Our weekend in Williamsburg (May 28-31, 2004)

Author: loriandwill83103
Date of Trip: May 2004

Here’s a compilation of our opinions on our lodging, food and entertainment choices while on this quick weekend getaway.

Governor Spottswood Motel

Having been born a few decades too late for the Motor Courts and Mom & Pop motels, my husband and I make it a point to stay at a few of the remaining places when we travel. After having read the comments on this site and Trip Advisor, we felt confident in choosing the Governor Spottswood Motel. Despite a few negative remarks, the majority of the people that have stayed here and then reported back seemed to have liked it. I went with my gut feeling and booked our room for May 28-31, Memorial Day weekend. We requested a king size bed, but all they had at the time of booking was queens, which was fine. Upon checking in, we were upgraded to a king sized room.

Our room was very spacious and clean, with Thomasville furniture and a generous sized bathroom as well. The closet space was ample, the room had a mini fridge and the air conditioner was cold. I believe the bathroom had original tiles still (blue green & black) and the bathtub was a decent size with a shower as well.

Housekeeping did an excellent job replacing the linens daily, and when we had a small issue with the hot water (or lack thereof as the case was) the staff promptly fixed the boiler. We had hot water again within an hour. We saw no security issues as the door had 3 locks from what I can remember.

My husband and I are very unpretentious people and simple accommodations suit us fine. Being a military family, we’re forced to travel on a budget most of the time. Staying at places like the Governor Spottswood affords us the opportunity to do more while on vacation. We were quite pleased with our room and the location in proximity to everything else was wonderful. For $58.00 a night, even during a holiday weekend, you can’t beat that. We really appreciated having a quiet, clean room and friendly staff, which is something that often times is lacking at larger chain hotels. We would certainly recommend this motel to anyone and would stay there again should the need arise.

Water Country USA

On Saturday, May 29, my husband and I headed off to Water Country USA. We checked prior to leaving SC to see about military discounted tickets, but we were told that we could only buy a discounted ticket on base, and they weren’t even sure which bases had tickets. Obviously, the base here in Charleston, SC doesn’t have tickets for a water park in Virginia.

We arrived at the ticketing booths around 10:30am where the lines were already forming. We waited about 15 minutes to purchase our tickets and then headed off to the locker rooms to change into our swimsuits. Locker rentals run roughly $10/day. Just thought I’d throw that in there.

The morning started off rather chilly, at least by my standards. I didn’t want to ride any slides right away, so we headed off to the Hubba Hubba Highway. This really was a lot of fun…just floating along. We rode a few slides afterwards and then had a ridiculously overpriced lunch of hotdogs and fries. Add in a drink and the total was somewhere around $14. Typical of theme parks, I know, but I still find it atrocious to pay so much for mediocre food at best.

We had a rather pleasant day, and this was a decent water park. It is certainly not a Blizzard Beach a la Disney by any means, but a good quality place anyhow.

Pirates Cove Mini-Golf

After checking into our hotel, Willand I headed off to Pirates Cove to play some mini-golf. It’s located close to the Big K-Mart on the right side of the road as you come into town.

We found our way to the entrance, decided on which course we would play and headed off. This course is new and everything was in great condition. We played through a cave, under a waterfall, over a bridge. Very interesting course and if we had time, we would’ve played the other side as well.

Will and I make it a point to play mini-golf on all of our vacations. It’s a good way to spend an hour or so before or after dinner. They didn’t offer any sort of discount in the tourist magazines and we asked about a military discount at the counter, but they don’t offer that either. It’s kind of a habit to ask when we go to attractions, as I try to let other military families know of discounts when we find one. We enjoyed ourselves at Pirates Cove and would play here again!

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Mini Golf America

After dinner at Captain George’s, we went to Mini Golf America to work off some of that weight we’d just gained. This mini-golf was on the way back to the hotel, and we weren’t ready to turn in for the night just yet. I can’t remember exactly how much the tickets were, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t over $6 per adult. The have a coupon that’s good before 6pm, but we couldn’t use that since it was 8:30pm when we arrived.

