Williamsburg, VA in August?

Jewels and I are spending roughly a week in Williamsburg. Flying into Newport News, getting from the airport to Williamsburg somehow, Uber, Taxi, rent a car? Would prefer Uber, Google says there's a bus that takes about an hour and a half, yuck.

So what do we do while we're there? Jewels has to pencil in a presentation at the conference that's hosting her, and the whole reason we're going in the first place, but short of her presentation, she has no other obligations to actually be present at any other sessions or events of the conference.

We enjoy history, so we're already planning on Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.

Looks like there's a "Folk Art Museum," we could get on board with that.

There's at least one brewery and winery in the area too.

Any suggestions on what to do and see?

We'd love some restaurant suggestions too, we're adventurous eaters, and have been called "foodies" though I loathe that term. You can't really get fresh seafood in AR, so I'm looking forward to some coastal cuisine.

I know we've got several right coasters here, lay it on me.

Colonial Williamsburg is worth the trip, we spent two days there. Lot's to see and learn, food choices are interesting too.

Look into tours at the Norfolk Naval Base. You need to plan ahead, but worth it. Tours

Fort Monroe is also an interesting place to stroll for an afternoon. The Oozlefinch Craft Brewery is the spot for lunch.

The Volcano Coaster at King's Dominion is one of my all-time favorites in the US.

Busch Gardens is a great amusement park. Being tourist season, stay out of Virginia Beach. The Virginia Air and Space Museum is down towards NN and nice if that is your thing.

Where are you flying into in Newport News? I'm only familiar with Norfolk International and Oceana.

In reply to bigdaddylee82:

Busch Gardens is near there and there's a big outlet mall there if that's your thing. You already covered my other suggestions.

Pierce's Pitt Bar-B-Que is awesome. I ate there every time I visited.

In reply to pinchvalve:

Brewery sounds good, but not real interested in amusement parks.

In reply to Brian: Air and Space Museum is right up my alley, and I'll bet SWMBO would be willing to go too.

Flying into "Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport" (PHF) Google says it's 27 min by car from our hotel.

In reply to The0retical:

LOL. Just drove down to Pierce's BBQ a few weeks back and met my wife's family for lunch. Food was good, as usual. Place was pretty dang busy, but we didn't have to wait long for our food. Had to park out on the road though. Parking lot was full up.

I think there's a go-kart place down there, along with the aforementioned Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. Lots of history stuff around Jamestown and Williamsburg. Gonna be hot!!

I grew up in newport news/hampton. I went back a few weeks ago for an week and wow has it grown! The traffic from Newport News to Williamsburg can be pretty bad after 3pm on a weekday. Def see Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown. Other than that, there's not THAT much there in my opinion lol.

I don't know if it's out of the way, but the Military Aviation Museum is pretty cool. Link

Lived in the area for about 7 years. Jamestown, Yorktown, Williamsburg are all interesting places to visit. VA Beach I would stay clear of unless you like crowds. The Air and Space museum is ok. The Naval Base would be cool to see if you haven't been around the Navy much. All good suggestions so far.

Definitely rent a car, you're going to need it.

There's a few antebellum plantations along Route 5 between Williamsburg and Richmond that are open for tours. Tons of breweries and restaurants in Richmond, about an hour west of Williamsburg.

Williamsburg Ale Werks is worth the visit, avoid Williamsburg Winery at all costs. You want to go to New Kent Winery or Saude Creek Winery instead (40 and 20 mins west of Williamsburg, respectively).

The NASA Museum is awesome, took the kids there a few years ago and they loved it. We always take a drive on the Colonial Parkway when we're there, drive through Jamestown, and usually take in at least one meal at Cracker Barrel (hey, we're from the land where Cracker Barrels are few and far between, and we're decidedly not foodies).

Yorktown was neat when we visited, there's a gorgeous beach there, as well.

I will second the Alewerks suggestion from szeis4cookies. Definitely try the fresh pretzels and beer-cheese. May even want to get the tasting and tour. Its a very friendly brewery and lots of good flavors to be sampled.

If any in your party are into such things, the Williamsburg Pottery Factory is nearby. It's a big retail shopping area that sucks in materialistic tourists like a black hole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamsburg_Pottery_Factory

Road construction on I64 between the airport and Williamsburg will make traffic suck. You will want a rental car. Pierce's is okay but overrated. Pottery built a new building - lost any appeal it might have once had. There are two Jamestown attractions - both have merits but they are very different experiences. Colonial Williamsburg is great. It will be very hot and unbearably muggy. Get some She Crab soup somewhere.

In reply to bludroptop:

Yah, on I-64 in the Summer, on a weekend, the best you can hope for is very heavy traffic moving slowly. Throw in an accident or construction, and it will definitely enter Sucksville.

Where were all you 757 people years ago lol

Was probably a significant contributor to Cornwallis' decision to surrender in October...

