Colonial Williamsburg

Another trip we took because Carson had a conference! What a good excuse to travel! 

We left Tallahassee on a Thursday after I got out of a meeting at work and headed first to my parents' house in South Carolina. It's a little over five hours there and was a good sort-of-halfway point. It was also a good excuse to give the family their Christmas presents. No time like the present, right? We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving, so it was good to catch up in person. 

Oscar hadn't forgotten all the times I've given him a little something while eating dinner.

The following day was Scott's 21st birthday, so we celebrated early when he and dad got home from their respective jobs.

I got Scott bottled root beer for his 21st... 

After he opened his birthday gifts, Mom had a birthday gift she'd made for me (monogrammed toiletry travel bag, which I've wanted ever since Brooke got one in probably the fifth grade), and then it was time for us to dole out Christmas gifts. Presents everywhere. Carson even got a present - a remote control car from my dad.

I dragged Scott out for this picture. He was pumped.

The next morning, I was lovingly awakened by Pepper, the dog that my parents acquired around Christmas. This was our first time meeting her and she's very friendly and sweet. She is not very aware of the damage her paws are capable of, and I woke to her scraping my head with one to get my attention. Nice, Pepper. 

We got on the road at a fairly early hour (I can't remember exactly when). 

Passed by South of the Border. We didn't stop, but we did reminisce about our last time there.

When we arrived in Williamsburg, our hotel was not yet ready (it was two hours before our check-in time but Mr Let's-be-early-I'm-sure-the-room-will-be-ready insisted we lose out on that sleep and get to Virigina earlier). I was still wearing the fantastic outfit of dog hair-covered yoga pants and a tie-dyed sweatshirt, so we skipped actual Colonial Williamsburg and went to a chain restaurant where they probably wouldn't look at us funny for changing clothes in the bathroom. Noodles and Company didn't, and it was quite tasty also. 

We made it to the hotel, which was ready just a little bit early. We stayed in the Williamsburg Lodge right in Colonial Williamsburg, because that's where the conference was held. It was a great location, and we set our stuff in the room before we went out and explored. Our room was pretty big, and it came with a balcony, which was fun!

The walk to Colonial Williamsburg was short because we were about a block away from all the shops. We got to do some exploring before Carson had to be back for a conference dinner. 

While Carson was in the conference, I painted my nails, washed and dried my hair, and watched Say Yes to the Dress. 

Although Carson went to a dinner, I did not, so upon his return, we went out in search of food. 

We found a Pita Pit that was 20 minutes from closing and ate outside. Dinner at 945!

The next morning, Carson was off presenting at the conference, while I slept in and enjoyed the "breakfast" we'd grabbed the night before at a convenience store. The hotel offered breakfast, but it wasn't free and I didn't care to have it all by myself, so I enjoyed my cottage cheese and grapes (and I don't know what sort of a monster has fruit with their cottage cheese but they didn't have plain and these weren't mixed together so I got that.). 

I got ready while watching Full House reruns, and in the middle of that, Carson returned. His paper got a good response!

This is the view from the window by the elevator in the hotel. It was pretty large and sort of confusing to get around!

Although Friday was in the 70s and sunny and we were wearing short sleeves, Saturday was cloudy and the temperature dropped about 25 degrees. We went out to explore the area a little more in the daylight, since Carson's conference duties weren't placing a time constraint anymore.

I like this picture - 21st century transportation right next to 18th century transportation (feet).

Here we are at the Governor's Palace. 

It didn't feel like spring, but it was starting to look like it!

The campus of the College of William & Mary is in historic Williamsburg, which I hadn't realized before! Carson loves exploring campuses (you knew this, I'm sure), so of course we walked around. 

If only he'd had a cape. 

We went into the Wren building, which is open for the public to walk around (in other words, we didn't break and enter). It's one of the oldest college buildings in the US and it was very neat to see. Carson especially was pleased to discover that right now, the religion department is housed in the building. It's apparently the coveted spot on campus.

We rested on the veranda of a dorm? Some sort of building where there were lots of rocking chairs.

And we explored the bookstore, where Carson had me try this hat on and apparently snapped a photo when he was showing me what it looked like (we did not buy it).

We stopped at a restaurant to grab a bite, since it was way past lunch. We weren't in the mood for anything big, since we had dinner plans, so we got a bowl of She Crab soup for me and a quesadilla for Carson. Strange combination for a pretty nice looking place, but it was tasty and didn't break the bank.

We passed by a field of sheep on our walk back to the hotel.

Our next stop after a short rest was non-historic Williamsburg. Carson's brother Trent and his family were on their way south to give their dog a new home and then go on to Myrtle Beach and decided to drive to Williamsburg and stay for the night to see us on the way, which was very sweet. 

It happened to be bring your own cup day at 7-11, and there was one right by the hotel, so Carson brought his 48oz Nalgene and the girls helped him pick flavors to go inside, all for 1.50. 

Brooklyn begged to ride with us, and we obliged. She got to hold the ridiculous Slurpee. 

We were sitting down in the restaurant when Trent got a call from the hotel saying that Scuttle was barking and disturbing guests. Erin and I took Brooklyn and headed back to quiet him down while everyone else waited for the restaurant to box up our food so we could bring it back.

Picnic in the hotel!

We'd discussed going to a kid's movie, but with a dog that howled when left alone added to the mix, we decided that it was best to hang out in the hotel instead. 

They'd gotten the last available room in the hotel, which had only one King sized bed... for five little girls and two parents. I'm not sure where Trent and Erin slept, but the girls took the prime real estate. 

We had fun with the girls, who asked for pictures and asked to take pictures and the funniest videos on my phone. As they were getting ready to go to bed, we left. 

We headed out at about 7 on Sunday morning. Before we left fully, we stopped by Duck Donuts. I'd heard that it was good and we'd passed it on our way in, so we made sure to stop as we were leaving. There are several of these chains in Virginia and I think North Carolina, and it's good because they make the donuts to order. They are so hot they'll burn you, very fresh and very good. The man behind the counter was quite friendly too, and we chatted a bit in the short time it took for our donuts to be ready. 

My mom had saved a nightstand from Nana's for me when they helped her move in January, so we got off on the exit close to my parents' house and Scott met us at the Carolina Cider Company to bring the furniture to us. It barely fit in the car, but now we have it and I think I'll probably make it my next big refinishing project. 

I waited with Pepper in the car while Scott and Carson moved the furniture. She was very worried and is not used to cars, so I was trying to calm her down a little. 

We made it home while it was still daylight, almost thirteen hours after we'd first gotten in the car (ew). We had just enough time to toss our things on the floor and collapse in front of the TV to stretch out. It was a packed weekend and we wished we'd had more time to explore, but it was still a really good trip and thankfully we weren't absolutely exhausted from our whirlwind weekend.