What a great time we had in Stone Harbor, NJ and Williamsburg, VA. A summer vacation of my childhood memories and as Kyle liked to say driving down the streets of Williamsburg, "Grandma is reliving her old life." We enjoyed so many things- both old and new!
New activities/ experiences included:
-A stop over in Atlantic City the night before the 4th so we could get to the Shore earlier. While we wouldn't have to go back to Atlantic City any time soon, the kids enjoyed the arcade games that printed out real tickets.
-New food included a crumb bun (maybe I've had it before but enjoyed it this time) from Bread & Cheese in Stone Harbor, NOLA style snowballs from Sno-to-Go in Williamsburg, and a cheesesteak near William and Mary from Rick's Cheesesteak.
-We didn't get to go on the ferry with the kids as it sold out for cars so I should've booked that a long time ago since we knew we wanted to do that. Next time!
Then we did some of the classic activities like walks on the beach collecting sea shells, trying to find sand dollars, and actually finding a live conch shell. Ice cream at Springers was delicious although the weren't allergy friendly so Kyle didn't enjoy it. He like Kohr bros instead with a lot of flavors of soft-serve (and a free cone after the Stone Harbor museum scavenger hunt where we learned a lot about the area and a new exhibit featuring Taylor Swift). Every day ice cream on the beach from fudgy wudgy was also a delight. We went to Cape May for a morning as well and saw the boardwalk area where Grandma learned how to ride her bike. The girls especially enjoyed shopping in Stone Harbor and Cape May and Avalon. We stopped in Avalon for mini golfing at Pirate's Cove.
Uncle Michael and Aunt Cathy were gracious hosts for crab, ribs for the 4th of July with the shortcake flag, and a Springers ice cream cake. So many birthdays I've spent there so was fun to be back for my 42nd birthday. We saw dolphins and a whale at the beach and turtles crossing near the wetlands.
The favorite beach activity was boogie boarding and when we weren't at the beach, Eric enjoyed his morning runs and I enjoyed the views of the houses and the colored hydrangeas.
We left on my birthday and drove through 4 states - first stop was Dover, Delaware. Since we couldn't get the ferry to Lewes, we decided seeing the capital was the best back up option. It was hot so we didn't stay long but got lunch at First Watch which is now the kids favorite new restaurant (so we went the last day in Williamsburg too!). After driving through the DelMarVa peninsula - Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and across the Chesapeake bay bridge for a $21 toll we arrived to meet up with Anne, Sean, Finn and Ben in Williamsburg after their stop in DC and Arlington. The first activity was catching fireflies - so that was exciting. Much more exciting then the room and parking fiasco at the Hilton Powhatan.
The other historic stops in Williamsburg included Yorktown and Jamestown. So much history with the Revolutionary War and the first colony settlement in Jamestown. I really enjoyed re-learning about the history. And Colonial Williamsburg was interesting as we see all of the people working there like they did in the olden days. We even had dinner with our old neighbors, the Suiters, and George recently retired as the Gunsmith so it was fascinating to see what his work was for so many years. Williamsburg wasn't very busy for a summer day so we're hoping that tourism isn't slowing down. Perhaps making it more interesting for the kids (we had one tour guide at the Governor's mansion that was a good storyteller) would help to drive families there. The kids enjoyed Jamestown and the interactivity with the ships there. They filmed another series of their movie, Peter goes on Vacation, and we all enjoyed watching the clips from this trip on the movie. They also loved Busch Gardens. Maeve went on a big roller coaster, the Lochness Monster, with Sean, Finn and Ben at least 7 times! She loved all the rides. Cecilia and Kyle enjoyed most but aren't big on the roller coaster drops. Eric spent that day with my parents exploring Williamsburg and William & Mary. On the way out of town we swung by our old houses on Nina Lane so that was fun to see so I did a before and after collage with the houses.
We also lost 3 teeth on the trip. Cecilia decided hers needed to come out as we were stopped at the drawbridge to get into Stone Harbor. Kyle lost one as we were about to leave for the beach and the tooth is missing amongst the shells outside the rental house and then he tried to pull out a big front tooth while we were on the tour inside the Governor's mansion in Williamsburg but I didn't think that was a great idea so he waited until we were outside to pull it out!
We miss our days at the beach but will plan to go back soon! Enjoyed exploring Williamsburg and reminiscing about our days there. It's a beautiful area.
