Trip Report - Skyline Drive, Williamsburg, VA

[Amy]

Hi everyone! Our summer vacation this year was a little bit nature, a little bit history and a little bit amusement park - we went to Virginia June 15-21 and visited Skyline Drive / Shenandoah National Park, Luray Caverns, Monticello, Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, Virginia. Here are some photos, mostly straight from the camera.

First, the National Park entrance sign:

We entered the Park from the north end at Front Royal. We stayed at Skyland Lodge on Skyline Drive; here's DH on our balcony enjoying the view. Unfortunately, there was a large tree right outside our room that prevented views of the valley; darn mother nature!

Here are some shots from various overlooks along Skyline Drive:

This is one of my favorite shots from the trip:

 

[Amy]

We hiked to one of many waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park.

A chipmunk finally sat still long enough for me to snap a photo!

The deer have gotten used to cars; this one took his/her time licking whatever it was from the middle of the road. (Side note: you'll notice that I took this photo from the back seat of my car - DS16 has his learner's permit and needed driving hours, so he did most of the driving on the trip; DS18 took over when he got tired. DH and I did absolutely NO driving at all - kind of nice for a change. The important thing is that my car made it thru the trip with no scratches or dents. )

Parts of the Appalachian Trail goes thru Shenandoah National Park, so we got to hike along it for a little ways:

This doesn't look like much of a photo, but it's one of those "personal" photos that you hang on to. There was a storm brewing in the valley; we stopped at one of the overlooks to see it. We actually stood there while this cloud moved up the mountain, over us and down the other side of the mountain. Totally fogged-in. Got back in the car, and not 2 min later, the skies opened up and it poured. An hour later, the sun was shining again.

 

[Amy]

Luray Caverns was nearby; my camera is a Canon S3 IS. The tour guide said that using "auto" on your digital camera would work; I tried it, and he was right! Kind of surprised me, since I expected to use my usual "Sports" mode that I normally use in low light. I kept going back the forth between Sports and Auto for some of these shots. I know I need to run them thru Noiseware, but wanted to share.

There was this neat reflecting pool - the water is only about 6 inches deep, but it was totally calm so you're seeing the ceiling reflected in the water:

And here's their famous organ - they use various stalactites throughout the cave to produce the sounds; the 2nd photo is the Bb stalactite - the tour guide said it was a Bb; DS18 has perfect pitch and said it was really a B, but how do you tune a stalactite?

Oops, there's a tornado warning - bad storm approaching us. I'm getting off the computer for a while. Post more photos later.

 

[WVDisGeek]

Amy, great pics!

I grew up in and around Williamsburg and Yorktown in Va. My parents live in Williamsburg now. Can't wait to see your pics from there and from Busch Gardens. Had season passes when I was younger and would ride the Loch Ness Monster for hours.... Looking forward to the pics.

Keep 'em coming!

 

[Suburbanmom]

Looking forward to more! I remember visiting Luray Caverns as a little girl. Very nice...love the reflecting pool.

 

[Suburbanmom]

oops...double post.

 

[Amy]

When we left Skyline Drive to head for Williamsburg, we stopped in Charlottesville to tour Monticello. Unfortunately, they don't allow photography inside the house (something about some of the antiques are on loan and they don't actually "own" them so they can't let you photograph them). I'm not as big of a history buff as DH is, but it was still fascinating to see some of the stuff. They had a set of elk antlers that Lewis & Clark brought back after their expedition to the Pacific; Jefferson's clock inside the front door (he used lead weights on a pulley to designate the days of the week and miscalculated so he cut a hole in the floor and Saturday is in the basement); some of his other neat inventions. What an intelligent man! Here are some outside shots:

The back of the nickel. The smallest aperture on my camera is f8; I'm sure this photo would look a lot better at f16 or f22. (The thumb belongs to my DS18 - the composition was his idea.)

The view from Jefferson's porch. Look in the center of the photo, there's a small clearing in the trees. Jefferson also designed the University of Virginia, so he built this porch so he could sit out and see the dome of the University.

 

[rcrk10]

DW and I went to Skyline drive back in November of 85 for our Honeymoon. 1st day consisted of the caverns and a quick trip down Skyline Drive (stayed in Harrisonburg first night), while we were on Skyline we made Reservations for the next night at one of the lodges on Skyline. Got up the next morning and started north along the base of the Mountain and the roads were all under water. Well if anyone remembers November of 85 there was alot of flooding all through the area. We then went over to Interstate and continued North to get onto Skyline Drive. Later that evening we found out that they closed down the mountain and suggested that no one go off the mountain unless it was an emergency. So we had to stay on the the mountain for two additional days, we did not complain . When the storm finally passed and the fog lifted, we continued our tour of Skyline

 

[Amy]

Unfortunately, I didn't take very many photos at Busch Gardens - I was too busy riding!

The Loch Ness Monster turns 30 years old this year; still one of the best coasters I've been on!

The Curse of DarKastle has been open a couple of years; it's similar to Spiderman at Universal, but Spiderman is much better. The Busch Gardens folks don't quite have all the special effects perfected, but it's worth riding once.

Germany, of course!

Italy and the Escape from Pompeii:

This is the newest coaster at BG, and the ONLY one I absolutely refused to go on: the Griffon. When you get to the top of the lift hill, they take you just a touch over the edge and let you hang there for a couple of seconds, facing straight down. Then it's zooming down at a 90º angle. Nope, not for me! DH and the boys said it really wasn't as bad as it looks, but I don't believe them.

