Colonial Williamsburg

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A Vacation in Colonial Williamsburg

Colonials on horseback

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As I mentioned previously, July is not the time to vacation in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Too hot and humid! I poked around some and finally settled on early December. The weather looks to be cool but not freezing and there’s so much to do!

Colonial dress

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Williamsburg in December

According to the website the Village is decked out in traditional decorations. You can keep busy with Santa sightings. Re-enactments and carolers in traditional dress roam the streets. Horse drawn wagons jingle their way through the streets. Sounds like a scene right out of Dickens!

Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown ruins

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Not far from Williamsburg you’ll find  the remnants of the Jamestown settlement. You can walk through a real archaeological dig. This should be just enough to get your mind ready for  a museum and a reconstruction of the life and culture of 17th-century Virginia.  I bet my sister, a real history buff, will love this!

Glass Blowing Anyone?

Glassblowing

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Once upon a time Jamestown officials thought Jamestowncould make glassmaking a profitable venture. In the end it wasn’t the right thing for Jamestown but the Jamestown Glasshouse is still one of the main attractions. We’ll have to check it out.

This one’s for my Sister

She’s the wine connoisseur. We can tour the Williamsburg Winery and enjoy a wine tasting. There are also several restaurants. Special meal packages can include the meals paired with fine wines.

Casks of wine

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How about some Peanuts?

I like peanuts. Whitley’s Peanut factory has been producing peanuts for 30 years so they must be good. Besides classic salted peanuts there’s sea salt & caramel, Butter Toffee, Pumpkin Spiced and more. Bring your taste buds and appetite!

peanuts

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This one’s for me

Zebra at Christmas

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Busch Gardens has a Christmas Town in December. With over 8 million Christmas Lights it is the largest light display in North America! Disney at Christmas is pretty spectacular so I need to see if this is really as amazing as they say.

Family Fun

One of my brothers and his wife live in Virginia. So a visit to their state wouldn’t be complete without invading their space at least once. I’m absolutely sure we’ll be getting together.

Who Doesn’t Love an Extra Vacation?

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Tulum

Tulum, Mexico

Bonus Vacation Week every 5 Years

Whether you’re a stay at home person or a world traveler, how can you not like an extra week of paid vacation? The company I work for may have its faults but giving its employees time off isn’t one of them. You start out with 3 weeks. What company does that!? One or two weeks to start is the norm and you have to earn the upgrades. For the last 4 years I’ve been enjoying 3 weeks of travel every year! 2018 is my 5th year anniversary so I get a bonus week to use in 2018.

Yukon Suspension Bridge

Yukon Suspension Bridge

What to do with that extra week?

Oahu, Hi

Oahu, HI

My other 3 vacations are all repeat locations. That’s not to say that I won’t have new experiences to share but I try to get at least one new location every year. That is getting harder to do because I love so many of the places I’ve been. So I decided to not do a repeat with my bonus vacation. After some consideration I decided to take a Virgina vacation. I have family in Virginia but although I’ve spent time visiting them I am not sure that counts as another vacation destination. I thought a trip to Colonial Williamsburg might be fun. I could see the family while I’m there too.

Planning Colonial Williamsburg

colonial horse drawn wagon

My first thought was to plan my vacation for the week of 4th of July. I figured there should be lots of extra special things going on for our Nation’s Birthday. I invited all the family but no one seemed particularly excited about Williamsburg in July. After some more research I learned why. July weather is brutal in Williamsburg. It’s hot and humid. Temperatures hover in the mid to high 90’s. I also try not to travel on holidays because the roads and airports are always extra busy so more things can go wrong. So it seems more research needs to be done find a good time for this trip.

 

What’s in Store for 2018

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2018 Plans and Trips

It’s 2018. Time for new plans and trips. This year I will mark my 5th anniversary at my company. That earns me a bonus week of vacation. So I’ll have 4 adventures to share this year. Of course I’ll be exploring local sights and scenes in between trips. So what do I have in mind for this busy year?

Surf's upHawaii Big and Small

First up is Hawaii. I mentioned in my last post that I am headed back to Maui in February. You won’t have long to wait for those details. In March I’m heading back across the Pacific to spend a week on The Big Island. The Big Island was what started all this travel. It was my first real vacation back in 2007. My mom and sister joined me at Sea Mountain Resort  on the windward side of Hawaii (The Big Island). This is the lush, rain forest side of the Island. It’s also quite close to Volcano National Park.  We only took one tour, a plane ride over the island. The rest of the time we rented a car and Big Island Waterfallexplored. We searched for everything from black sand beaches to erupting volcanoes and I was hooked. I fell in love with both travel and Hawaii. This trip will be to Kona on the dry side of the island.

