Williamsburg, VA

Today we fly home.

I am not sure what we were expecting from Williamsburg, VA; but I'm confidant it wasn't a piece of property.

Driving from Washington, in a rented Jeep Liberty, most disturbing was the lack of radio stations - one gospel sounding source all the way from D.C.. I prefer the silence.

He said he's never driven in rain comparable to the deluge we surrived on Wednesday night. Tense behind the wheel, he was so calm in dealing with hysterical me. What a man.

I knew he was serious when he finally pulled over to an unscheduled and unecessary gas station refuge. There we were, huddled with other intelligent travelers, off of the highway and under the awning provided by Exxon, when the lights went out everywhere. Creepy.

A solid 45 minutes later, we loaded back into the kilo-white Liberty, and finished the last leg of the journey to Williamsburg. Anxious to explore the first hotel rated under three-stars we've ever patroned, the landscape was hopeful as it was identical to the photo provided by Expedia.

Entering our room confirmed this was the last >3Star establishment we would patron. Blah.

Leaving after noon the following day, we arrived in Colonial Williamsburg - referred to by the locals as "CW". Tickets to enter the red buildings on the map, as we were actually entering a public park, totaled approximately $80.00. Discovering the park closed in four hours, we were unsure if we could get our monies worth.

The first of our stops was a colonial civil courthouse, we waited in line outside for about twenty minutes. It was an interactive recreation of three civil court cases: 1. a runaway girl 2. a parishioner's attendance issue 3. a gambling accusation. It was interesting and we laughed - twice.

Next, we spent $25.00 on the worst cheeseburgers possible - my onion was growing fur. Yack!

Finally, we entered the capital. A beautiful original building with many original furnishings. 3pm - 2 hours later, we're done. Now what?

About 12 miles from our hotel we visited the local mall. One of the jewelry stores was having a diamond show and we were fortunate enough to meet Keith - an expert in gemstones. He educated us on Rubies, which is my hopeful stone for my engagement ring. So perhaps, the trip was turning around!

The following day we drove to Norfolk, VA and visited the Naval Aquatic Museum - Nauticus. This was enjoyable. I love watching him see new things for the first time; it's one of my passions. My respect for the military has once again been ingrained.

Later that night we found a pub/restaurant/movie theatre. We watched Land of the Lost, with Will Ferrell while eating salads and cheesestakes. His favorite? The 3 pint souvenir beer mugs. The movie? Wait for video.

Yesterday... ahhh yesterday. We started a little earlier than usual and headed over to the Gazebo - one of the 300 Pancake & Waffle Houses seen since arriving. We decided to puff before entering and that's where we were approached by Mandy.

Mandy was very personable and began her approach by asking if we had plans to visit Bush Gardens. We did - that day, in fact. Mandy told us how she could guarantee free entrance ($60.00) into the park if we would visit her company's time share. We obliged, but first we both had appointments to get pedicures. Yay, he pedied!

Upon arrival, Rod - identifiable as #1 salesman, was obviously assigned to us because of our checkmark next to the $76,000 + income bracket box. Ooops.

We told him lunch wasn't necessary, but it was obviously part of the pitch. Both men at the table ordered dessert... I munched on both... and we talked about ownership. Virginia has 11 yellow weeks; the rest red. What does that mean? Only 11 weeks of the year are considered non-peak season, as opposed to the beach where its seasonal. Williamsburg also has a moratorium on hotel and resort building - one can be built if the other is torn down. Supply & Demand graphs aren't hard to interpret... supply will always be on our side.

We bought. We are owners. One week of the year, we are free to stay, rent, or trade our piece of Virginia. He is sooooo excited. Mission accomplished.

Perhaps, more later.