Who Knew We Were Virginians..A Photo Trip report

[jenseib]

Yes, there aren't a lot of lunch opportunities on along Rt. 5 in Charles City County. There's a restaurant in Charles City itself. and the old Coach House Restaurant at Berkeley Plantation used to be good (not sure if it's there anymore). And I've never been by the Charles City Tavern when it's been open.

 

I did not see a restaurant there nor did I see one listed on it's site, so my guess it was gone, but that would've been a perfect spot for a lunch that day. And of course since we weren't familiar with the area at all we weren't too keen to go exploring on side roads to see if we could find anything either.

 

You would've driven by the Charles City Tavern on your way to the plantations (it's right on Rt. 5). It used to be the Indian Fields Tavern years ago, and the food was great back then (no idea about it now). It's in a big farmhouse.

 

Wa it kind of dumpy looking? We did see something kind of in the middle of no where that looked like a truck stop type place and the outside kind of looked scary so we didn't even consider it.

 

Nope--it's this place.

 

 

 

Ok...I don't remember seeing that one at all.

[jenseib]

As we came around the front of Kings Arm Tavern, I got a treat……something I had been looking for the whole trip! Red Coats!!!!!

 

 

There was a special event going on across the street and several people who were dressed up were going in the restaurant over there (which I believe is only open for special events) and these guys were playing for them. I tried to get some pictures, but none were fantastic as to get around the front of them I had to stand next to some burning torches. It was windy and this fire was burning hot and all over. I was afraid I would catch on fire, it was that bad. I actually wondered how the people were getting in there without getting burned as you could really feel the heat coming off them in the distance that I stood from them.

 

 

This guy was greeting the people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got ourselves checked in and it didn’t take too long to get seated. Sadly, they didn’t have it noted that it was Mom and Dad’s anniversary, even though Amanda did tell them when she made the reservation and the guy even told her they may do something special for them. We reminded them at check in and it really seemed like they didn’t care, or note it again.

 

Here is Mom and Dad at their special dinner.

 

 

Our waitress was really nice and fun. She did a good job. She did tell us that the air-conditioning was not working and it was a little extra stuffy in there today. She said it was an ongoing thing lately and for some reason they couldn’t get it fixed right. And it did end up being a little stuffy in there. I can’t imagine what it would be like in the warmer months, as it was cool outside tonight with a breeze.

 

Amanda said she would pay for Mom and Dad’s meal since it was their anniversary and I told her I was actually wondering if she wanted to split the cost and she said yes (which of course made it slightly cheaper for her too) and Mom and Dad were happy with that.

 

We made our orders and this came out.

 

 

It was some sort of relishes and none of us really liked them much. Just not to our taste. I actually thought it was disgusting tasting, but I am not always adventurous.

 

Dad and I both ordered Amaretto Sours, which were pretty darn tasty.

 

 

Amanda ordered the Mrs. Vobe’s Tavern Dinner. It was Half of Sage-rubbed game Hen with savory Herb dressing, Scuppernong-Chutney sauce, Herb-mashed Potatoes, and Cook’s Vegetable served withPeanut Soupe and a choice of Williamsburg Pecan Pie or Williamsburg Ice Cream for $35.75.

 

She had had the peanut soup on her previous trip there many years ago and had loved it. This time around she said it was just OK. She could only eat a little bit before it became too much for her. I tried it and it was OK, but not something I would order.

 

 

Claire went with the trusty chicken strips.

 

 

I went with the Dueling Beef Collops. Twin petite filets of Beef Tenderloin, served with Herb-roasted Potatoes, Vegetable and a Red Wine Reduction for $34.25.

 

 

And that’s the last picture I took on this trip. I no longer remember what Mom and Dad got, but I think Dad got pork chops. Not a clue at all what Mom had. We did enjoy our meal here, but we liked Christianas better.

 

While we were eating the flute guy came out …it was the same guy who we had in our private concert the other day. We really liked him. He mentioned people with birthdays and anniversaries, but Mom and Dad were not mentioned, so we are guessing that it still was never noted anywhere. Oh well, they were fine with not being called out for everyone to look at.

 

He played some tunes tonight, different from the other night and we had a good time.

 

Because I am a glutton for punishment, when it came time for dessert, Claire and I decided to share an ice-cream. Our waitress asked if we wanted chocolate sauce on that. Well heck yeah!!!! I didn’t know that was an option! So once again, we stuffed ourselves beyond belief and were practically sick when we left. I did not do well with control in eating this trip at all!

 

The bill came and Amanda and I split the cost. For the 5 of us it was around $250 with tip. Not cheap at all and sadly this meal was not as good as Christiana’s either. But we still enjoyed ourselves.

