Wanna hear all about our vacation?

I used Mike's laptop to keep a journal while we were on vacation. Here it is, with a few pictures to liven it up. I think it's funny how often I mention the food!

May 24

We left Conway at 10, had lunch at Overton Park in Memphis and played on the playground. We stopped at one rest stop that had a tree with a big “tumor” on the side. Ate supper at a Roadhouse somewhere west of Knoxville, and got to our hotel in Knoxville in time for a quick swim. Saw pretty rolling hills/mountains and lots of big trees.

May 25

Had breakfast at the hotel (waffles, biscuits, toast, eggs), on the road by 9. Beautiful mountains. Had lunch at Cookeville, Tennessee—picked up Sub sandwiches and hiked the “Shot Tower” trail over a railroad trestle to a bench. I've never walked on a trestle before! Saw (smelled!) fragrant white flowers that looked like wild berry bushes, and some kind of yellow & orange flower on a big, maple-like tree. Gorgeous weather.



I got excited coming into Virginia, and even more excited coming into Williamsburg! We got here in time for supper at a Ristorante Italiane. Very authentic—everyone there spoke Italian. The girls had cheese pizza and Mike and I had manicotti, spaghetti, lasagna, and veal Parmigiano. Rebecca ate at least 3 of the little knot-shaped, olive oil drizzled rolls! After supper we came to the house where we’re staying. I don’t know how old the house is, but it has a HUGE old Magnolia tree in the front yard, almost as big as the one at Old Washington! Our bedrooms are upstairs. The house is furnished with dark wood antiques, and has lots of old photos and prints around. When I first walked in the scent and décor reminded me of visiting my Aunt Hallie and Aunt Hazel in Pine Bluff.

May 26

This morning we ate pancakes for breakfast, then went to Colonial Williamsburg. As soon as we got there we heard the fife and drums, and literally ran to the Governor’s Palace to see the Memorial Day Ceremony. They marched down the green, then the muskets crossed the street and fired while the rest gathered for a speech and a prayer. It was very moving.





Then we rented dresses for the girls…oh, my goodness how they loved that! They got totally into character.





We toured the Wythe house and the Governor’s Palace and grounds, and had lunch at Chowning’s Tavern. Then we went to the store, where the girls learned to write with a quill pen, and to the Geddy house and yard, where the girls got to play with hoops and a swing and a ring toss.







We looked in the post office and printer and binder, and bought cookies at the bakery behind Raleigh Tavern, then got to hear a speech by George Washington, explaining why he wouldn’t run for another term as president. It was all very good. We bought Rebecca & Mikayla cloth colonial dolls, and Jessica a writing set, with a quill pen, ink, and parchment paper. We had supper at Ruby Tuesday’s, then came “home” for baths and bed.



May 27

After poptarts and milk at “home”, we went to Water Country USA! It was a perfect day for it. Warmed up enough for the water feel good but wasn’t miserably hot waiting in line. But wait! We didn’t have to wait in line!! Ever!! We rode slide after slide, and had a full day of fun. The first slide we did used 3 person tubes, and we stuck Rebecca on there and going down I was afraid it would scare her out of slides for the rest of the day…but she loved it!! She was a daring little trooper, all day long! 2 of the slides were round rafts that we could all 5 ride at once. We stayed until 5:30, then cleaned up and went to eat BBQ at a place which has been in Southern Living at least 8 times!! Now we’re exhausted. And slightly sunburned.

May 28

Brrr! It was chilly today—cloudy and wet and windy. We went to Jamestown Settlement first (after a Starbucks treat), where we watched a film and looked at the exhibits in the museum. They had exhibits on the 3 cultures of Jamestown: Powhatan, English, and Angolan. Then we went to the reconstructed Powhatan village, and the girls got to grind corn in a log and stick mortar and pestle and scrape fur off a hide. We also went in yehakans (their homes, round and covered in reed mats), and lay on their fur pallet beds.



From there we went to the reconstructed fort, where we looked in the church, barracks, storeroom, etc, and got to see a matchlock gun fired and a blacksmith working. Rebecca tried on armor.




We took a break then for a wonderful lunch at our favorite place so far, the Old Chickahominy House. It was an actual old house, with wonderful colonial fashioned food (Brunswick Stew, Virginia ham on flat biscuits, chicken and dumplins, chicken soup, fruit salad that was half a peach and a pineapple with cheese and a dressing, and 3 pieces of pie—cherry crisp, chocolate, and buttermilk…mmm, mmm, mmm!) It also had a gift shop, and Mike bought me a gorgeous watch with a band made out of old silver spoon handles. I love it! Then we went back and got to go on reconstructions of the 3 ships that brought the men to Jamestown. Very interesting.


