When will you be here? Right now the humidity is really high, local elementary schools are canceling their feild days due to the heat index. Between now and mid September the heat/humidity will really bring you down if you aren't prepared for it.
Stay hydrated and take some time to sit in the shaded areas on the secondary streets of CW to rest and soak in the atmosphere. The best way to tour CW is to stroll leisurely around, talk to the interpreters, linger, and just take it slow. Since CW doesn't have a lot to "do" it takes a shift in perspective to really enjoy yourself. The Revolutionary City program is well put together, but takes two afternoons to see the whole thing. There is more to CW than what's on Duke of Glouster Street - take some side streets, explore. The Merchants Square area has some neat shops - the Cheese Shop is a local favorite for lunch, and Aromas is good for a breakfast bite. Saturday mornings from 8-12 there is a farmers market in Merchants Square.
We did a ghost tour for my oldest daughters (august) bday last year. It was a lot of fun. Cheesy at some points, but fun nonetheless. I think I booked it in June. We did a private tour, not the mass group tour. The price ended up being similar and since I was the only adult with 8 tween/teens, I felt better about being able to keep tack of them. It would have been difficult in a group of 50. The extra personal attention was a great bonus.
Jamestown Island is part of the NPS, it's a nice place for a picnic and stroll, the ruins are neat, the museum should be finished (I haven't been in 2 years). A 7 day pass here includes Yorktown Battlefeild. Yorktown Battlefeild has a small museum, the battlefeild and a few houses in town. Neither of these locations have food other than snack machines.
Jamestowne Settlement (across the street from Jamestown Island) has a recreation Powhatan village, Jamestowne, and replicas of the 3 ships they sailed in. The museum here is awesome. Jamestown Settlement has a cafe - it's pretty pricey for what it is. But there are a LOT of picnic tables outside. Yorktown Victory Center is owned by the same group and you can get a combo pass to both. Yorktown Victory Center is located near Yorktown Battlefield. There is a decent museum and a recreation military camp and revolution era farm. There is no cafe here, just snack machines and some picnic tables.
Also in Yorktown is the local beach and the Waterman's museum. Yorktown, Jamestown & Colonial Williamsburg are all conencted by the Colonial National Parkway - a very scenic and pretty drive that avoids the freeways and traffic of town.
We have season passes to Busch & Water Country. We don't love the parks, but it's nice to have something quick and easy to do. The parks are usually pretty crowded between lunch and 7ish in the summer. The Summer Nights Fantastic fireworks will be starting soon and there are always concerts on the weekends that are included with your admission. The park is beautiful, but the traffic flow at both is awful! Lots of places where everyone bottlenecks. Take it in small bites to really enjoy it.
One of our favorite places to eat in Williamsburg is on 60 - it's called Food For Thought. It's also popular with the locals. Someone else mentioned Peirces BBQ pit. I hear wonderful things about it, but I don't eat meat, so have never been.
Someone else mentioned the Virginia Living Muesum *near* Newport News. It's actually very much *in* Newport News and is a great little museum. It's about 30-45 minutes down the freeway from Williamsburg depending on where in W'burg you are. Someone else mentioned the Pottery. It's on the top end of Williamsburg and I haven't been up there recently, but they are knocking it down to rebuild it as a modern strip mall type place. I think it will lose some of its charm when they are done and I'm not sure what is open during renovation and what is not. Waller Mill Park that someone else mentioned is fun, Newport News Park is just a few miles from Busch and also rents canoe's & paddle boats and has lots of playgrounds and a nature center as well as camping. Tucked away in Queens Lake is New Quarter Park - great for hiking and biking. If you are staying somewhere that does not have a pool - there is a community pool at Quarter Path Park.
Enjoy your viist. I love living here.
