Webb Adventures: Evan Goes Colonial

We just returned from our first airplane trip with Evan. My brother recently started teaching Sociology at The College of William and Mary so we thought we visit him for fall break. For those of you who don't know, William and Mary is the alma mater of such famous folks as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and (a few years later) Jon Stewart.

Evan did pretty well on the flights, with a little help from noise canceling headphones and the iPhone Sesame Street videos. Sitting still for over two hours is hard for a 16 month old.

One of our first stops was, of course, a tour of the W&M campus. It really is a lovely campus. It's so tree-covered, you almost feel like you're in a state park rather than a college campus. Evan really took to watching the numerous squirrels ("quirl") on campus. He became our squirrel-spotter, pointing out everyone he saw. He must have gotten a little confused, however, because he soon started "meowing" each time he saw one. Hey, it's pretty good logic for a 16-month-old: the only other furry thing with a tail he knows is cat.

Evan even stayed up a little late one night to go to a W&M football game. He enjoyed it for about 45 min and then he had seen enough. For all you Texas folks, all I can say is, football in VA is not like football in Texas. The size of the stadium at W&M would be the size of a high school football stadium in Texas.

Next, we were off to the other main attraction in the area: Colonial Williamsburg. I had always heard of it, but I really didn't know that much about it. It turned out to be very interesting and educational. It was pretty warm outside so it was tiring but fun. We were able to see many of the colonial stores and famous buildings. I was impressed with the authentic knowledge that the staff colonial "players" seem to have. It really seemed like they knew about 18th century VA and were not just reading a script. Evan liked running around the streets and especially like seeing the horses pulling the carriages.

We also made a quick stop by Yorktown, VA and visited the beach along the York River. It was quite beautiful. I had no idea a river could have such a lovely beach. Evan got to have his first beach experience.

All in all, it was a great trip. Traveling with a toddler is never easy but it's worth it to see him experience all these new events.