For Christmas 2013, we decided to stay in Virginia and do our own thing. Chris only had the 24th and 25th off of work, so we took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. In my family, we have a tradition of making homemade pizza on Christmas Eve for dinner. This tradition started in 1985 when my family lived in North Carolina. My parents had planned a trip to Williamsburg over Christmas that year, but a snowstorm closed the highway, and they weren't able to go. With nothing in the house for dinner and all of the stores closed for Christmas, my dad made a pizza with a Hickory Farms box of sausages and cheeses. My mom tells me they still never rescheduled that trip to Williamsburg, so naturally, that was my first thought when Chris and I were deciding on someplace close to go for his couple of days off.
We thought we were going just for Christmas Eve, and then found out they were open on Christmas Day as well! We ended up staying overnight and seeing the town both days. It was really cute and a lot of fun.
It is a working farming town set in 1774, and it's not only a tourist attraction, these people are actually working hard still on Christmas Eve!
Logan was the most excited when he got to get out of the stroller and walk around, and when he saw animals. He really loves horses and dogs!
We did finally tucker him out though...
This is the Governor's Palace, and pictures from the tours inside of the Palace, so beautiful!
The Courthouse and the famous "fake smile" from Logan.
The best part about being there on Christmas Eve was the tree lighting ceremony. There was a parade of fifes and drums playing Christmas songs and cannons going off. Then, all 2,000 people attending gathered around the courthouse while someone read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. A woman led us all in singing Christmas carols together and lighting candles, and then the tree was lit. It was perfect for getting us in the Christmas spirit.
My favorite part of being there on Christmas, was seeing an actor portray Patrick Henry and take questions from the audience. He was very authentic, and it was so interesting to hear him speak about decisions that were made back then that completely effect how this country is run today.
A nice surprise ending to our trip was finding out that we weren't very far from our friends Ben and Nicole who live in Virginia Beach. They were very gracious and let us join them for Christmas dinner. Logan had a lot of fun playing with their son Joe and their dog Chloe. Thanks again guys!
All in all, we had a great Christmas. We really enjoyed doing something different and starting our own family traditions this year. We did finally open presents when we got home, thank you to our wonderful family's! Logan is already enjoying his presents especially. We hope everyone had a great Christmas as well!!
No comments:
Post a Comment