Williamsburg travelogue, Day 1.
Nov. 27th, 2008 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaHaving a wonderful time. We got up early this morning and drove on sparsely-populated highways (yay for traveling on Thanksgiving itself) to Williamsburg VA. It took about three and a half hours. We had a beautiful sunny day, and it got steadily warmer as we traveled south until, in Williamsburg, we had no need for coats.
We arrived about an hour before our 12:15pm Thanksgiving dinner reservation. We passed the hotel on the way to the restaurant, and decided to stop by to see if, by chance, our room happened to be ready. And it was! So we were able to move our things into the hotel instead of just cooling our heels, which was nice. Our room is lovely. They call it a suite, although there isn't a proper door between the bedroom and the living area, just an archway. It's very large, bright, clean, and attractive - no giant-cabbage-rose bedspreads or anything. The living area has a work desk with free internet, a couch and easy chair, and a kitchenette with refrigerator, freezer, microwave, and sink. There's plenty of room to spread out our things and feel uncrowded, and I appreciate not having to be right on top of Alex while she falls asleep - I'm out of sight, but not out of earshot, which is perfect. I'm kind of amazed that we're paying $89 a night, breakfast included.
So we settled in, changed our clothes, and went down the road to the Williamsburg Hospitality House for their Thanksgiving buffet. Which was wow. They had every conceivable dish. A cold table with steamed shrimp, smoked scallops, cold steamed oysters (I think; I'm not eating them during pregnancy so I didn't investigate), and two kinds of smoked salmon. A carvery with turkey, ham, and an absolutely luscious roast beef, plus various sauces. Side dishes ranging from big skin-on wedges of roasted acorn squash to cornbread stuffing to steamed broccoli to various composed salads. Squash soup and crab and corn bisque. Six kinds of breads. A well-stocked cheese board. Platters of fresh fruits. I was interested to notice that you could, if you chose, have an utterly traditional and unadventuresome standard Thanksgiving meal... or you could have a more gourmet one. So there was a pan of mashed potatoes and a pan of bleu cheese potatoes au gratin. Mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter, or roasted sweet potatoes with apples and butternut squash. Pumpkin pie tartlets, or - oh my God - gingerbread pudding with molasses creme anglaise. (Which I had with a mug of spiced apple cider, yum.)
So the food was amazing, and the atmosphere was cheerful and child-friendly. (Someone actually came over partway through the meal and murmured to me, "Your daughter is not only beautiful, but she's so well-mannered!") And, despite the fact that Alex dined almost exclusively from the cold seafood platters, her meal was free. (We sure appreciated that.) It was a lovely Thanksgiving - I may never cook a holiday meal again, if that's what I can expect from a hotel meal.
We came back to our own hotel. Michael crashed into a sort of a meat coma, while Alex and I put on our swimsuits (thank God for lycra, is all I have to say) and went down to the uncrowded indoor pool. Alex, poor deprived child, had never seen an indoor swimming pool before - so she was very excited. She stayed in the water for almost two hours. Then I wrapped her up in towels and we read a chapter of Ramona and Her Father in the poolside loungers.
Came back to the room, woke Michael, hung out and played for a while, went out in search of a restaurant that was open for dinner on Thanksgiving and yet not serving Thanksgiving Dinner. We found a nice, although not particularly inexpensive, Italian place which had yummy food and was also friendly and child-welcoming. (For example, rather than making us order a kids' meal of pasta, they brought us an extra plate so Alex could eat the side of spaghetti that came with my eggplant parmesan.)
Now I am hoping that Alex will go to sleep sometime in the next century. It's hard, in a new place. Especially with your parents in the same room, even if they are out of your line of vision. Tomorrow we'll head over to the historic area for the first time.
I am so happy that we decided to do this.
We arrived about an hour before our 12:15pm Thanksgiving dinner reservation. We passed the hotel on the way to the restaurant, and decided to stop by to see if, by chance, our room happened to be ready. And it was! So we were able to move our things into the hotel instead of just cooling our heels, which was nice. Our room is lovely. They call it a suite, although there isn't a proper door between the bedroom and the living area, just an archway. It's very large, bright, clean, and attractive - no giant-cabbage-rose bedspreads or anything. The living area has a work desk with free internet, a couch and easy chair, and a kitchenette with refrigerator, freezer, microwave, and sink. There's plenty of room to spread out our things and feel uncrowded, and I appreciate not having to be right on top of Alex while she falls asleep - I'm out of sight, but not out of earshot, which is perfect. I'm kind of amazed that we're paying $89 a night, breakfast included.
