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| Happiness is finding a BUC-EE'S along the route! |
After saying goodbye to Ben, who headed back to New York, we pointed our rental car south. We had one more stop as we made our way towards Florida. However, as far as "leaf peeping" we were pretty much done. The further south we headed, the greener the leaves on the trees became. No worries, from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Pennsylvania we saw some amazing color!
We had spent some time in the Williamsburg area previously and were looking forward to our return visit. Williamsburg is located 51 miles southeast of Richmond. It, along with Jamestown and Yorktown, make up what is known as the "Historic Triangle". All three settlements have a significant place in American History. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement, founded in 1607. Yorktown was the site of the final major land battle in the American Revolution. Williamsburg served as the capital of Virgina from 1699 to 1780.
Today the Historic Triangle has a population of close to 160,000 people. It has a vibrant and diverse economy that includes tourism, industrial, educational and military connections.
Our six days there were a nice combination of relaxing and exploring. Our exploring ran the gamut from a day at Williamsburg's Busch Gardens where their Halloween festivities, known as Howl-O-Scream were in full swing, to strolling around the historic Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown areas. It's a great place to visit. We enjoyed every minute of our time there.
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| Greenspring's Trail in Williamsburg |
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| Merchants Square sits between Colonial Williamsburg and the beautiful William & Mary Campus. It's a pedestrian friendly area filled with shops and restaurants. |
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| We're not really into all the Halloween (Howl-O-Scream) stuff, but we did have a great time at Busch Gardens-Williamsburg. The shows were outstanding, and we left shortly after sunset, just as all the ghosts and goblins were coming out! |
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| From Busch Gardens to........ |
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| Colonial Williamsburg............ |
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| there is something for everyone! |
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| Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown make up what is known as the Historic Triangle |
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| York River State Park |
From Williamsburg it was about a 13-hour drive to Bradenton. We did most of it in one day, spending the final night in Starke, Fl before wrapping it up the next morning.
We picked up the rental car in Portland, Maine on September 24. When we handed it in on October 17 in Bradenton we had logged in 2,919 miles! That's a lot of miles and a lot of memories!