Williamsburg and the Historic Triangle

 

     The historic triangle is found in Virginia and includes Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg.  This is a fantastic area to visit.  You can enjoy this area on a big budget or a small budget.  We were on a limited budget and because I homeschool I was most interested in the historical significance of the area.  So I will share with you how we had a really good time, learned alot, and spent very little money. The first thing to know is that there a ton of time shares and condo rentals in the area.  You can get a fantastic deal on AirBnB as many people sublet their condos.  We stayed at the Wyndham Governor's Green.  We had a full kitchen and living room plus 2 bathrooms 2 bedrooms and our own laundry.  They had multiple pools on site, plus a free put put course, nightly campfire, and free wine and cheese tasting.   The kids wished we had had more time to just play at the condo.  We paid about $100 a night but because we were traveling with my parents we split the cost.  we were just a few minutes drive to all the attractions on our list. There were a lot of similar deals in similar condos in the area. Also, Williamsburg has an Aldi so that's a huge plus!

Free mini golf at our condo

Westin enjoying one of the several pools

selfie at the nightly campfire

Wonderful place to stay

Me grocery shopping for the week

Which Jamestown?

     Jamestown is the oldest continually inhabited English settlement in America. In 1957 Queen Elizabeth wanted to visit Jamestown for the 350 anniversary of the settlement.  The only problem was there was nothing to see.  At this point there were a few statues in the park but most of the original remains were thought to have washed away.  So the city decided to recreate a replica of Jamestown for the Queen's visit.  The replica was open to the town after her visit and it was a big hit.  So the replica stayed and still exists today.  It is a wonderful place to visit.  There are lots of hands on activates and replicas for families to enjoy.  Our kids really like visiting here.  This is called the Jamestown Settlement.  The cost is $18 for adults and $9 for kids. 

     The original site of Jamestown also exists it is called Historic Jamestowne.  It is co owned by the National Parks and Preserving Virginia.  We had a 4th grader so we could get into national parks for free but we still had to pay to get in here because of the shared ownership.  This park was really cool because you can see the excavation in action.  The were able to recover what they once thought was lost part of Jamestown.  There is also a museum there.  The kids were intrigued by the starving time at Jamestown and how they found human remains in the garbage pit. My daughter also really like Pocahontas so she enjoyed seeing her statue there. We did both sites in 1 day and enjoyed both for different reasons. 

Jamestown Settlement  

Native American Area 

Replicas of the boats that the settler's came to Jamestown on

Inside the Jamestown recreated settlement

We enjoyed out time at the Jamestown settlement and the kids loved all the demonstrations and hands on activities.  We were ready to drive down the road and see the real thing.  Where all of this action actual took place.  I would recommend doing it in this order too.  The Jamestown Settlement makes the history come alive then take your kids to the real place. 

Historic Jamestowne

After a long day of learning the kids were excited to get some of the ice cream I had picked up from Aldi and hit the condo pool.

On day two we went to Colonial Williamsburg.   You can walk around the shops, see the parade field activities, and enjoy the colonial actors in costume all for free.  Or you can pay to have access to additional experiences.  I feel like we had a fantastic experience and we opted for the free route.  There is plenty to do and see for free.

The third place to visit in the historic triangle is Yorktown.  The last battle of the Revolutionary war took place here.  There are several things to check out in Yorktown.  The first is the national park there.  The national park has cannons, a museum, and the trenches the men dug are still there today.  These are really cool to see.  

From the National Park you can take a free trolley to see the downtown attractions.  The kids really liked riding on the trolley.

The downtown area of Yorktown is full of shops and statues.  When we were visiting there was a pirate festival going on.  It was a lot of fun.  They had a scavenger hunt and boats that we could get on.  There was an additional Revolution War museum downtown too.

Outside of the historical triangle there are several additional activities that I would recommend.  The first is the Mariner's Museum. It is only 30 minutes from Yorktown.  During the Civil War The Monitor became the first ironclad commissioned by the us navy.  It was also the first ship to have a revolving turret.  This technology would change the future of navy warfare.  They have many artifacts from the Monitor there as well as replicas you can climb into.  They continue to restore the ship and you can stop at the restoration center and see the process.  They also have many hands on exhibits for the kids to enjoy. This museum is worth seeing.

One hour from Yorktown is Virginia Beach.  It's a great day trip.  The tunnel to get to the beach takes you under the bay and it is a really cool experience. The beach is always a good place to play on vacation.