Vacation to Virginia: Day 5- Busch Gardens

After 2 full days of history lessons, we decided to take a break and hit Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is Jen's all time favorite park. It has thrill rides, water rides, the best "melt in your mouth and all down your arm" cotton candy, entertaining shows, and animal exhibits. (Note: Jen has not been to Disney World, yet.)

When we first entered the park, we were welcomed by the scene of a European village.

We anxiously waited for the clock to strike 10am so we could enter the rest of the park...

the clock finally struck 10am and everyone made a mad dash for the rides.

First we rode the Loch Ness Monster. Jen promised Jacob that this would be an easy ride to break us in for the more serious coasters. She said it had a steep first drop, an exciting tunnel, and was an overall smooth ride. It's amazing what 15 years can do to a coaster...she was only correct about 2 of the 3 descriptions.



Then we rested a little and searched for our next coaster ride. We were determined to ride all 5 coasters but we carefully developed a strategy to slowly work our way up to the most extreme...The Griffon.

We stopped in Ireland...then we headed for the Big Bad Wolf (another one that Jen claimed was so smooth), The Alpengist (that truly felt like we were flying through the Alps), and Apollo's Chariot.

Apollo's Chariot was amazing! It was an extreme version of the Steel Eel and so much more. We flew through the sky, up, down, up, down, up, down, and so on, it was a pure adrenaline rush!

After several "are you sure we should do it?" conversations, we finally committed to ride The Griffon, the tallest dive coaster in North America. Jen reasoned that if we were going to ride it, we should ride in the 3rd row so that we would simply be looking out at the world rather than staring down to our death when the coaster dangles us over the ledge for what would feel like an eternitity. Yep, that's the coaster dangling people over the ledge after it climbed 205 feet! Then, after you finally get used to the hanging position you suddenly plummet to towards the ground at a 90 degree angle at 70 mi/hr. We only rode this one once.

We also rode some of the water rides: the Roman Rapids, a flume ride, and Escape from Pompeii. Now, we knew that Escape from Pompeii was based on the experience of people escaping from Mt Vesuvius but we didn't realize that the ride involved real flames! In the appearingly harmless tunnel portion of the ride we were surrounded by flames and falling structures. The flames were beside us and above us...we were definitely ready for the splash down after we escaped the heat of the flames.

We also rode a few 4-D rides: Corkscrew Hill & The Curse of Darkastle.

And we visited the animal exhibits. A rescued female bald eagle is above and a male bald eagle is below.

Blue and Gold Macaw

Rainbow Lorikeet

Kukaburra

Rescued Grey Wolf...doesn't he remind you of our "son"?

After a long, head spinning, action packed day, we called it quits early and headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, we knew that we would be able to return to the park the next evening to finalize our Busch Gardens experience.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 4.3 - Ghost Tour @ Williamsburg

After visiting the Victory Center, we had a pasta dinner then headed to Williamsburg for our Ghost tour. We arrived at Williamsburg early enough to stop for ice cream at Baskin Robins.

Jen enjoying her colonial ice cream cone

Then we began our "The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg Candlelight Tour." We selected this tour because it was sponsored by Barnes and Nobles and was based on the book The Ghosts of Williamsburg by L.B. Taylor. We enjoyed the tour because not only did the guide tell us ghost stories, but she also told us a few interesting historical facts.

Our guide

The haunted Wythe House

The haunted Randolph House

Statue of Lord Botetourt . Our Guide explained that he was flaunting his calve muscles because large calves indicated that a person attended many balls which meant that he was affluent.

Our guide also explained that many colonists could not read. As a result, signs were created based on symbols. This is the sign for Hartwell Perry's Tavern.

We enjoyed our tour however, we did not see any ghosts. I guess we just don't have that 6th sense. :) After our tour we headed back to the hotel to sleep so that we'd be prepared for our next day at Busch Gardens.

Vacation to Virginia: Day 4.2-Yorktown Victory Center

After lunch we walked to the Yorktown Victory Center. The walk was scenic but much hotter and longer than we had expected. Fortunately, San Antonio has "trained" us for the heat and humidity.

View of the York river on our walk to the Victory Center

We toured the museum and watched a historical video before we explored grounds of the Victory Center. The first site we visited was the Continental Army Encampment.

View of the General's tent from within the encampment

Jacob standing next to the General's desk

Desk in the Officer's quarters

We don't think the small latern provides the same lighting as the chandelier in the General's tent.

Bedding inside an Officer's tent

Bedding inside a soldier's tent...not quite as "comfortable" as the Officer's bed.

Soldiers' tents

Basic tent for wives and children

More spacious tent for wives and children

The cook in the kitchen. The barrel of white stuff is full of salt and meats.

The surgeon, his tools, and his medicines.

Soldier on guard duty.

Soldier firing musket.

After exploring the encampment, we moved on to the 1780s farm.

Garden on the farm

Jen looking through a window of a farm house

Jacob enjoying dinner in a farm house

Dried foods in the drying house

Colonist inside the drying house

Colonist in farm workshop

Jen doing her favorite colonial activity...grinding corn.

Jacob carrying buckets of water.

Thanksgiving dinner

After touring the farm, we left the Victory Center and headed back to our car.

A redoubt we saw on our walk back

View of the York River on our walk back

Vacation to Virginia: Day 4.1 Yorktown Battlefield

Day 4 began with a tour of the Yorktown battlefield. While waiting for the tour to begin...

we hung out with the troops...

Jacob and George (Washington) had a meeting of the minds...

we boarded a ship suspended inside the museum...

And then the moment Jacob "History Buff" Tijerina had been waiting for...we began our tour of the battlefield.

The guide started the tour by explaining the different cannons that had been used during the battle...

Then the guide lead us to a section on the actual battlefield and pointed out the redoubts and flags in the distance while she explained the key points that led to our success (with assistance from the French) in the battle.

Then, we took the battlefield car audio tour, which apparently works best with a cassette player that you can take with you as you exit the car so that you can stop and play the "cassette" at all of the appropriate times.

On the tour...

Jacob tried to break into a redoubt...

Jen hoped to be invited into the Moore house to witness the negotiations (see explanation of Moore House in picture below).

We ended our car tour by stopping at Surrender Field.

View of Surrender Field

Trophies of War

Enscription on a trophy


Cornwallis' surrender

After working up an appetite we headed to Yorktown for lunch at the Rivah Café where we shared 2 mouthwatering burgers.

Jen waiting for the burgers.