At that gift shop we bought a ship ornament and some green glass made at Jamestown similar to what the Poles there, including one Sadowski/Sandusky, would have made. Then we rushed over to Historic Jamestowne to see the actual archaeological sites and artifacts. The first thing we saw was the glass-blowers' house, where Mike’s ancestors might have actually worked. It was so close to closing time that we hurried over to the rest of Historic Jamestowne, with a church tower from the 1600’s, and the Archaearium, where we saw skeletons and other interesting dug-up things. It’s all right on the James River, and everything was just beautiful. We saw Canadian geese, wild rabbits, and deer. We had supper at a fancy place, kind of on accident, where the waiter put our napkins in our laps for us, and the girls were very well-behaved.

May 29

We went to Busch Gardens today. It was more crowded than the water park (mostly school groups) but still not bad. Fairly short lines. We rode every ride anyone wanted to ride. We saw eagles, wolves, lorikeets (they landed on us!) and Clydesdales. Once we looked up in the sky and saw a horizontal rainbow on the clouds. It’s hard to explain and I didn’t have my camera, but it was beautiful. The weather was perfect; just a little on the cool side. We rode the water rides and got soaked. Brrr! We all had a really good day. Had awesome bbq at lunch, in “New France,” and at supper we went to Golden Corral, but got there right after 3 busloads, so we left and went to Kyoto Japanese. It was good.

May 30

What a busy day! After breakfast we went to Yorktown Victory Center, where we saw a movie and some very good exhibits in the museum. We especially liked getting to lift swords from the French, British, and Continental armies and compare their weight. Then we went to the Continental Army Encampment, and got to try on uniforms and look in tents. We talked to the surgeon and the cook and watched a mortar shell get fired. It was cool.

We also walked through a post-war farm, where we strung beans to be dried, harvested peas and potatoes, petted a turkey, and looked in the house and tobacco shed. The house had some toys for the girls to play with.






After that we went by the battlefield into Historic Yorktown, to the Carrot Tree Restaurant. It was good, but not as good as the Old Chickahominy House. After lunch we went back to Historic Jamestowne and got Mom a green ornament and looked for Sandusky in the genealogy lists…no luck. But we did get to see the glass blower again, and they are so good. Then we went back to Colonial Williamsburg. This afternoon there was a series of plays going on. We got to hear the Declaration of Independence read from the Capitol building, a British general who was a prisoner of war making complaints about being kept in the public gaol, Benedict Arnold take control of the city and run a British flag up the Capitol flagpole (booo—traitor!), and General Washington review the troops before they left to join the siege of Yorktown—and victory! We heard one patriot walking around complaining about the lack of taverns in town because of the Baptists…he said there are more Baptist ministers than taverns now! He said the only good side to being a Baptist is not having to learn the minuet. Mike asked him where a Baptist minister should go to have fun there, and he said, "You don't drink and don't dance, what fun can you have?...Well, at least you're not a Methodist!” Funny! The fife and drum corps marched again, and soldiers fired their muskets and cannons. It was great.



There was a hammered dulcimer player at the gift shop, and I asked if he was familiar with Rich Mullins—he was! We successfully had supper at the Golden Corral tonight, then took the girls to play putt putt golf at a pirate place. They had fun.

May 31

We said good-by to sweet Mrs. Johnson, and hit the road. We stopped in Charlottesville and toured Monticello—I love that place! It was hot when we got there, and we had 45 minutes to kill walking around the grounds waiting for our tour…but we didn’t get bored! We walked through the vegetable garden and the flower garden, and then lined up for our tour. We had a good guide. I loved seeing the things Lewis and Clark brought back from their expedition, the innovative things Jefferson owned, the calendar/clock, the bed between 2 rooms, the inkwell shaped like Voltaire’s head, the dumb-waiter, the kitchen, and the underground passageways.



The drive was beautiful. We were heading down the road when Mikayla yelled, “It’s out!” She had pulled a tooth! Funny. We drove the rest of the day to Knoxville, where we met Mr. and Mrs. Barrett for supper at the Cracker Barrel. It was so neat to see them—I got teary saying good-bye! We’ll see them again at Mom’s house in August, when they’re on their way to Branson.



June 1

We’re home!! It was a long day of driving and thunderstorms…from Smoky Mountains to Arkansas delta to the Timberlands.

And it is good to be home!