Avoid I-64 during the morning and evening rush. Those mounds totally F-up your average driver who will slow way down uphill and rocket downhill...you know the typical stupid human operating a vehicle.

bigdaddylee82 wrote: We'd love some restaurant suggestions too, we're adventurous eaters...

Peter Chang Williamsburg

1203 Richmond Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23185

About Peter Chang

DoG Street Pub
401 W Duke Of Gloucester St, Williamsburg, VA 23185

We got back Friday night, well around 1:00 AM Saturday morning actually, storms kept us circling the air port for a while, so our late flight, was even later.

We rented a Chevy Sonic LTZ from Hertz, so we had transportation. Learned that I don't want to own a Chevy Sonic, but it was a tolerable appliance, and suited our needs for the week just fine.

We stayed at The Lodge, Autograph Collection at Williamsburg, it was a nice place, and only about a block south of Colonial Williamsburg, so a pretty convenient location.

Colonial Williamsburg was really neat, but we weren't prepared for the size of the place, it's huge! We spent roughly 2 days there. We did most of the guided tours they offered, nerded out on history, asked the wheelwright, joiner, blacksmith, carpenter/furniture shops, and all of the kitchen reenactors a million questions each. We had the best interpreters/docents there, especially at the capitol. We ate lunch at Josiah Chowing's Tavern in Colonial Willamsburg one day too, pretty good grub.

We did the whole "Historic Triangle," so we spent a full day at Jamestown, and Yorktown too. We learned, and re-learned a lot that we'd forgotten.

We also took a little road trip to Monticello on our last day. As tempting as the news made the Charolettesville riots sound, we still avoided them. Monticello was pretty amazing, we had to have our rental car back about 2 hours before our flight, so we didn't get to spend as much time at Monticello as we'd have liked, but did get to tour the house, and gardens.

1988RedT2 & bludroptop, we went to Williamsburg Pottery, it was not what we expected, it was more of a Bed Bath & Beyond meets Pier One, nick knacks, and E36 M3ty home decor, with a little bit of cookware, and a tiny little bit of pottery. I had to ask a lady that worked there where the pottery was, she informed me that they hadn't actually made any pottery in over 2 years, so they didn't have much left. That is one huge strip mall though, granted it was 3 in the afternoon on a Thursday, but there were only a handful of patrons there, I was wondering how they pay to keep the lights on?

We really didn't eat that much, coffee and a pastry in the morning, and a late lunch was a typical day. We took several of your suggestions. First night we ate at 2nd Street Bistro, it was a Zomato recommendation, and was pretty good. We had a meal at DoG Street that was good, and went to Captain George's on the Hertz guy's recommendation. Captain Geroge's was okay, I probably wouldn't go back, we didn't know it was a buffet until we got there, we did not get our moneys worth. One night we just got a chocolates and truffles from Wythe Candy Shop, and a cheese tray from the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg, and that was our meal. Otherwise, we just grabbed a sandwich at the cafe of whatever museum we happened to be in at the time.

We didn't go to any of the breweries or wineries, but I did try a couple different Alewerks beers at a couple of restaurants most were good, and Jewels tried a few Virginia wines that she liked. I'm a sucker for Yuengling too, and since we can't get it in AR, I indulged, and even brought a 6 pack back to the hotel with me.

We had a great time, and really appreciate everyone's suggestions, thanks!

Sounds like a good trip.

Glad you liked it. There is a lot of history in the area that is for sure.

Captain George's?

Hertz guy deserves a kick in the nuts.

One of the coolest things about Colonial Williamsburg is that it is still just part of the town. Locals can jog, walk their dog, attend services at the Episcopal church or just wander down Duke of Gloucester Street on a whim. It isn't fenced-in. Thomas Jefferson slept here... really. The campus of William & Mary is literally across the street. Admission is required to go inside the buildings but real people actually live, work and play in Colonial Williamsburg, which makes it unlike any other historical interpretation I've seen.

Unfortunately the Foundation is hemorrhaging money and there's talk of changing this. I think that would be a terrible mistake.

Glad you enjoyed your visit to the Tidewater.

In reply to bludroptop:

Yeah, SWMBO "doesn't do" buffets, so George was doomed as soon as we walked in. She's a trooper though, knows how I can put away crab legs, and since we were already there, we gave it a shot. I thought I was a "pro" at consuming crab legs, there were several folks in there that made me look like an amateur, both in speed of consumption and quantity. Some of the food was okay, far from the best crab I've ever had, but it's still crab. I don't know what I was thinking eating crawfish in August, in VA no less??? I knew better, but I still put a pile on my plate.

Everywhere else we ate was pretty decent though.

Yeah we didn't realize how close our hotel was to Colonial Williamsburg until we went driving around exploring. The first day, we spent a few hours just walking around the grounds, getting an idea of where we wanted to go before ever buying a pass, there's a lot to see just walking the streets. Since we we booked our room at the Lodge with a conference, Jewels got "free" admission, and I got a discounted rate.