Labor Day weekend was coming, we haven't had a typical summer vacation, summer was coming to an end, so we decided to go away for the weekend (again).  Our hotel reservations were set in stone by the time I learned about the Napoleon museum exhibit. Had I known about that the week before, I would have looked into going to Philadelphia for Labor Day weekend. I am hearing from a lot of friends who are thrilled that Napoleon is coming to see them in California next. sigh. Well we missed that one. However we managed to learn lots of new things in Virginia.

     My cell phone vibrated Saturday morning while I was in the underground extension of the Virginia State Capital. There were no bars so I couldn't access the message until later, when I saw it was my mom. When I called her while waiting to ride on the canal in Richmond, I told her that I was in Richmond. She laughed and laughed. Why was she not surprised?  I told her all about our plans for the weekend. My mom had previously shared all of this travel information and my blog with my dad's cousin, who in turn laughed and laughed over all my Colonial Williamsburg entries. She told my mom that I must have lived in Colonial Virginia in a previous life. What can I say?  This is a dream come true to live here in Virginia. Other vacations to this historically rich state were agonizing to plan for, because I never had enough time to squeeze everything in.

     Now that we are Virginia residents, I decided it was time we toured the Virginia state capital. Besides, that is home to the incredible Houdan's of Generals Washington and Lafayette.  While there, we discovered a mind boggling opportunity for my son!

     Then we rode on the 18th century canal near the capital, which was the mastermind of George Washington!  While on the canal we reviewed colonial history, civil war history and transportation history.

     Speaking of transportation, it is not easy in Richmond! We drove around the capital initially, looking for parking. We finally found expensive parking on 6th Street. After touring the capital we walked all around the streets surrounding the capital and all of the restaurants were closed!  We finally got in the van and drove around and found nothing. My husband was really intrigued with the canal ride so we drove down there, getting lost, hoping to find food. My blood sugar kept dropping (I'm preiabetic) and at long last we found the canal ride, a deli, and super duper cheap parking! If you go to downtown Richmond, park near the canal ride and the Railroad Deli. Then walk everywhere else! Now we know, for the times we go back to see the John Marshall House, the Edgar Allen Poe Museum, the Confederate White House, and the Holocaust Museum.  When we left Richmond, we had a lot of trouble figuring out how to leave without hitting a toll road.  We didn't have any cash.  I'm not used to toll roads!  It was crazy!

     Our hotel for the weekend was in Williamsburg.  Before checking into the hotel, we drove down to Newport News to eat at a seafood restaurant on the water.  Last summer I agonized, trying to research Hampton for such a restaurant. We drove down and I kept telling my husband not to go to far or we'd be stuck taking the gargantuan bridge/tunnel. We managed to stay on the peninsula, but Hampton was like a ghost town and we couldn't find any restaurants open. Is this typical of Virginia???  When we got to Newport News, we pulled into a park, where I thought we could access the restaurant. I told my husband he couldn't go beyond the park, or I was afraid we'd be stuck driving on the Jamestown Bridge.  Last summer I wrote about my big bridge fears. Although I can now drive on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, with a thrilling glance at all the Washington monuments, I still fear the big ones.   My plan was to have this incredible view of the massive James River while we ate seafood. As the sun was setting, we drove around the park and at one point got locked in!  We found our way out, got back on the main road, my husband decided to go beyond the park and we drove right by the restaurant as we crossed the prodigious James River Bridge! The sunset was gorgeous. I never knew a river could be so wide. By the time we got to the other side and made a u-turn, it was dark while we recrossed the James River. In the distance the lights from shore were beautiful. When we finally arrived back at Newport News, I started breathing again. My husband turned into the park and I think it's an immediate left that gets us to the restaurant. Oh well, so much for atmosphere and a view.

     The next morning we went to Redoubt Park in Williamsburg and saw an actual redoubt built during the Battle of Williamsburg. This is the first redoubt we saw and it was quite impressive!

     After lunch the Mariner's Museum finally opened.   I was torn over whether to get season passes or not. We were there primarily to see the Monitor and Merrimac Exhibit. I didn't think we'd get to see the other exhibits that afternoon, and a season pass would be paid for in 2 regular priced trips.  I told her we were homeschoolers and retired military, neither of which really qualified for their regular discounts. But we did work something out.  Well, we had a blast!  We never even finished the Monitor and Merrimac exhibit!  We almost finished it but not quite. And there were still other exhibits to see.  We had tickets for an evening program at CW so we drove to the historic area for dinner. 

     Monday we did all new things at CW, not only historical but also musical.  Additionally, we finally got to take the Bits and Bridles tour! After all the getting lost, we felt so at home at CW. CW is always the most relaxing of all the places we visit. We learned and experienced lots of new things all the way around. We all agreed that at each location, we learned more than we ever learned from our books.  Tomorrow will be our first day of school of the 2009-2010 school year. That seems kind of silly, to call it the first day of school, considering that we were learning all weekend!   Stay tuned for pictures!