Spring Break!

Way too much fun all packed in a three day vacation! Joe had Spring Break and although the first half of it was taken up with Law Journal Tryouts we still enjoyed the time we did get. We decided to take the time to explore the beautiful state of Virginia. We have been here for 8 months now and have seen very little of it. This was our chance to get a real feel of where we are! (just to warn you there is going to be a severe overload of pictures, so hold on to your seats!)
Day One: Historic Williamsburg. Joe's parents got us annual passes to Williamsburg for Christmas. I am so happy we finally cashed it in and went. I look forward to going multiple times. I guess in October they tell all the ghost stories and in December it turns into a Christmas wonderland with sleighs and all. We could even go to a royal ball at the Palace. Thank you Jean and Keith!

The Governor's Palace

Sporting his shades

Wepons filled all the walls in the entryway and up the stairs in the palace. It was to show Britain's power.

The grand ballroom. The colors in this palace were so bright. It felt like I got thrown into an Easter basket.

The Royal Crest

The Garden...I guess it is a little more exciting once all the plants are alive again. :)

Carriage rides and all

We had lunch at a sweet little bakery on the main strip. The  ham sandwich was amazing and the turkey was a total waste of money. Funny how the same sandwiches came from the same place.

Beginning our tour of the Capital Building

These paintings were HUGE!!!

AJ wasn't enjoying the presentation as much as the rest of us. 

We saw a live reenactment of the first rebellion after the Botson Tea Party.

In front of the Capital.

This was how AJ held on tight!

Lord's bathroom

Lady's bathroom

 I got a big kick out of the bathroom signs.

We left after everything closed for the evening and found our firs hotel. I went online and looked for a moderately priced hotel. We found a 4 star resort with a room for $60. I thought it must have been a mistake, but we booked it anyway. No joke. $60 for one bedroom, 2 bathroom (one with a giant soaking tub), kitchen, living room, washer and dryer, and loft with window seat and 2 extra beds! I couldn't believe it! we took a video, but I can't seem to get it to upload.
Later that night we went back to the historic part of town to eat at the Kings Tavern. It was so fun! I think it is an experience you have to have if you ever visit a historical reenactment town. Everything was so authentic.

Even the high chairs added to the authentic feeling.

The live entertainment was so fun. This man would go around singing or playing his wooden flute. Very entertaining. 

After a very satisfying pork leg, roasted potatoes, and apple pie we were ready to hit the sack!

Day Two: We started with a return trip to historic Williamsburg to experience a few things we had missed the afternoon before. There was a live court hearing pertaining to religious rights before the revolutionary war. We went to the court house to watch it.

We got put in the stocks for having a noisy baby during the court proceedings

 Next we went to see Joe's first choice: the gunsmith. He still makes special order guns, but the wait is7 to 8 years before you would get it because he has so many to make. CRAZY!!!

We happened to walk past a rehearsal for the evening show. It included a small sword fight. I was very impressed with it.

 I wanted to visit the wig shop. It was fascinating. It takes 4-20 inch hair donations to make one wig. Sometimes they would even add in horse hair as a filler to make it thicker.

This lady was working on a gray men's wig. Just a small hair piece would cost a whole month's wages.  

I thought a lot of these up-dos were pretty impressive. 

We took off just before lunch and headed to Virginia Beach. It was a perfect day to be there. not too sunny, but not too gloomy either.

A lovely day to be on the ocean!

We decided this trip to Diners Drive-ins and Dives. For those of you who don't know what it is...it is a show all about the best hole in the wall restaurants around the country. I got Joe the first 2 seasons in book form with descriptions and divided into sections of the United States. We found 6 on our route, but only had room for 3 meals. Next time we might hit up the rest.

Our first "Triple D" meal

The specialty dish: Blackened Fish Tacos. I hate fish tacos, but these were amazing. I regretted ordering what I did because I wanted to eat all of Joe's. 

AJ preferred the other high chair in Williamsburg. He doesn't quite get how this one works. 

Next we headed to the beach. Good thing about going off season...free parking and empty beaches.

The sky was beautiful

Resort hotels lined the coast...we didn't stay in one of these because it would cost about $60 more than a hotel  just 1 mile in.

AJ slept through most of his time at the beach. We will go back someday and let him have a hay day in the sand. 

I put my feet to work to write a little something.

Joe put his feet to work as well...

 He wanted to create a masterpiece with just his feet. I was fairly impressed. He calls is Foot by Feet.

It was a wonderful addition to the trip. Who knew you could enjoy the beach so much the first week of March?!

The weather started to go a little sour so we thought it might be best to check into our hotel. Sadly we didn't find as good of a deal as the day before, but we found a decent price for your typical stay. 

We toted everything in and then headed to dinner.

For dinner BBQ!!!

I got a whole pound of ribs for dirt cheap. Not as impressive as the Flip Flop Grill, but still impressive. AJ was amazed with the ceiling fan.

It was a long night with this little guy. It doesn't work out too well to have him in the same room as us. If he can see us he won't go to sleep. So after I stayed up until 3 AJ woke up again at 6 and Joe was an angel and took him down to the lobby for breakfast and then out to the car. They waited there for two hours until AJ messed his diaper and everything to change it was in the hotel room. Guess it was time for me to get up.

We drove off to Richmond for the last part of our trip. We didn't have a whole lot we wanted to do there, but there was a diner that we had to hit before we went home. 

It was so packed. We had to wait a good 20 minutes for a table, but it was well worth it.

Joe got the signature Sailor Sandwich, which was amazing! This show sure knows how to pick 'em.

We spent the rest of our vacation at the Museum of Fine Arts. 

AJ saw his first movie at the 3D mummy Exhibit. It was pretty cool for us, but I think AJ got a little bored. 

We really enjoyed our vacation and look forward to the next one...whenever that may be. :)