 

We rolled out and I think this is when Amanda had to use the bathroom before heading out. There was one outside and Claire decided to go with her for some reason. They came out laughing so hard and we wondered what they did. I guess the bathroom was a 1 room stall and not very big. There was a chair near the toilet and Amanda had Claire sit there…..and it was so close that they were knee to knee. LOL. She said their faces were right on top of each other and they just giggled the whole time about it.

Amanda said if you wanted any privacy; don’t bring anyone in that bathroom with you!

 

We headed back to the car and went on our way again. It started raining and boy it was a hard rain. It was dark and we were in an area with no lights and I couldn’t see at all. I ended up pulling off into a subdivision to wait it out a bit. Of course I picked the most popular subdivision in Williamsburg. We were parked and people kept zooming in behind us and practically hitting us each time. I had my breaks on, so not sure why they couldn’t see us, but it was just as scary sitting there, so we turned around and took our chances on the road. Of course I had a side seat driver with my Dad telling me what to do. It was a little tense at times, but we made it back safely and the rain calmed down then.

 

It was time to pack. Mom said that she was sending her suitcase back with Dad so she didn’t have to pay for it to fly back. She said I could too, but 1, I needed some of the things for the next day (we were staying another night at Amanda’s) and 2, Dad had a truck and I didn’t want my stuff getting wet sitting in the back of the truck.

Mom said since Dad had brought such a big suitcase, she would put as much of her stuff in his and then wrap it in a garbage bag for the back of the truck. The rest would go in hers and then that would sit on the passenger seat inside and I could throw things in there.

So that is what we did. I did get quite a bit of my stuff in her bag and then Amanda had overflowing things, so she put her extras in my bag with the rest of my stuff. Mom put anything she needed in my bag as well. I have no clue why we had so much more going home, as we didn’t seem to have bought that much, but it worked out and our suitcases were a little lighter.

 

After all the packing it was time for bed. Dad had to get up early to set out driving. He still kept asking Mom to ride home with him, but she decided no, and I agree. She had a plane ticket and why waste it and drive all that time. I go batty in a car that long anymore and with the plane we had breaks between flights to get up and move around.

 

We had all went to sleep then. Sadly our trip was over!

[jenseib]

April 20, 2013, Saturday

 

 

We got up early. We wanted Dad on the road early so he wouldn’t get lost. The plus to driving back though was that when it got dark, he would be in more familiar territory and shouldn’t get lost. Most of the latter part of the drive was on the turnpike, which was pretty much a straight shot.

 

He got some breakfast in him and we packed a few snacks for the trip. We also emptied the fridge and anything that could make a safe return without refrigeration was packed in a garbage bag and put in the back of his truck as well. We actually had quite a bit of food left, so it was nice to not waste it.

I did try a Greek yogurt that needed to be eaten or thrown away. Let’s just say YUCK. I won’t be eating Greek yogurt again. I did not like the texture at all and it had a funky after taste to it. I guess I am the odd one out as I hear many people love this stuff…but not for me!

 

We helped Dad load the truck and sent him on his way.

 

We emptied trash and made a 2nd round of the place to be sure we had everything. Once we were all ready we loaded up our car and got ready to leave as well. I made the call to the desk to let them know we were leaving and were heading out as well.

 

And we’re off! We took off towards the airport, which was a bit over an hour away. Of course we can’t be on the road too long before someone has to use the bathroom. We made a stop and everyone used it so there wouldn’t be any more stops and I think I topped off the rental cars gas then too.

 

Not long after we got on the highway we came to a complete stop. UGH. We had been making pretty good time, but now I worried that we would be late and miss the flight. We all got in a bit of a panic, but there was nothing we could do. Luckily, the stopped traffic didn’t last too long and we were soon cruising again. I have no clue what the holdup had been.

 

On our drive, we discussed the trip and Amanda brought up this question. “Do you think our family would’ve owned slaves if we lived back then?” Good question. Of course we want to say no, but really knowing our family, and our grandparents and great grandparents ….I think that we would have. I don’t want you to think bad of us……but I think if we had grown up not knowing different, we probably wouldn’t have known better. Yes it’s so wrong and I can’t imagine doing what those people did to the slaves, but if you grew up thinking that was OK, it would be hard to be one to say no to it. We discussed this for quite a while too. Trying to think we would be good enough to know it was wrong, but times were so different back then and really who knows how what we would’ve done back then. It was kind of a squirming with your morals moment.

 

We made it to the airport on time and dropped off the car. We got checked in and made it to the gate with plenty of time to spare. We figured we better get some lunch before heading off so we picked up some burgers!

