Our first successful day trip as a family of four was a last minute dash to Williamsburg for a Christmas carriage ride. We had a completely unsuccessful visit here last summer that was so depressing I never found the humor to blog about it. This day was the opposite! Last time we quickly realized it would be difficult to cover much ground with a very pregnant lady and a tired tot. So we learned from past mistakes and booked a carriage ride as soon as we arrived.
Not only was Isaac totally delighted by the horses and getting to climb around inside a carriage—we also got to see the whole place, including lots of colonial Christmas boughs and wreaths.
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| Look, I downloaded a photo collage app! |
“Going on a carriage ride will allow us to see the entire place finally without wearing out the kids,” I reasoned.
“Sure, whatever,” Chris agreed. After our last trip I swore I’d never go back, so Chris was willing to agree to pretty much anything. Colonial Williamsburg is his kind of day trip.
“Even if all we do is the carriage ride and eat lunch, I’d consider that a success. Bonus if we get to the Governor’s Palace.”
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| Greenery! |
IT WAS A SUCCESS. We rode in the carriage. We admired Christmas greenery. We completed the 25 minute Governor’s Palace tour. Isaac and I raced through the palace gardens. Eloise did not soil her clothing. We had lunch at some tavern where we ate last time. I enjoyed a “Dear Old Mum” beer. We shared a cheese plate. Isaac gobbled up his Thomas Jefferson Mac n’ Cheese. We made it back to the car without incident. It was awesome.
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| People in period costumes freak me out. |
We had read online that A Christmas Carol was being performed in the streets daily, but we couldn’t find anyone who had heard of that. Also, we realized we were more or less expecting to be walking into Dickens’ London. In retrospect, it’s obvious that Colonial Williamsburg did not mirror the Muppet Christmas Carol set.
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| Ok, MOSTLY successful. |
We previously bought $60 annual passes. It turns out this is absolutely not worth it for things you can do with a toddler. Shake down of price-per-tour is currently in Williamsburg’s favor, since Isaac got us booted out of a tour in August. But we did get 25% off our carriage ride for having annual passes, so instead of $20 each, it was $15. Isaac does not require a pass for tours, but did need a carriage ticket. Overall, this visit was successful enough that we will probably go again!