Williamsburg RV & Camping Resort, Williamsburg, Virginia
After a two and a half hour drive from Virginia Beach (70 miles), we were happy to finally get to Williamsburg. There's an unmanned gate with a keypad to let you in. Once the arm lifts, you follow the arrows on the road to the very center of the campground to the office. The office gave us a choice of a couple of sites that didn't work out and then another couple. On the second go-round, we decide on the least sloping site. We still wound up with tires off the ground to level. The campground was fine, but felt crowded and could use work on some of its sites. The office staff was extremely nice and very helpful. The pool was nice and the lodge was fine, but the games all cost money to play. Being there in June, the humidity was such that it wasn't comfortable to sit outside. But with it being so close to Williamsburg, Yorktown Battlefields, & Jamestown, we really didn't spend much time in the campground.
Williamsburg was very educational. They offer 50% off on their annual passes for veterans, so it was cheaper to buy an annual pass than a three-day pass without the discount. They also give 10% off on everything for veterans. Colonial Williamsburg is separate from the town, there are no cars and everyone working there is playing a 1776 character. Some of the actors were outstanding, especially the barber. We did find that eating there was very expensive ($7 for a hotdog) and sit-down dining was even more expensive. However at the end of the Colony is a William & Mary College store that has a coffee shop/cafe in it, which was very reasonably priced. I visited Williamsburg in the early 70's and sent my sister a photo of me in a tri-cornered hat and she sent me a photo from that trip.
We also visited the Yorktown battlefield. It is a national park so with your park pass it's free. I believe it was $14 per person without one. We took the free one hour "Ranger Tour" in which a Park Ranger walked you outside the visitor's center and told you the story of the Battle of Yorktown. This was very well done and interesting. Then we took the driving tour of the park that shows the locations of earthworks, redoubts (outposts) the surrender field, the home where the surrender was signed and other interesting historic spots. We also walked the town of Yorktown that has a nice beach waterfront area along the York River. After Yorktown, we decided to drive over to the site where the Jamestown settlement was. We checked out the glass blowing demonstration where the glassworks ruins were found, but when we got to the settlement, it was raining so we opted to skip it. With your national parks pass it was only $5. I guess we will have to come back.