While I was waiting for DH and the boys to ride the Griffon, I wandered over to check out Jack Hanna's wildlife area and took these:

A kookaburra (shot thru the fence):

And this guy, I just can't decide if I prefer the regal, majestic profile:

or the head-on, "I'm going to have you for dinner" look:

And for all my DIS Photography Board friends, this guy was outside the woodcarver's shop in New France:

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Great pictures, Amy! The eagle is beautiful!

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

small world. We were in Busch Gardens and Norfolk that same week you were. My DH and Son love Griffon.

 

[Amy]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys! Lori - didn't we have great weather in Virginia that week?

 

[Amy]

I have lots of Williamsburg photos, so look out! One day, we toured Williamsburg as a family; then since I'm not a fan of water parks, DH took the boys to Water Country and I spent another day in Williamsburg alone.

On our family day, we did Revolutionary City - a 2-hr re-enactment of various happenings in Williamsburg "back in the day" (as DS16 would say). They have diff. programs depending on what day you visit. When we were there, they read the Declaration of Independence on the Capitol steps; saw how the slaves were trying to decide what to do when the British offered them freedom if they'd join the British army, a woman trying to earn a living while her husband is off fighting, things like that.

The Capitol:

I was going to crop this one, but then I noticed the guy in the background and decided not to:

Benedict Arnold when the British took over the city:

We took a carriage ride along the streets of the city, nice and relaxing:

The folks on the Trip Advisor forums recommended seeing Dean Shostak's "Crystal Concert", and it was awesome! Benjamin Franklin invented the Glass Armonica (yep, that's how it's spelled) - you know how you fill glasses with water and hit them to play music? Franklin wanted an easier way to do it, so he put a bunch of diff. sized glass bowls on a spindle that uses a treadle to rotate them, you dip your fingers in water and run your fingers on the edge of the bowls to play music. It was neatest thing! Dean had video cameras set to show what he was doing on a screen on the stage.

Here's the Glass Armonica:

Quartz Glass English Handbells - I play in my church handbell choir, so I was particularly fascinated with these; I even got to ring one when the concert was over!

Glass Violin:

And this weird-looking thing is a Cristal Baschet - those crystal straw-looking things are almost like skinny piano keys:

Outside the theater where the Crystal Concert was held, they had a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence:

We had dinner at the King's Arms Tavern - yummy! Sorry, I didn't take any food photos - I was too busy devouring it!

Dinner entertainment:

 

[Amy]

More from Williamsburg:

Not the greatest photography, but this guy was so cute and moving so fast! He found this apple core (I swear I did NOT use the flash, but it sure looks like it):

Ran across the street with it:

and up a tree so no other squirrels could get it:

The governor's palace, outside and inside:

The woodworker:

The wigmaker - boy, this lady was so entertaining and informative! I could have spent an hour just listening to her.

 

[Amy]

Ok, I think this is the last installment.

General Washington reviewing the troops, "On to Yorktown!"

And I saved the best for last - this is one of my favorites:

Hope you enjoyed them!

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys! Lori - didn't we have great weather in Virginia that week?

It was so great. LOVED it. We even went to VA beach for a few hours after going on the tall ship in Norfolk. Here are a couple of my photos.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

Your Eagle shots are super. I like the I'm going to eat you for supper shot. Also want to ask, can I use your photo of Darkastle? our friends DS loved this ride and I would like to make him a copy of it. Also..... das festhaus.... CHICKEN DANCE anyone?

 

[YEKCIM]

WONDERFUL shots, Amy; what a good educational experience for your family. We did a very similar trip last October, primarily for the benefit of our almost-10-year-old daughter, who said she liked W'burg better than DisneyWorld. Her comment was, "Dad! This is a big history theme park!". LOVE Williamsburg and would go back in a minute if I had a chance. We had been to Monticello the previous year so included Mount Vernon this time...the new Visitors Center is AMAZING. We nearly crossed paths, I guess, as we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the week of June 16-20.

BTW, my favorite of the pictures you posted was the one of the nickel with Monticello in the background. IMO, the f/8 aperture was perfect since it gives a sense of depth to the photo. Very well executed shot, IMO.

Thank you for sharing these; makes me want to go back RIGHT NOW.

 

[jann1033]

never realized that was what was on the nickel rolleyes1 ) great idea! we went to booker t washington park right after monticello ...what a difference but very interesting to see how the "other 3/4" lived
great shots, I was just telling hub i want to go back to mts( been 2 yrs)..daughter is living in johnson city tenn for her work for a few months so may have to take the "scenic way" down to see her
that tornado slid by us to the south and they said it was heading to Pittsburgh, glad it didn't damage anything( or not that i heard)

 

[WVDisGeek]

Great Pics of Busch and Colonial Williamsburg. I can't believe I am that old....Loch Ness Monster turns 30...I was there for opening day and I was 10 going on 11!!! The Festhaus also brings back many memories...I can't tell you how many times I have sat in there, eating Black Forest Cake and listening to the band...great memories! Thanks!

The pics of Colonial Williamsburg really bring back memories. Of course I took it all for granted growing up in the area and got tired of seeing it anytime someone came to visit or we took a class trip. Now that I am older, I do appreciate the richness of the history available there. My parents still live there and we visit when we can. I will try to post some Christmas pictures in December when we visit. I have some now, but they were with our old P&S and the nighttime shots left a lot to be desired. Colonial Williamsburg is really pretty at Christmas time.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!