Jamestown and Busch Gardens

On Sunday, we opted to check out and visit Jamestown. The weather was beautiful and we were excited to explore both indoors and out. Like its sister museum at Yorktown, it has a very impressive museum. We had a good time exploring all the exhibits and learning more about life in 1607. It was much harder and more miserable than I realized. I can't imagine being with those early settlers. Over the winter of 1609/10, the population went from 500 to 90, which meant that even if you were a "lucky" survivor, you were a witness to starvation and death all around you. It was also interesting to read about the business side of the colony, which I had never given much thought to.

After about an hour inside, we went to the outside portion. They have three distinct areas. First, the Powhatan area, where we explored huts and learned more about the Native Americans. The volunteers were very friendly. We heard about early food preservation and saw a basket maker working. That was another thing I hadn't considered-- they had to make absolutely everything. If they wanted to gather food, they needed to make the vessel in which to carry it. And, before they could even begin that process, they had to get the fibers and strip them down. It is crazy to think about!

Next, we went to the ships. One was in dry dock, but we walked around the other two. Once again, I couldn't fathom living aboard one of those ships for 3+ months! Particularly with the rat problem, which we learned about. From there, it was on to the settlement portion. Once again, there were lots of interpreters who were happy to discuss early life. We saw food preparation and artillery demonstrations. Anna and Kara got to play a dice game of chance. Anna proved herself very lucky and cleaned up!

Everyone likes trying on the armor.

Anna was super lucky!

After a couple of hours outside, it was time to get lunch and head to Busch Gardens Christmas Town. We arrived at Busch Gardens just after they opened. We took the kids (Luke mostly) to the Sesame area. He rode everything that was open, except the Grover roller coaster. Baby steps. Then, we did a few more rides before heading into 1 of the 2 shows I wanted to see--Scrooge. We had told the kids the basic story and they were excited for it. The show was a great production. Me and the kids really enjoyed it. Finally, it was starting to get dark. We walked around more and enjoyed the lights.

The only bad thing about the night was we couldn't find a place to eat. We tried one restaurant and the line was incredible. We asked someone who was coming out how long they had waited and he said over 30 minutes and the line had been half the size. So, we opted for a corn dog stand and got popcorn, corndogs, pretzels and drinks. $55 NOT well spent. That was the only frustration. Everything else was wonderful. The lights were beautiful, the music was nice, the rides were good. Everyone had a fantastic time. We saw one other show, an ice skating spectacular featuring Elvis Stojiko. He was amazing! They all were. Busch Gardens definitely knows how to put on a show (so much better than Six Flags)! Poor Luke had fallen asleep during the show, it was a long couple of days for him; he slept in his stroller as we walked to the car. Then, he woke up when we put him in his carseat and he was completely disoriented. He kept saying he needed his dad, who was driving. He last memory was probably sleeping in Thomas' lap during the show.

Ride partners!

Waiting for Scrooge to start. Luke was cranky and didn't want to watch--until it started and he found he liked it.

On the Peace on Earth bridge.

The picture doesn't do this justice, I loved this area of lights though. It was stunning!

When I asked everyone their favorite part of the weekend:
Kara--GWL slides
Jack--Visiting Jamestown
Anna--The first hotel we stayed out
Luke--Christmas Town
Thomas--being in the December winter snow
Kori--Christmas Town lights