Day 3: Our Wild Adventure...

We were up early for breakfast and then checked out of the B&B so we could hit the road. This day was our actual anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to play with wild animals and ride crazy roller coasters. There has to be some symbolism there...

The plans for this whole day were a last minute addition to our itinerary. I was researching other things for our trip when I saw that Busch Gardens was only 15 minutes from our B&B. We couldn't pass this up since it was so close. As I looked further into Busch Gardens, I discovered all sorts of "behind the scenes" tours you could book. By booking all three tours in a package, you became an “Ultimate Animal Insider”. So we arrived at Busch Gardens with a morning of back-to-back animal interaction tours booked and the title of Insider! It was so fun!!

Our first tour was “Animals Up-Close”. We followed our tour guide behind the gates of the amusement park and into the animal training and treatments area. We were told about how they train and about all of the different animals they had at the park. Then we got to meet some of them! It was a small tour group, so we got a lot of time with the animals and got to pet them all.

This is "Hook".

This is "Digger", an Armadillo from South America.

This is Penelope... I know she is a Possum but OH MY she was cute!!!

Baby Alligator named Fred.

Immediately after our first tour, we headed to the meeting spot for our second tour -  “Wolf Training Up-Close”. This ended up being one of the most interesting things we did all day! And as a bonus, we were the only people on the tour, so it was like our own private time with the trainers and the wolves. The wolves are still very much wild animals and are treated as predators. The training tactics they use with the beautiful animals was fascinating. They only use positive re-enforcement and never use the word “No”. We watched them interact (from a distance) and were amazed. The wolves still had their own agendas and sometimes they would stand their ground. However, eventually they would all follow the commands as given by the trainer. Then Brad and I were each given a command and hand gesture to instruct the wolves ourselves! We were taken up into the Trainer’s Box… this is a safe distance and separated by a canyon, but you are still eye-to-eye with these hauntingly beautiful animals! My command was “Up Stairs” and Brad’s command was “Ball”.

"Up stairs!"

Following my command!

"Ball!" The Wolf jumped up and touched his nose to the ball seen by him.

Posing for pictures

 We must be good Trainers because they obeyed and we threw them a treat! It was SO COOL!

 

Our final tour was “Clydesdales & Collies Up-Close”. Since this is Busch Gardens (as in Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co), they must have Clydesdales!! It was just an added bonus that they also had Border Collies! The Collie we met was named Katie and she was still a young trainee. She would do some tricks and follow commands… that was until the Frisbee came out! Then it was all about showing off. She was very cute. We learned a lot about the incredible (and huge) horses. We met Eddie who was beautiful and gentle. He loved to nuzzled with the trainer as she talked and was very patient as we all petted him and took pictures.

Katie chasing the frisbee.

Eddie wanting to nuzzle the trainer.

Then they let some sheep out so we could feed them. Usually they are practice subjects for the Border Collie to learn herding. So, I am sure they enjoyed a little loving... and the lettuce leaves didn't hurt our cause either!

Once our “Animal Insider” morning was over, we took some time to grab lunch and explore the rest of the park. We went to several animal shows and rode the train around the entire park.

"Yay for trains!!"

We got to see Bald Eagles!

They have 3 of them - all rescues. Sadly their injuries are such that they can't return to the outside world. However, it means they are well taken care of there and we got to enjoy them!

Eagles are a favorite animal of Brad's. So this was very exciting!

A beautiful Spotted Owl at a show.

 

Can you see the wolves?

A cute show called "Pet Shenanigans". Cats and dogs did tricks, even mice and pigs too!

We also stopped by the Aviary which we thoroughly enjoyed!! You can buy a small cup of nectar to feed the birds and they are NOT shy!! Within seconds, we were covered by eager and BEAUTIFUL birds. At one point I even had one on my head!!

Before we knew it, the day was coming to an end. However, we couldn’t leave without riding a few rides. It was late enough that we were sure our lunch had settled… so I set my sight on the craziest ride we had seen all day. It is called the Griffon. It caught our eye earlier in the day because there is one point in the ride that it is a straight drop down and just to torture you a bit, the ride stops at the top of the drop and just leaves you hanging there for a few seconds, then it releases you to plunge to your death! IT.WAS.AWESOME. For two old folks, we screamed our heads off with all the kids next to us and had a blast. If the line hadn’t been so long, I would have done it again and again. We did one more ride called the Alpengeist. We had a blast.
 