This course is rather dated, in my opinion, but still a decent place to play. It isn’t filled with the usual things you find at a mini-golf place. It was a simple design, but the holes were still challenging. It was rather crowded, but I guess that’s to be expected since it was a Saturday night. The grounds were nicely landscaped and during the day you can see all of the turtles swimming around and sunning themselves. If you go at night, I highly suggest taking a can of Off! because the mosquitos were horrible. This mini-golf is kind of tucked away in the woods, so you can imagine the bugs we encountered. All in all, not a bad place to play… just wish we’d gone during the day.

The Jefferson

Our first night in Williamsburg found us tired and hungry. Luckily, the Jefferson Restaurant was directly across the street from our hotel. We took a gamble here, having seen several ads in the tourist magazines we picked up at the front desk. There was a coupon for a free shrimp cocktail or cup of peanut soup in several of the publications so we set out to grab what we thought would be a quick dinner.

After being seated, it took at least 10 minutes before our server came over to get our drink orders. I had a ham combo which included a crab cake, mashed potatoes and apple sauce. My husband had a ham and fried chicken combo. His chicken was undercooked and I’m quite surprised the chicken didn’t actually cluck at him. Needless to say, he didn’t eat the chicken and the server took that portion off of the check.

All in all, it took 1.5 hours at this restaurant as the service was wicked slow. I wish the experience had been better as I hate not being able to recommend a place, but as it stands, I wouldn’t return here again. The food was just so-so and combined with the extremely slow service, I wouldn’t waste my time going back. Our total, minus tax and tip, was somewhere around $35.00.

Captain George’s Seafood Restaurant

Our second night in Williamsburg found us starving (after a fun-filled day at Watercountry USA) so we decided on Captain George’s. We felt more confident in our decision when we arrived as the line was out the door… the food must be good, right?!

The wait was minimal, maybe 15 minutes, and the atmosphere was definitely worth it. I was amazed to walk into the dining area and see the 12-foot waterfall off to the left. Then I noticed the “stream” they have going through the entire restaurant. One wall was covered in a beach/lighthouse/shore motif which was beautiful. The thought put into the decor was incredible.

Our server was very prompt and took our drink orders right away. That was a welcome change from the night before at the Jefferson. We were obviously both having the buffet so we went ahead and got our food. I was very impressed with the selection and quality of the food. Coming from coastal South Carolina, I’m quite picky about seafood, but this stuff was great. The dessert bar had at least 15 different things to choose from as well.

Will and I stuffed ourselves to the point I wasn’t sure I could walk. I bought two t-shirts with the Captain George logo on them ($16 each) and our total for food was $65 before tip. That was a little steep since seafood around here is rather inexpensive, but the atmosphere was worth every penny.

In closing, I would highly recommend this place. The food is excellent and there is something to be said about having dinner in a place with a waterfall and stream. It might be a little pricey for large families, but the quality of the food is worth every penny, which is certainly not the case with many of the other places I’m sure!

Old Chickahominy House

Sunday morning Will and I headed off to the Old Chickahominy House. I read about this place online and knew I had to try it while there, and I am so glad I did.

We arrived rather early, I guess around 9:15am. The wait was only 5 minutes, which gave me time to look around the gift shop. The items in the shop were nice and it was a good blend of antique and new items.

We both ordered the two eggs, ham, and biscuit combos; mine with water, Will had coffee. The service was quick…our food was on the table within 10 minutes. Everything was so delicious, especially the biscuits.

Our total, minus tip was around $10, which was very reasonably priced. Out of all of our meals, I think I enjoyed this one the most. I’m not sure if it was the simplicity of the food or the fact that Will and I were tucked away in this small dining room that only had four tables. It was certainly a welcome change to be in a restaurant and actually be able to carry on a conversation with my husband. Niceand peaceful indeed. I would highly recommend this place, and can’t wait to get back there again.