(Sort of) Annual Norfolk Trip

When we moved to Maryland in 2011, we were excited about our close proximity (comparatively speaking) to the Hampton Roads, VA area.  Our first Christmas here, we decided to take a trip to Norfolk to enjoy the zoo and Botanical Gardens, Festival of Lights; we hoped to turn the weekend away into an annual tradition.  In 2012, Thomas was in another country and I had no desire to embark on such an adventure without him.  This year, he was excited about resuming the tradition.  I, on the other hand, was not so enthusiastic.  My reticence was not because I don't enjoy the trip, but rather because there is so much to do where we live, that I did not want to give up a weekend away.  But, we made the decision to go and I dutifully booked us a night in Norfolk and a night in Williamsburg.  We planned to drive to Norfolk on Friday, see the lights at the botanical gardens Friday night and the zoo the following morning, before heading to Williamsburg and going to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Saturday afternoon/evening.  We were going to spend the night in Williamsburg and try and walk around Colonial Williamsburg a bit before heading home on Sunday.  It was going to be a jam-packed, Christmas-themed weekend.

But, you know what they say about the best-laid plans...

The forecast for our chosen weekend (which was already a modification so we could attend the Darrow's annual party) was not so good.  We debated cancelling altogether, but the kids were extremely upset at the idea.  So, we decided to modify the plans and do what we could.

We drove up on Friday and had dinner at Chick-Fil-A (where I knew they had Christmas Town coupons). Then, we saw the Botanical Gardens.  As in previous years, we were extremely impressed.  Kara and Jack were pretty reluctant about going.  They were both tired of being in the car and just wanted to go to the hotel.  However, everyone loved it!  In fact, the kids wanted to drive through again, but we decided against that (although, in retrospect, I wish we had).  They had one section that was synchronized to music, which was probably my favorite.  Although, I really enjoyed all of it.

The kids looking at the amazing light show.

Part of the synchronized section.  I thought it was kind of a cool picture.

It was divided into Seasons, this is obviously part of Fall.

And, here is the start of winter

From there we went to our hotel, which was actually an apartment on base.  It was 4 bedrooms and $76 tax free dollars a night!  Sometimes the perks of military life are hard to beat.  

The next morning, the weather was pretty gloomy and we were forced to forgo the zoo.  We went to breakfast at McDonalds.  None of us like McDonald's for any meal except breakfast (although, they do have a salad that Thomas is pretty fond of and sometimes gets for lunch on work days).  They had the toys from the kid's meals displayed out front and the kids were immediately enamored and very disappointed that there are no Happy Meal options for breakfast.  But, the staff was super friendly and actually gave the kids the little toys with our breakfast. They were thrilled! Well, two of them were thrilled.  Kara was hoping for a different toy.  She was pretty whiny about it and Thomas and I got frustrated with her lack of appreciation. As we were cleaning up to leave, we noticed that she was at the display case and trying to shoplift the toy she wanted!  Since it was right in the front, in plain view of the counter, she was obviously caught red-handed.  In reality, she was just trying to "exchange" the one she got for the one she wanted.  It is hard to describe the scene, but it was pretty funny, all the McDonald's workers gathering to see what was going on. Of course, we didn't let her know we thought that as we took her toy and talked about consequences for stealing.  Then, she started crying.  Loudly.  Very, very loudly.  So, we hightailed it out of there.

Next, we decided to see the world's largest NEX.  It was pretty impressive.  They have done a lot of remodeling since we were stationed there.  After that, we drove by the two houses we lived in and then headed over the bridge.  We decided to see the Yankee Candle Flagship Store.  It was very nice and festive.  However, it was also very crowded.  There were about 30 people in line, so we decided against buying anything.  I wanted to go the Harry and David outlet, but the whole area was so packed, we couldn't find a parking space.  Instead, we just went to lunch.

Finally, it was time to go to Christmas Town.  We got there around 2, and were able to get in and walk around.  We saw the penguins and Santa and walked around a bit.  At 3:30 we went to the Gloria show. Since the kids are so interested in the story of Jesus' birth, I thought they would all enjoy it.  I thought wrong. They hated it.  Every time they started singing a new song, Kara would throw her head back and loudly groan.  Fortunately, it was pretty short.  We let the kids ride all the kiddie rides.  The favorite was probably the bumper cars.  Jack and Thomas tried out the only open roller coaster---Verbolten.  Jack said he liked it, but will wait until he is 17 to go on it again.  

We saw another show and then walked around enjoying the lights.  We were able to ride the sky ride and the train, and the park really was beautifully decorated.  They had a bridge that was themed with "Let There be Peace" and that carol played as you walked over.  Since that is one of my favorite Christmas songs, I loved it.  We left around 9 and I think we saw just about everything.  It was cold, which seemed to kept the crowds at bay.  The kids mostly liked the rides, although they also enjoyed the lights.  We let them play one of those duck in a ponds game, where if you pick a winning duck, you get a stuffed penguin.  They were very excited that they all "won."  Normally, we don't let them get souvenirs, but it was a pretty cute penguin and it was only $5.  I was glad we strayed from our normal policy, because they really were thrilled with their victory.  

Because the forecast called for snow and freezing rain on Sunday, we decided to skip the night in Williamsburg and drive home.  Kara fell asleep almost immediately and woke up as we pulled into the driveway, at which point, she exclaimed, "that was a fast drive!"  I should do a post on what a terrible traveler Kara generally is (although, in her defense, she did well on our car rides to Florida).  Regardless, it was a relief to the rest of us that she slept and we didn't have to hear her complaints.  All in all, it was a great, although abbreviated, weekend getaway!