA's - VirginiaWine.org) . Charlottesville also has Fridays after 5 (Fridays After Five), if your @ Shenandoah on a Friday. Its a free summer concert series on downtown "mall". Its always a good time.

Don't forget the Zoo in DC.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

Jamestown-Scotland Ferry
Jamestown-Scotland Ferry
Jamestown-Scotland Ferry

a fun ride for kids, take a loaf of bread!

[marshalldillon Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshalldillon]

Thanks to all for your input!! We are looking forward to our trip!!

[whiteheadfisher Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close whiteheadfisher]

My wife and I have been to both. Don't pay the cost of admission to Williamsburg unless you desire to go into the shops where people demonstrate how shoes or guns were made. Patrick Henry Square is right across the street from there. All you have to do is walk across and you in Revolutionary City. You have free access to all the shops where souvenirs can be purchased, Bruton Parish Church (a must see), the campus of the College of William and Mary. The list goes on. At Shenendoah Crossing, reserve a horse back ride, go into Gordonsville and tour the Civil War Hospital. Take a day and visit close by Monticello. If you go to D.C. you can forget the White House, that takes 6 months in advance. Go to Mt. Vernon instead. Lots of history there. All of the Smithsonian Museums. Go to the Fredonia Station and take the Metro in past the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery and get off at the Smithsonian Station. When you come up out of the ground you turn west and walk past the White House toward the Lincoln Memorial. I pray that it isn't 104 degrees there like it was when we were there the first time. Have a great trip.

[rudymcbill Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rudymcbill]

Touring DC

When we went to DC we had a friend who had lived there who recommended we tour the monuments at night. Most of them were open, and the crowds were minimal. We didn't have to fight the traffic, either. I don't think this would work for the museums, but it worked very well for the monuments.

[abckidsmom Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close abckidsmom]

I love Shenadoah Crossings...it's so close to home we're there 3 times a week at the fantastic new pools this summer.

Other interesting side trips under 20 minutes or so from Shenandoah:

Civil War Hospital Museum in Gordonsville.
James Madison's Montpelier in Orange.
Downtown Gordonsville has a row of cute little shops that are nice for browsing.
Downtown Louisa has a nice coffee shop, Solid Grounds, and an outdoor ice cream place, Scoopers. Both on Main Street, near the courthouse.

If you're headed there in August, consider picking apples at Fruit Hill Orchard (.:: Fruit Hill Orchard ::.) in Palmyra (30 minutes). If you go on Tuesday afternoons, be sure to hit the farmer's market on Rt 54 before you get to the Orchard. Lots of handmade items, locally grown fruits, veggies, meats and flowers. Come back to the resort, put an apple cobbler in the oven, cool off at the pool and enjoy!

The Louisa County Ag Fair is the last weekend in July, and is a good time, if you're willing to get into some old fashioned games and relays. That's in the Town of Louisa, turn at Fredericksburg avenue. (20 minutes from SC)


When vacationing rural, don't be afraid to embrace the country of it all. It's fun!