williamsburg Archives - 2bearbear Singapore Travel Blog: Travel | Stay

To learn more about the history of USA, look no further than a visit to Colonial Williamsburg.

Kate and I looked upon this trip with much anticipation because we were told that this is a town re-constructed to be like that during Colonial times. We were also told that not only the structures were colonial, even the actors in Colonial Williamsburg dressed as a person during those times. So we were fascinated to just take a step back in time and history into Colonial times through Colonial Williamsburg. Actually, towns like these pretty much reminded us about the Village by M Night Shyamalan. Cool!

We parked our car at the designated car park and bought our tickets at the ticketing counter. At the entrance, there was a huge 3-D map of the entire Colonial Williamsburg!

Pictures of what you would be expecting at Colonial Williamsburg.

Collage of scenes at Colonial Williamsburg

As we proceeded to the town, there were little milestones on the floor that leads you into thinking that you have been magically transported back in time….

Away from 21st Century... — Away from 21st Century…

Famous Quotes of USA Nation Makers along the way

J F Kennedy "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" — J F Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”

After a short walk, we “magically” arrived at Colonial Williamsburg

Towards The Town Hall in Colonial Williamsburg

Authentic Horse-drawn Carriage Colonial Williamsburg

We first took a short visit to the armoury to see all the weapons stored there. The armskote was telling a story about how they prepared themselves for the battle. It really sounded as if you were right there getting ready for the revolution!

We took out the programme sheet and headed for the first “show”

Programme sheet at Colonial Williamsburg

It was very exciting to be part of the show! The actors addressed all the audience as if they were villagers during the colonial times…

Addressing the "Villagers" at Colonial Williamsburg — Addressing the “Villagers” at Colonial Williamsburg

Arrival with music at Colonial Williamsburg

When the “traitor” spoke, actors that were planted in the audience jeered and all the audience jeered along as well!

Jeering at the "Traitor" at Colonial Williamsburg — Jeering at the “Traitor” at Colonial Williamsburg

A pastor sharing during the Colonial times and the imminent battle…

And the Hero is none other than General George Washington himself

General George Washington addressing the Villagers at Colonial Williamsburg

After all that drama and fantastic show put up by the actors of Colonial Williamsburg (really inspiring speech from Washington), we headed to the “local bakery”!

Products at the local bakery @ Colonial Williamsburg

As it was right after the show, everyone headed out for lunch. Good thing Kate and I targetted the bakery early and we arrived amongst the first at the queue (sigh…kiasu Singaporean nature). Here, we enjoyed the chocolate chip cookie, ginger bread as well as the root beer!

Chocolate Chip Cookie, Root Beer, Ginger Bread of Bakery @ Colonial Williamsburg

But Kate forgot to ask to open the root beer, so we had to queue again to get it opened….ahh…thirst quencher…

Thereafter, we took a short walk around the rest of the area. There are buses that take you from one place to another, but you can also choose to walk. We also realised that there are lodges where you can totally immerse yourself in colonial history!

High class eating places at the Market Square of Colonial Williamsburg

All in all, we totally enjoyed ourselves. The actors immersed in their roles and that brought the characters to life, bringing/ transporting the audience back in time!

P.S. We visited Philadelphia later and learnt that the declaration of independence was actually completed on 2 July! There were things such as the abolishment of slavery and tyranny of the king included in the first draft, therefore it took 2 more days for refinement. Hence, the 4th of July. Picked this piece of information from the tour guide at the independence hall! Interesting!

P.S.S After we returned the car this particular weekend, we had a bad encounter at the 7-11. We were told by the cashier that 2 hotdogs were on offer at $2.50 but when she keyed into the cashier, we were charged $2.50 per hot dog! Sigh…so we piled on the cheese, radish and onions to make our hotdogs more hua…

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One of the most memorable quotes we heard during this trip was when one of the kids shouted

“This is the best summer ever!”. The kid’s not wrong. In fact he’s absolutely right and Busch Gardens is in fact voted as one of the best amusement park in the world! And here’s the reason why…

1. Huge. The whole place is huge! It has separated itself into different regions using names of different countries. Hence, as you enter a “different country” you will see a change in the “theme”. These countries include Germany, France, Italy, Scotland, England and Ireland.

2. Wild Crazy Exciting Rides! There is no shortfall of rollercoasters at this amusement park. Boasting some of the wildest rides, even the names of these rides at Busch Gardens makes one stand in awe. The famous rides include Alpengeist, Loch Ness Monster and Griffon. If you want some wet rides, head for the Roman Rapids and Escape from Pompeii at Italy.

