We headed back to the hotel to cool off. We met up with my parents and DS. DS had not gone down for a nap, so we all took a short nap before our evening festivities we bought tickets for the Independence Day Celebration which included a boxed picnic dinner and reserved up-front seating for a concert by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra followed by fireworks. Earlier in the day they were forecasting thunderstorms right around the time the picnic was to begin. So, they moved the picnic event indoors to one of the ballrooms in our hotel! We really lucked out since we didnt have to walk too far to get to it. The picnic box contained so much food including a very deliciously seasoned southern fried chicken and potato salad! During the dinner, they had a steady stream of entertainment on the stage including some colonial style singing, dancing, and story telling.
People were really packed in though and there were barely enough seats for everyone. DD decided to take this opportunity to lay down, curl up in a ball, and take a short nap on her chair.
After dinner, we headed out to the Palace Green in front of the Governors Palace to check in at the reserved seating area. We arrived early enough to grab a good seat near the center aisle. We had glow sticks and my trusty ol iPad to keep the kids entertained while waiting. Then from the distance, we started hearing the sounds of the Fife and Drums Marching Band approaching us. They marched their way down to the front and performed for about 15 minutes. Absolutely loved it! Really puts a nice historical twist to the whole evening.
They were followed by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra who played for 90 minutes with all the usual outdoor concert pieces including a couple of John Williams movie music and capped it off with a beautiful rendition of God Bless America and the 1812 Overture.
I was curious as to whether the kids would be able to sit through the whole concert without getting restless. They loved it. The either sat on our laps or on their seats and watched and listened very intently. Earlier in the day, I had bought them each a small Star Spangled Banner to wave. They were waving the flags in rhythm to the music. When the orchestra played a medley of military anthems, DS was standing on his chair, waving his flag, and marching his feet!
As they were completing the 1812 Overture, the fireworks started with the Palace as the foreground. It was very well done. No music accompaniment but it was beautifully put together.
As soon as the fireworks ended, the Fife/Drums marching band showed up again, this time accompanied by men leading them with torches. It was such an awesome scene as they marched down and a dozens of people trailing them. Unfortunately, I couldnt capture this on my camera because I had already packed everything up and had DS in my arms. Once they passed through, we took a 10 minute stroll back to our rooms. This had to be THE easiest getaway from a 4th of July Fireworks for us EVER. No crowds of pedestrians. And as we walked back to our hotel, we saw all of the cars log jammed and barely moving in the streets I was very glad we decided to spend the night here after the fireworks.
The next morning, we slept in a little. Had the breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant. Then decided to give it another go touring the Historic Area. It was already 89 degrees when we stepped out of the hotel around 10am. We first tried touring Peyton Randolphs house.
Between the wait time and the actual tour, this ended up taking a full hour. While we were waiting for the tour to start, we saw several horse driven carriages make their way down the street.
Maybe next time we are down here again and when its cooler, we would think about trying it. But, it just seemed a little too hot to be trying this out. The tour itself was interesting, but DSs attention span began to give out near the end of the tour which was expected for a 2 year old.
My parents and the kids returned to the hotel lobby the kids ended up playing with some of the craft materials they had set up in the lobby area. DW and I decided we wanted to stroll all the way down to the Capitol building. On our way there, we crossed into the Revolutionary City boundaries.
Within this area, they re-enact some scripted scenes that tell a story over two days of how revolt began. We came across one such re-enactment thought the actors/actresses were excellent and very realistic.
We made our way to the front of the Capitol.
Although I wanted to go in, this also required waiting and entering as a tour group which meant it would take another hour, so we decided to pass. And that was our last stop for this trip. We returned to the hotel, loaded up our cars, and returned home to DC. The first hour of driving was challenge as we had to stop twice for bathroom breaks and lunch for the kids. It took us 90 minutes to go 30 miles!
Had a blast and we may turn this into a family tradition for future 4th of Julys as long as we live in the DC area. I would also like to return back during the fall and really delve into the Historic Area, especially the Revolutionary City.
But there's probably a hostel around there somewhere. Or you can always show up at someone's door and say you used to live there and would like to spend the night in your old room. That would be cheap. Kinda creepy too, but cheap 