 

(I do have a few crappy phone pictures yet.)

 

 

(And I do think they had coke, along with pepsi)

It was a good burger and filled us up. Claire doesn’t eat burgers, so maybe they had hotdogs there too? Or she just ate fries…I don’t remember anymore.

 

We had a later boarding number for this flight and I really have no clue how Delta assigns them. Someone told me it had to do with where your seats were, but our seats were virtually in the same spot each flight. They kept announcing that those in our boarding group would not have room for carry ons and we could gate check them for free. Um nope. All my camera equipment was in there, so I would take my chances. It was such a mess boarding too. People all over trying to push their way in. Amanda got nervous and decided she better make one last bathroom stop and told us just to board and she would catch up. But the line was so slow she was back before we even moved at all.

 

We finally got on the plane and there was plenty of room for all of our carry ons.

We got seated and soon we were off in the clouds, on our way to Atlanta.

 

The flight wasn’t too long at all (maybe just an hour) and we were landed. We got off to check for our connecting flight. This time we were not as lucky and our flight was not at the gate next door. We had to take the tram to get to it.

 

We followed the masses of people and we had to head to the A T area. Amanda started cracking jokes on how we were on our way to the T & A area. Yes we have childish sense of humors.

 

 

We got on the fake monorail and just barely made it before it was to leave and a few even crammed on behind us. We barely were on and it started to move with a huge jerk. The people behind me fell on top of me and I was on top of Claire. I tried getting up, but the 2 on top of me would not move. Come on people, get off of me! Finally they did get up and acted all weird about it. I know it wasn’t their fault, but it was like they were looking to blame someone. Claire was ok, even after having 3 people on top of her and she laughed about it …thank goodness!

 

We made it to the next gate and got seated. We had an earlier boarding time on this flight…YAY! I think this is where I found the cupcake shop and bought a few to snack on later….and they were darn good.

 

I think Mom called Dad to see how he was doing and he had taken a wrong turn at one point and ended up in Washington, DC for a bit, but was back on the right track now and making good time.

 

Soon it was time to board this flight as well. Again the flight wasn’t too long and uneventful.

I kind of worried when our plane parked here though ….

 

 

 

It was nice to be back in Columbus once again. We texted Aunt Laura and Jan to let them know we were on the ground and waiting for our bags. I think Claire and I ran to the bathroom and when we came out our bags had already arrived. We did have good bag mojo this trip.

 

We lugged them outside and Jan and Aunt Laura were pulling up in seconds. We loaded up the cars and took off. They wanted to go to dinner together that night, but we had promised Claire that we would go to the Cheesecake Factory on this night and there was no way we could back out now. This was a highlight for her (and me too).

Since they don’t take reservations, Aunt Laura and Jan declined to join us as they didn’t want to wait.

 

We made it back to Amanda’s and unloaded everything and headed off for dinner not long after. And sure enough, there was a HUGE wait. We actually went out to the mall and looked around since we had so much time. I stopped at the apple store to ask them why my phone randomly wouldn’t send emails. Let’s just say they are dumber than a box of rocks there. They had no clue why and were blaming it on the carrier. Then they were saying it was the service signal…but that wasn’t correct either as it worked from the same location one minute and not the next. Basically they told me to take a screen shot next time and bring it in. Which I then proceeded to tell them I don’t live anywhere near an Apple store. I pretty much left disgusted with them. Out of the 3 people I talked to there, not one seemed knowledgeable at all.

Mom found a pair of jeans at Coldwater Creek that she thought would fit me well. I didn’t like the price tag, but I tried them on to humor her. They did fit well and she bought them for me. Thanks Mom!

We headed back to the Cheesecake Factory and got drinks at the bar while we waited.

We still had a bit of a wait and finally we were seated. I don’t remember what others ate, but Claire probably got the pizza because she gets it every time. I got the Chicken Parmesan which has now become a new favorite of mine. It was darn good! But it is a huge portion and I ended up taking half of it home. Service was very slow though, but they were extremely busy. But it seems that they haven’t gotten the knack yet to handle busy times as we have gone since during a busy day and again service was very slow.

Of course we ordered cheesecake to go too and had that for a snack later in the evening.

 

We headed back to Amanda’s and settled in for the night. I think we worked on homework for Claire and called it a night then.

 

I don’t really remember much of the next morning, but I think we just slept till we woke and then packed up and headed home. I believe we stopped at Bob Evans for lunch before getting too far on the highway.

 

We were tired when we got home, and Skip was happy to see us once again! Of course unpacking and laundry were started and we got back to everyday life right away. Oh how I hate coming home to reality!