Wyoming Again

After my March vacation the busy season starts at work. I’ve tried taking vacation then but it’s not easy so I plan to limit myself to weekend excursions until the End of September. I have unfinished business in Yellowstone. Originally I tried to get accomodations in Idaho so I could enter the western side of the park but nothing was available.  That means I’ll be going back to Teton Village in Jackson. It will mean alot more driving to reach the park sections I want to visit but the condo at Teton Village is gorgeous so I’ll make the sacrifice. One change, I plan to rent an SUV this trip!

An Active geyser

The Bonus Trip

I still have one more trip to plan. It’s my bonus vacation. I think that deserves a post of its own.

 

 

What’s the Next Experience?

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Moulton Barn with Tetons in the backgroundEach Vacation is a New Experience.

Wyoming was quite the experience. From start to finish it had something new and different. It’s hard to beat the beautiful Teton Mountains, Yellowstone geysers and falls and all of the wild animals. But all good things must end and now I’m back home again.

 

 

Old Faithful Erupts

Next up on the vacation agenda

As you may have gathered from some of my posts I’m having a tough time with my back right now. It makes everything from hiking to swimming a challenge. I’m not one to sit on the beach when I go on vacation. I get bored on cruise ships but this mobility issue has defiantly put a cramp in my vacation style. Still I book my vacations way in advance so I have another one on the books.

Lets go to Maui Wowie againOn The Road To Hana

I do love Hawaii. The climate is as close to perfect as you can get. I have a Maui vacation just waiting for me in February.  The peak month for shark encounters off Maui is October and since my next excursion is February I’m probably ok with sharks. Besides, I’m not sure I’ll be cleared to swim or snorkel yet. It’s all pending doctor’s orders. Did you know that scuba divers are almost never shark attack victims? “They” think it might be the bubbles from the air tanks or possibly that they are often vertical in the water. In any case I probably won’t be scuba diving.

The Maui Experience

I’ve been to Maui several times now. I’ve taken a helicopter tour, traveled the Road to Hana, gone snorkeling and whale watching. I even took a ride on a submarine. So what’s left for someone who can’t get out there with a surfboard. Maybe I could try body surfing or using a “boogie board”. I still want to see Iao State park and the Iao Needle. That’s been closed due to mudslides every time I’ve been there but I think it’s open now. Since it is the height of whale watch season I’ll probably do that again. I can never get enough of those amazing animals.

Breaching baby Humpback

Denver is a Rocky Mountain High

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Denver, the Mile High Airport

We finally arrived at Denver International Airport. As we made touch down I began to feel a bit antsy. I didn’t know if I’d be able to make my connection since we got such a late start out of Jackson Hole. Once we got the ok to activate our cell phones an alert came through that my connecting flight to Boston was, in fact, delayed by 3o minutes. I was so relieved. But the  relief was short lived.

Denver airport

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Watch Out for the Fuel Truck!

We were on our way to the gate when we were brought to a halt. There we were on the tarmac just waiting. After about 5 minutes the pilot decided to share  the problem with us. One of the fuel trucks had broken down right in the middle of the runway !  We had to wait until they got a tow truck that could move such a large vehicle. The minutes ticked past and so did the boarding time for my connection.

Mad Dash To the Gate

Finally we got the go-ahead to move to the gate. The plane  couldn’t unload fast enough for me. I felt like I was on the longest jetway in the world! Once in the terminal I didn’t waste time looking for signs. I asked for directions. It was much farther between gates than I expected but as I hustled up to the attendant I saw a flight delay to Boston posted. Breathing hard I gasped out to the attendant “Is That My Flight!”

Terminals

Time to Relax

Turns out it was. The attendant and the other folks in line thought it was hilarious that I was so happy for a flight delay. It seems the connecting flight couldn’t land in Denver because of the same fog that caused us to be delayed in Jackson Hole. They were re-routed to Colorado Springs. They just got the ok to come on to Denver. We had to wait for them to arrive. I could relax and catch my breath.

Epilogue

The flight from Colorado Springs eventually arrived and we all got boarded. The flight to Boston was uneventful. I finally arrived home. A bit later than planned but safe and sound. Traveling is fun but coming home is pretty nice too.

Rocky's happy to see me