Many months ago my parents gave us the generous gift of a week in a Marriott timeshare. We perused our options and decided to go with Marriott’s Manor Club at Ford’s Colony. We picked it for a number of reasons but, mainly, because it was close enough to home that we could drive and, if there was an emergency with our then-elderly dog, we’d be able to get back home quickly. Lance opted to stay home and hold down the fort so Art and I had a vacation just the two of us. I tried to keep notes about what we did on trip so that I’d be able to make a recap post.
Friday
We arrived on Friday and, after getting all checked in, we unpacked and investigated our fantastic suite. The most fantastic part of the suite was the gas fireplace. We had the living room over 80*F a few times and had to open the patio door to be able to sleep! It was very warm and cozy. In warmer weather, we could have used the patio for breakfasting, but it wasn’t quite nice enough outside for that.
We headed out to Pierce’s for dinner and then spent time in the evening discussing our plans for the week. We hadn’t made any plans prior to the trip, so we sort of played it by ear based on the weather forecast.
Saturday
Since it was the first day of our vacation, we slept in a bit. Always important when you’re on holiday! Then we headed over to the concierge to flesh out some of our plans and we scheduled massages for Monday, the day that it was supposed to rain.
We headed went to Food for Thought on the way to spending our day in Colonial Williamsburg. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and in the 60s, but there weren’t many tourists there due to the time of the year. As a result, not only was it great weather for walking around, but we had many of the tradespeople to ourselves. We chatted with the cooper, the cabinetmaker, and many others. We were there for the entire day up until dinner, which we had at Fat Canary. On the way back to base camp, we stopped by Trader Joes for some breakfast supplies.
Sunday
The weather was still gorgeous on Sunday, so we ventured back to Colonial Williamsburg for another day. The way the schedule works is that not all of the shops are open every day, so you definitely need to spend more than one day in the town if you want to see everything. We stopped by the Williamsburg Inn for breakfast and Chowning’s for lunch. Our favorite tradesperson was the joiner, we chatted with them for at least an hour. We also got to stop by the bakery and talk with a few of the street “performers.“ After leaving the town for the day, we found our way to Bangkok Garden for dinner. In the evening we relaxed with some Mythbusters and board games. We had a goal of one board game a night, but ended up with only three.
Monday
We had a breakfast of eggs and toast in the suite and then, in trying to make dinner reservations, we found out that Blue Talon was closed for the entire week. This let us go to Nawab instead, so we weren’t upset at all. It was a rainy, gross day, so this was the day we spent at the spa getting massages. Apparently you’re supposed to do this every three months… but we’re lucky if we get them every three years. It’s always nice to spoil yourself if you have the option. After a relaxing day at base camp, we had our amazing dinner at Nawab.
Tuesday
We had breakfast in our room again before heading over to Colonial Williamsburg. We wandered around a bit, but our main goal was the shopping district. We bought a ridiculous number of nuts at the Peanut Shop. I’m embarrassed to say what all we got, since I’m pretty sure we got nuts for the next few years. Very crazy, the place is amazing and you can taste test everything. We went to The Cheese Shop to pick up our sandwiches and cheese plate for lunch and then it was back to the suite for board games before dinner at Giuseppe’s. This was a very mellow and relaxing day. We were feeling mellow as our vacation was winding down.
Wednesday
On our last full day of vacation we had breakfast in the room before heading over to Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestown. The former is run by the Department of Education and the latter is run by the National Park Service. Both were interesting in their own way, but I was most impressed by the Archaerarium at Historic Jamestowne. It has some very fascinating artifacts and I was impressed by the facial reconstruction information. We picked up lunch at the Dale House Café and headed back to the base camp for our first game of Arkham Horror. It’s a great game that I think will take a bit of getting the hang of but, once we do, I predict many enjoyable times to come. (We also tried Tsuro and Hive during the week. Both are also good games.) We tore ourselves away long enough to go to Second St for dinner. In the dark, in the rain.
Thursday
Sadly we had to head home on Thursday since I had to be in Orlando for an event on Friday. We had breakfast in the room, finishing off our eggs and toast, before packing up and getting on the road.
This was truly a great trip. Art and I had a lovely time together, ate lots of clementines, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I’m glad I got to introduce Art to Colonial Williamsburg, a place I’d visited many times in my youth but that he had never seen. I totally understand why my parents go here every January for a long weekend vacation. I’d love to go back at some point in the future. I’m grateful that our trip was as unplanned as it was and that Art let me go crazy with the restaurant research and choosing.
A++, would visit again.