If you are member of the military, you have some wonderful, reasonable places to stay as an RVer or family member of the soldier. Sparky's daughter, Kelly, invited Sparky to come for a visit to Williamsburg, VA where she was running a 5K race in Colonial Williamsburg AND she had a reservation at a cabin at the Navy base there, Cheatham Annex, also known as CAX. What a fantastic place! The base is considered a small one but boy, did it have the options for fun and it was absolutely beautiful! We stayed in a modern cabin with lots of amenities.....
We were there for four days...It is located in the heart of Williamsburg, just minutes from the "historic triangle" of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown and the beautiful Colonial Parkway and is on the York River...It supplies Atlantic fleet ships and provides recreational opportunities to military and civilian personnel. It has an RV park which appeared to be relatively new and modern, it has cottages for both non-pet owners and those who have furry friends. A link to the RV park and cabins:
http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/virginia/cheatham-annex-recreation-cabins-and-rv-park
There are 69 RV sites and 31 cottages on the base which has 2,3001 acres of woodlands and three freshwater lakes. Some of the recreational activities that are there...bike rentals, canoe rentals, boat rentals (kayaks and rowboats), fishing, hiking and golfing is available at a nearby course. We loved the trails there, as they wind around the annex, skirting the bay.
We spent four wonderful days exploring the historical part of Williamsburg, albeit that part somewhat briefly because we were having so much fun checking out the shops, museums and restaurants and a Black American History Tour in addition to walking the trails on base and watching Kelly run her race. We did not purchase any of the tours to go into the different shops of historic Williamsburg. Instead, we got an overall view of the town and its history through an African American tour with Trish, a very knowledgable tour guide with the
Williamsburg Walking Tours. African Americans comprised HALF of the city of Williamsburg in the 18th century. We learned a LOT about this city's history with Trish. She gave us excellent background to set the stage for learning about some of the African American citizens and store owners who fought to earn their freedom, to keep their freedom and a lot of interesting history tidbits that have never been spoken about in history books. Unfortunately, Sparky lost her notes she took while on the tour so you'll just have to ask for Trish's tour! She wrote it and got it on the books for the tour company, Williamsburg Walking Tours, to offer to you. She also does a haunted ghost walking tour, and we would have LOVED to have taken that tour, but we ran out of time. She had some interesting side bits of stories to tell us about personal experiences with people on the haunted spirits tour, both in the flesh and not of the flesh! Sparky got shivers up and down her spine....
The buildings in Williamsburg are amazing, of course! We chose to focus on the outside of the town on our first visit...Noticing all the period costumes....the double brick bridges on the Colonial Parkway.....
the Governor's Palace....
The 300 year old Bruton Episcopal Church still having services....
the cloche jars covering the plants from the cold in a Williamsburg garden...
Kelly ran a 5K race while we were there and it was terrific! The race was started by a drum and fife corps...They walked all the runners from the William and Mary College campus to the race starting line, playing and drumming the whole way. The race started with a musket shot! It was inspiring to say the least!
We took the Alewerk's Brewery Tour...It's a small brewery but has great beer. Sparky doesn't drink beer, but Kelly reports the beer was great! Sparky bought Sparky Jr. (Kelly) a cool growler mug. For us in the U.S., we thought we drank a lot of beer nationwide (20 gallons a year per beer drinking person) but in the Czech Republic, they drink 40 gallons per person a year! We learned that your palate changes about every 7 years which explains why Sparky never used to like mushrooms, and now she does. :-)
We experienced some of the local restaurants and can recommend
DoG Street Pub, for tavern fare,
Water Street Grille on the Yorktown River Waterfront (a little pricier but well worth it!) and Shorty's Diner on Merrimac Trail in Williamsburg, for breakfast.
We visited the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum and Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum--TWO museums in one. This was one of the most beautiful museums we have ever seen. The layout was fantastic, the exhibits were laid out beautifully, the explanations and signs were well lit and easily readable, unlike other museums we have seen in our travels. There was a fantastic display of African American quilts while we were there....Some of the other exhibits were the Thunderbirds jewelry of Santa Domingo, outdoor folk art, innovative 18th century fire fighting techniques, the evolution of spinets, harpsichords and pianos, and birds, bugs and blooms from the 18th century....a very eclectic choice of exhibits to appeal to a broad range of interests!
The photo on the left is in the Birds, Bugs and Blooms exhibit.
Our short visit drew to a close...
We can highly recommend the Cheathem Annex naval base as a place to stay for military members and their families...Great location, close to everything, nature in your backyard, the ocean and water activities right there, too. Accommodations were fantastic....
We loved our hikes together on the Cheathem annex campground trails....and Moxie, Kelly's dog, loved it, too! It was a fabulous way to spend time with Kelly...Thank you, Kelly, for taking Mom on this wonderful trip....xoxoxoxo
We will leave you with this beautiful closing shot in colonial Williamsburg....A beautiful scene as daylight was coming to a close.....We will definitely go back to Williamsburg again some day...There's so much more to see...Thanks for stopping by today to have a read....