So we settled in, changed our clothes, and went down the road to the Williamsburg Hospitality House for their Thanksgiving buffet. Which was wow. They had every conceivable dish. A cold table with steamed shrimp, smoked scallops, cold steamed oysters (I think; I'm not eating them during pregnancy so I didn't investigate), and two kinds of smoked salmon. A carvery with turkey, ham, and an absolutely luscious roast beef, plus various sauces. Side dishes ranging from big skin-on wedges of roasted acorn squash to cornbread stuffing to steamed broccoli to various composed salads. Squash soup and crab and corn bisque. Six kinds of breads. A well-stocked cheese board. Platters of fresh fruits. I was interested to notice that you could, if you chose, have an utterly traditional and unadventuresome standard Thanksgiving meal... or you could have a more gourmet one. So there was a pan of mashed potatoes and a pan of bleu cheese potatoes au gratin. Mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter, or roasted sweet potatoes with apples and butternut squash. Pumpkin pie tartlets, or - oh my God - gingerbread pudding with molasses creme anglaise. (Which I had with a mug of spiced apple cider, yum.)
So the food was amazing, and the atmosphere was cheerful and child-friendly. (Someone actually came over partway through the meal and murmured to me, "Your daughter is not only beautiful, but she's so well-mannered!") And, despite the fact that Alex dined almost exclusively from the cold seafood platters, her meal was free. (We sure appreciated that.) It was a lovely Thanksgiving - I may never cook a holiday meal again, if that's what I can expect from a hotel meal.
We came back to our own hotel. Michael crashed into a sort of a meat coma, while Alex and I put on our swimsuits (thank God for lycra, is all I have to say) and went down to the uncrowded indoor pool. Alex, poor deprived child, had never seen an indoor swimming pool before - so she was very excited. She stayed in the water for almost two hours. Then I wrapped her up in towels and we read a chapter of Ramona and Her Father in the poolside loungers.
Came back to the room, woke Michael, hung out and played for a while, went out in search of a restaurant that was open for dinner on Thanksgiving and yet not serving Thanksgiving Dinner. We found a nice, although not particularly inexpensive, Italian place which had yummy food and was also friendly and child-welcoming. (For example, rather than making us order a kids' meal of pasta, they brought us an extra plate so Alex could eat the side of spaghetti that came with my eggplant parmesan.)
Now I am hoping that Alex will go to sleep sometime in the next century. It's hard, in a new place. Especially with your parents in the same room, even if they are out of your line of vision. Tomorrow we'll head over to the historic area for the first time.
I am so happy that we decided to do this.
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no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 01:55 am (UTC)For a couple of years, Suzi and I had Thanksgiving in hotels, because I was going to the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics annual conferences, which end the day before Thanksgiving -- so we'd both go, and take the following weekend as a holiday trip together. The first year was in Chicago, which was absolutely marvelous, and we found a similarly good hotel deal in a little 30-room boutique hotel, and ate several meals at their restaurant. They weren't as sumptuous as the one that you describe, but they were nonetheless remarkably tasty, especially Thanksgiving dinner.
The second year, we were in Tampa, which wasn't anywhere near as spectacular as Chicago at all, but still a pleasant weekend and again the hotel restaurant dinner was very tasty and the waitstaff especially friendly.
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Date: 2008-11-28 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 04:24 am (UTC)B
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Date: 2008-11-28 06:30 am (UTC)MKK
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Date: 2008-11-28 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 12:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 02:01 pm (UTC)One year, my family did a Disney cruise and Disneyworld trip on Thanksgiving. My mom said that it was the best Thanksgiving that she ever had. :-D
no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 03:30 pm (UTC)edit And if I'd read your comments before asking, I'd've not asked.
Enjoy yourselves!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 04:20 am (UTC)