Colonial Williamsburg, VA
December 10–12, 2025
In a phone conversation with Mary Jane, I mentioned that I hoped to go to San Antonio in December to see the lights and hear the carolers along the Riverwalk. She suggested a trip to Williamsburg to see the decorations there, and somehow we wound up planning a trip that included both. I had taken a train trip to Williamsburg in December, 2010, to see the decorations then. Some of my pictures from that trip are posted here. I reviewed those pictures before this trip so I wouldn’t duplicate a lot of pictures.
Torrey Curtis stopped for a visit on December 7 on his way back to Oklahoma from a wedding in South Carolina. So I scheduled my flight to Richmond for December 9. We drove to Williamsburg on the 10th, and returned to Richmond on Friday the 12th. Mary Jane attended an ecumenical tea on Saturday afternoon while I watched lectures on King Herod and let Ginger the Dog in and out of the house. On Sunday the choir at Second Presbyterian wonderfully performed Vivaldi’s Gloria with orchestra. Then our Monday flights took us to San Antonio. Pictures from that trip start here.
We stayed in a tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street that had been converted to hotel rooms that still had some flavor of its past. It was very comfortable and conveniently located.
This was the view across the street.
Our real splurge meal on the trip was an early supper at Christiana Campbell’s Tavern. George Washington supposedly ate seafood there often. The wait staff instructed us on the colonial manner of wearing a napkin, which was a rather large piece of cloth by modern standards, protecting the outfit better. To drink we got some sort of grog in a bowl (as pictured on your right). Our appetizer was Farced Oysters, somewhat akin to modern oysters Rockefeller. Our main dish was A Seafood Pye, incorporating fish, scallops, shrimp and lobster with a pastry crust, served with extra sauce.
We checked in at the impressive Williamsburg Inn.
We toured the Governor’s Palace. I had taken plenty of interior pictures on the previous trip.
Then we explored more homes and Christmas decorations.
We visited Bruton Parish Church, established in 1674, which continues to be an active congregation to this day.
The present building is from 1715. You can check on their musical instruments here.
The lectern was a gift from Theodore Roosevelt in 1907.
We toured the colonial capitol. We returned there in the evening for a delightful concert.
There are cows, sheep, and goats, as well as some gardening.
