Williamsburg Busch Gardens

This summer we decided that we were going to make it an epic summer of roller coasters and slides--a special Busch Gardens summer! We got a special military pass for a discounted price that included unlimited Busch Gardens and Water Country USA admission in Williamsburg (plus free parking). We had been promising our kids for a long time that we'd go to a big American amusement park, so this was the perfect opportunity!

Busch Gardens is about 3.5 hour drive from our house, so we left around 6:30 from our house on Saturday morning and arrived a little before 10 am at the waterpark. I didn't take many pictures there as we were mostly running around from slide to slide and getting sunburnt-hehe. It was still fantastic and the lines were not horribly long!

Let me get to Sunday a bit later in my post, but for now, let me say that going to an amusement park on a Monday was the best idea ever! We were able to walk onto every ride, pretty much (except Verbolten which took us almost an hour for some reason and it wasn't even the best one).





The park is divided into countries so you walk through Ireland and Italy and Germany and England and France to different rides and different eateries. We had lunch at the German Oktoberfest house and were able to get some yummy meals plus a humongous piece of cake as part of the Busch Gardens online meal deals (and then we shared two meals among us five).

The kids love the Griffin ride! This is the one that stays up in the air with you hanging facing down and then bolting down. Insane. And I can't believe I am brave enough to go on it...although never in the first row which is our kids' favorite.



The crazy thing is that the littlest Watson is not afraid of the heights or thrills! He tries to go with "no hands" on the most intense ones, being barely tall enough, while I am next to him telling him to not talk to me or breath or touch me as I close my eyes scared of that rollercoaster creeping up the hill.




Apollo's Chariot is our favorite as well! This is the one that goes super-duper fast! This one is crazy!!! But absolutely amazing in the dark! Mark's new thing is to be the "sad face" in each picture.

It was pretty funny but the kids went five times in a row on this big swing. It is funny mostly because this is such a tame ride compared to all the other ones that they were choosing to go on. 

Oh, and I discovered my new favorite thing ever--as long as it's not ultra sweet--funnel cakes. Oh. My. Goodness. They were delicious here! My favorite ones are strawberry and chocolate with all the stuff on top. It's definitely a sharable dessert. 

We stayed at the park till around 7 pm and then drove home. It was a long day but so thrilling!

And now back to our Sunday! We didn't want to go to any amusement parks or water parks on a Sunday, so we decided to make it a practically free day by using our veteran's discounts and explore Jamestown and Yorktown.

First we visited the Historic Jamestowne. That is the place where Virginia Company settlers first established an English colony in 1607. The visitors' center had an amazing exhibit with a very informative movie.

This is the fence around the area where the actual colony was established. 

The views of the James River.

I think Katya was just happy to see a British flag:)

That's, of course, John Smith. But no, Pocahontas, was never married to him...although they do have a statue dedicated to her here. 

It was incredibly hot this afternoon, so after exploring the Historic Jamestown we drove towards York town, only about 20-30 min away. We had lunch at Carrot Tree Kitchens, a privately owned restaurant with fresh healthy food. I normally don't remember names of the places we eat at but I really liked this name! Carrot Tree! Who has ever seen a carrot tree??

At Yorktown we made it just in time for the 3 pm Yorktown Battlefield cannon firing. 

They explained how they cleaned the cannons and all the procedures. Kind of cool;) 

We also watched a movie inside the visitors' center about how Yorktown was one of the most important places during the Revolutionary War. We drove around following the self-driving tour to see the actual battlefield trenches. It was so eery and serene at the same time.

In Yorktown we found this street sign, which Alex thought was worthy of a picture.

The day was winding down but we still had more exploring to do! We drove to Colonial Williamsburg. The buildings with workers in period clothing were already closed so all we could do was walk around the historic part--which was more than enough for us. We got to see the fife and drum ceremony on the green in the middle of the Colonial Town which was absolutely fantastic and got us all in a very historical mood-haha. 

We wondered around a bit, bought some ice cream and tasted some famous delicious peanuts in The Peanut Shop. 

And then we waited for our 7:30 pm reservation at King's Arm Tavern.

This was definitely a one time deal as it's not cheap, but it was pretty cool and atmospheric with a waiter staying in character and all dishes cooked from scratch according to old-fashioned recipes (well, besides the kids meals).

Colonial Williamsburg reminded us a lot of old English streets and houses. It is a cozy beautiful place and definitely worth a visit. 

That evening we walked up and down the streets of this town catching fireflies and enjoying the warm summer night. And everyone was getting along and goofing around (for once;). Precious!

We will be back, Williamsburg! There is still so much to explore there!

Lyana.