Exhausted and hungry, we left the park so we could get on the road. It was already 7PM and we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us to get to Brad’s Uncle and Aunt’s house in Ashburn, VA. It was such a great day and for a couple that enjoys adventure, it was a very fitting way to celebrate our first anniversary!!

Day 2: Colonial Times to Civil War Years...

The next day we were up early for a yummy breakfast at our B&B and ready to see some Colonial sights! This will be a VERY picture-heavy post as we saw lots and lots of things in this jam-packed day. We also squeezed in a carriage ride, our anniversary dinner and a night program. So, here we go!

First we made a stop at the coffee shop so I could get something they were famous for… a Chocolate Chai. OH MY it was good. Then a funny thing happened as we were leaving… I saw someone I knew – all the way in Virginia!! I was shocked to see a familiar face! Leigh and I worked at Samsung together many moons ago. Our tight group of friends from there hung out for a long time after we had all left that insane workplace. Since then, Leigh has moved to Richmond and is married to her longtime boyfriend! Richmond is still a couple of hours from Williamsburg, so it was a TOTAL fluke that they had come to the area for a weekend outing. It was so random and unexpected!!

 

So, after Leigh and I caught up for a few minutes, Brad and I ventured out. We toured the entire Colonial area. This included the Magazine, the Governor’s Palace, every store front, all the trades (Blacksmith, Carpenter, Silversmith, etc.), the Courthouse and the Jail.

Sweet, sleepy lamb.

Armory Shop

Watch out!

Beautiful gardens at the Governor's Palace

Gates of the Palace

Cook preparing dinner at the Palace.

I can still see you Brad!

Jail cell where members of Blackbeard's crew were held before they were hung.

After a bite to eat for lunch, we had a date planned… with a horse and carriage!! It is a short trip around the area but these tickets are tough to get and sell out every day. We had made sure to get our ticket first thing that morning and our designated time was 2PM. It was a nice break for our tired feet. 

After our ride, we saw more things and watched some of the daily re-enactment they put on. 

The Silversmith's Shop

Show me your guns!!

Storytelling in the Magazine Building

Goods at a store.

They made change in a very interesting way... by cutting up large coins!

Blacksmith Shop

The Red Coats coming to clear the streets.

Getting directions from one of the Locals.

I made Brad take this picture... I found it VERY funny that a realistic Colonial town has the newest light bulbs!

Carpenter's Shop

We were pooped, so we headed back to the B&B and took a nap. Then we headed out for a super fancy dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Even though our anniversary was actually the next day, our plans for that day were more of the “scream your head off on a roller coaster type”. So, we “observed” the occasion while in Williamsburg at an awesome restaurant called Berret’s.

Horrible picture - but it is the only one of our dinner.

After having a yummy dinner and topping it off with a Pumpkin Crème Brulee, we jumped on the bus back to the Colonial area. We don’t have any pictures of what we did next, but trust me that it was AWESOME!

Our night program was a Walking Tour called “Women of the Civil War”. I have never done anything like this and I LOVED how they did it. With a tour guide, our group walked through the Colonial area with a lantern. As we walked she told us about Williamsburg during the Civil War (up until then, all of our focus had been on Colonial times and the Revolutionary War). The town was located right along the Union/Confederate line so it saw a lot of action. She talked specifically about the role of women. Along the way we met with 4 women (in character) that told us about their lives. The first was a Confederate sympathizer whose husband had gone off to fight against the Union. She talked about how much the town had changed and those “dreadful” Union soldiers taking the town. The next woman was a former slave who had worked to buy her freedom and now worked as a Baker. She and her husband fed the Union soldiers pie and were known to be friendly towards them. What the soldiers didn’t know was they were reporting anything they heard back to the Confederacy! The next woman we met was the director of all the Nurses in Williamsburg. Since they were so close to the front lines, all the large buildings in town became makeshift hospitals. Both sides of the war were ill-prepared for the type of wounds and the high count of casualties. The final woman was a Union sympathizer whose son was fighting in the war. She talked about being at home, trying to keep things running while ALL of the able-bodied men were gone.

The walking tour was SO COOL!!! What a fantastic way to enjoy the night air, see the town in a different way and learn stuff! I absolutely loved this and it was a great way to end our visit to Williamsburg. If you are ever in the area, I can’t recommend the Colonial Williamsburg experience enough. And while you are at it- stay at the Fife and Drum Inn. It is owned by a gracious couple and they are so knowledgeable about the area.

After our tour, we turned in for the night. We had an early wake-up call and a full day of adventure ahead of us!!