4/23/26
Location: Anvil Campground, Williamsburg, VA
Colonial Williamsburg
Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers
ChILL

After another quality night of rest both of us were ready to tour Colonial Williamsburg. We had coffee and a light breakfast at ChILL. Then we boarded the 9:42 AM WATA bus number 7 to Colonial Williamsburg train station. A quick change to the free number 15 bus that loops frequently around Colonial Williamsburg brought us to the Visitors Center. Although we purchased our multi-day tickets online we were having some trouble printing them at their kiosk. Fortunately the line moved quickly and the helpful employee was able to find our previously paid tickets and print them for us. Many of the historic venues require paid admission before entering and it is easier to have the tickets available. The nice employee also gave us badge holders to clip our tickets on our shirts.

The town has several buildings and demonstrations with actors in period dress, some of whom have their own long hair styled for the era and the occasional handlebar mustache too. Not all buildings and demonstrations are open every day. Each open site is marked by a British Colonial flag making it easy to know where to go.

Guests are encouraged to interact with the actors who respond in character. It was an unexpected pleasure to meet and talk to Colonel George Washington as he was outside on the Duke of Gloucester Street in the shade of a tree. At various small shops, some of which were the original buildings and some were reproduced on the original foundations, we interacted with the engraver as she worked on silver flatware and the printer as he was inking the typeface and producing a newspaper page as we watched. He explained that it would take up to 24 hours for the paper to be dry enough to touch. In another shop yarn was being made from wool fibers on a spinning wheel by a woman who explained that it was a tedious and time consuming process that yielded very little yarn when completed. Virginia citizens hoped to make enough money on the sale of tobacco to allow them to purchase ready made yarn from the British factories that employed many more workers than Virginia could. In the leather shop we learned that the shopkeeper makes his own shoes as well as many of the shoes that the other actors wear while in costume. He also made his own breeches and provided those for some of the other actors too. As there are more actors than they have skilled employees to make shoes and breeches, not all actors were outfitted by that shop.

Within each open building the actors dressed accordingly. They not only had the historical knowledge but many of them were also trained to do the trade as it was done in the past making that their full time means of making a living in the present. The employees were eager to interact and obviously had a passion for history as they worked in venues that were renovated originals or reconstructed on the original foundation with dim lighting and the same cramped quarters and sparse furnishings as in the 18th century.

For lunch we tried a beef patsy and a chicken patsy. They were basically handheld flat pot pies. Glad we tried them but I would not put them at the top of my list to eat again. Skip also had apple cider. I looked for a shirt or sweatshirt to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary of independence or Colonial Williamsburg’s 100th anniversary of its restoration but I didn’t see anything I liked. My only purchases were interesting postcards and a 250th anniversary shopping bag.

The day was sunny with pleasant temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and the crowds were light, absolutely perfect time to go to Colonial Williamsburg. We were able to see and do a lot all in the same day so we decided not to return on Friday.

Once the bus dropped us off at our campground, we headed out to Freddy’s for burgers, cheese curds and frozen custard. What a pleasant surprise! The double steakburgers we chose were served with big slices of dill pickle and raw onions with mustard, one of the best burgers I have had in a long time.

Then back to shower and relax in our traveling suite.