[jenseib]

My thoughts on the trip….

 

Sadly, my memory is fading fast on this trip. It has been a long hectic year and I couldn’t wait to get rid of 2013. This however was one of the highlights of the year.

I will say I constantly compared this to a Disney trip in my mind while there and honestly this is just not the same. I enjoyed this trip, but it’s just not Disney. I am happy to finally have gotten there and would like to go back someday, but not for several years when Claire can enjoy it more. I will say I am very proud of her because I know parts of this had to have been boring for her and she didn’t complain much and seemed interested in a lot of things.

We got to try new things and experience many different things and it was a lot of fun doing so. And it was on my bucket list, so I am happy to be able to check it off now. I would like to go at Christmas time, as I heard it is really neat then too.

 

Our plan is to go to my parents timeshare in March over Spring break and go to Disney and Legoland. My husband is feeling left out and he wants to do something as a family, which I am all for as well. The thing is, he finds it’s “sin” to go twice in the same year. So he has decided to join us at the end of the trip and the plan is to go on the Magic for a 3 day cruise and he’ll be joining us for Legoland after the cruise. It’s not officially booked yet, but that is the plan we have talked about as of today and …I will be writing another trip report!

 

Thanks so much for following along and helping me relive our trip!

[jray21]

The food pictures are always nice!

[jenseib]

The food pictures are always nice!

 

 

I could go for some of it right now!

[TBpony414]

I finally finished reading this TR. I was super busy with the holidays and my computer flatlined just after New Years but I got it fixed thankfully. Living just outside DC, I've been to Williamsburg many times and it's always beautiful and my food experiences have been similar - mediocre at best except for the rare expensive meal. Visiting at Christmas would be really beautiful because Colonial Williamsburg does their own special thing and Busch Gardens does Christmastown which is just phenomenal. Highly, highly recommend it!

 

What program do you use to resize the pics and put the black border around them? I like that.

 

Looking forward to the TR of your March trip to Disney!

[jenseib]

I finally finished reading this TR. I was super busy with the holidays and my computer flatlined just after New Years but I got it fixed thankfully. Living just outside DC, I've been to Williamsburg many times and it's always beautiful and my food experiences have been similar - mediocre at best except for the rare expensive meal. Visiting at Christmas would be really beautiful because Colonial Williamsburg does their own special thing and Busch Gardens does Christmastown which is just phenomenal. Highly, highly recommend it!

 

What program do you use to resize the pics and put the black border around them? I like that.

 

Looking forward to the TR of your March trip to Disney!

 

I understand being busy!

I have heard that Christmas time is beautiful there.

 

I use photoshop to resize and add borders. I have an older version, but it suits me just fine for what I use it for.

 

Things are coming along for the March trip. We fly down the 21 and stay 1 night at Port Orleans French Quarter, then move to Marriott Grand Vista for several nights. On the 27, Skip will fly down to meet us and on the 28th we will drive over to the port and cruise for 3 nights on the Magic. Once we get off, we will do a day at Legoland and a night at Old Key West, and fly home on April 1. We are pretty excited.

 

And I was able to also work in a conference in California at Disneyland. I will be leaving for that on Feb 23 (this sunday). I am super excited about that as well since I have never been to California in my life yet. my best friend growing up lives out there too and we plan to spend Sunday together.

[TBpony414]

Disneyland and getting together with your friend sound awesome! I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside the last time I was in DW and liked it a lot.

[WFChris]

It's always so weird reading the rest of TPR after your reports. The font size difference becomes so apparent!

 

As always, had a great time being right there with you during your trip...or so it seems reading the report

[jenseib]

Disneyland and getting together with your friend sound awesome! I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside the last time I was in DW and liked it a lot.

 

I had a blast at Disneyland..even with a few meetings thrown in there. I will do a report, but not till after I get back from my next trip because I just have too much to do yet to even think about starting it now. Hopefully in free time I can get some pictures edited so I will have a good amount to start with.

[jenseib]

It's always so weird reading the rest of TPR after your reports. The font size difference becomes so apparent!

 

As always, had a great time being right there with you during your trip...or so it seems reading the report

 

I have a secret...I use a bigger font because I can't see. LOL. I really do enjoy writing them, but it does take time. I will have 2 coming up this year. I will do the DL one first and then work on the WDW one. I have learned writing 2 at the same time is really hard, so I will try to get the DL one done fast...(notice the word "try") and then get the WDW/DCL one going.

[jenseib]

I just wanted to let you all know I have started a Trip Report about my Feb. trip to Disneyland.

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67685

 

Please come join me!