3. Fun for the whole family There is pretty much something for everyone here at Busch Gardens. For the kids, there’s Sesame Street Forest of Fun where you can meet all your favourite Sesame Street characters such as Big Bird, Ernie, Bert and Elmo. For those who fear the rides, there are performances all over the park. As Kate has some fear for the rides, we pretty much covered all of the performances in Busch Gardens. As for food, you can savour all the different delicacies from the different countries. So there’s really pretty much something for everyone here at Busch Gardens.

As Kate and I drove for our weekend getaway at Busch Gardens, we pretty much anticipated it with excitement because of the excellent reviews from our friends. As we arrived at Busch Gardens, we pretty much anticipated free parking. However, to our dismay, the parking costs $13USD per day!

The price of the admission tickets to Busch Gardens was about $65USD per adult. This translates to about $80 SGD but is totally worth it and you will see why.

The queue was relatively short as we timed our arrival to the opening of the park.

We ventured into one of the many souvenir shops and saw the miniature of the Griffon roller coaster ride.

Kate and I headed first to the Sesame Street Forest of Fun re-live our childhood memories!

Sesame Street Forest of Fun @ Busch Gardens

We were just in time for the performance by the Sesame Street Characters and we even got to have photos with Big Bird and Ernie.

Sesame Characters performing at Forest of Fun Busch Gardens

As we’re afraid of rides with “too much excitement”, we took the Elmo “mini giant drop” (See the Elmo King in the background) as well as the Oscar wormy ride, sort of like a Viking for the kids…

The most exciting ride we had for the day was Escape from Pompeii. It’s actually like a log ride that brings you through the ruins of pompeii (complete with fire and everything). Then as you finally “break out” of the darkness and as the window panel opens, you see light but you’ll also be able to see the far distance, there’s when you know you’re dropping down!!!

Dropping down from the Escape from Pompeii

To save on the walking, Kate and I decided to cover the park via the “skytrain” which circles round the whole park. There’s even a river in the middle of the park!

All aboard for the Train ride round Busch Gardens

La Belle Maison in "France" as seen from the Train — La Belle Maison in “France” as seen from the Train

Escape from Pompeii as seen from the Train

After circling round the park within 20 minutes, we decided to have an early lunch at “Germany” where Kate and I shared the Das Alpine sandwich which was huge! The sweet tea was not that fantastic though. Both Kate and I thought that the portion was huge enough to share as we noticed many tables not being able to finish their food. So share and dont waste food!! There was also live performances put up by the actors similar to that of Oktoberfest!

Inside Das Festhaus in "Germany" — Inside Das Festhaus in “Germany”

The performance was really professional. The musicians played really well and brought the audience alive with its lively music. The performers were able to do traditional Bavarian dances and some acrobatics that really engaged the audience. Of course the singers were great as well.

As we headed out of the festival house, we saw the haunted house – Curse of the Darkastle!

There was also a Carousel as well as a “Land of the Dragons” in “Germany”

Carousel in "Germany" — Carousel in “Germany”

We then headed to “Ireland” where we caught a musical as well as some street Buskers

Intricately designed structures at Busch Gardens

Song and Dance at "Ireland" — Song and Dance at “Ireland”

Again, the performance was excellent. The singers and dancers did really well. Particularly enjoyed the tap dancing portion 🙂

In order to cool off, Kate and I decided to head to “Italy” for the Roman Rapids. Unfortunately, we cant show pictures of the ride as the ride was really wet and drenched our whole body. But it was really refreshing especially when the weather was 35 degrees celcius!

Then we headed for the last performance of the day at Teatro Di San Marco and saw a vibrant performance of singing and well synchronised dancing.

Well Choreographed and Synchronised Movements

However, what really made the tickets worth it was because in the summer, 2 things happens. It is called Illuminights because there was fireworks display as the amusement park closes. In addition, there would be guest performers and this week, we happen to catch The Bangles!!

It was really nice to reminisence in hits such as Manic Monday and Eternal Flame. The Bangles still looked like there’re in their 30s eventhough quick calculations tell us they should be more like in their 50s.

Overall, Kate and I thoroughly enjoyed the day and given the chance again, we would definitely head to Busch Gardens and discover it all over again. Perhaps this time we would conquer Alpengeist , Loch Ness Monster and Griffon! 🙂

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