Last weekend my husband and I brought the boys (and a few dolls) to Colonial Williamsburg. Actually, it was more like them taking ME there. After all, my husband is not the least bit interested in history and the boys are too young to know what street they love on, so I won’t lie, it was a trip for Mom 🙂
While Samantha was my first American Girl, I got Felicity soon after and quickly became obsessed with all things 18th century. When her movie came out I learned about Colonial Williamsburg and it has been on my bucket list ever since.
It was so much bigger than I expected! It actually did feel like stepping back in time into a lively 18th century town. This was my second time ever going out to a public place with dolls, so I was a little shy about the idea at first. However, I quickly got over it when I began finding so many amazing spots to photograph them.
One thing on my list of must-visits was Tarpley, Thompson and Company, a place to find period fashion for the whole family. It did not disappoint!
So much to look at! After that, we visited the tin shop where I met a friend from Instagram! Jenny works as an apprentice in the tin shop, and much to our surprise, she had made a tiny tin cup for my dolls! It was such a thoughtful gift and literally made my day. Its tiny and perfect and she even stamped her name on the bottom. Jenny was very enjoyable to chat with, and we can’t wait to visit her at the tin shop the next time we make the trip down to Virginia.
Elinor touring the tin shop.
Such a pleasure to meet these talented craftsmen!
Another highlight of our visit was the Governor’s Palace.
I actually didn’t make it to the palace until Sunday morning, the day they were closing because of COVID-19. I thought I may have missed my chance to see it, but thankfully they had it open to tour and the lack of crowds made it perfect for picture taking.
It was beautiful on the inside and out!
I didn’t get to take nearly as many photos as I wanted because I didn’t have much time in there (thank you, family who was waiting for breakfast) but I did get some photos out in the palace garden as well.
The art museums were one of the best parts of Williamsburg. Obviously my favorite section was the fashion display. So much to oogle at.
We obviously didn’t see nearly all of what was there and we are definitely planning to come back. I would have taken hundreds more pictures had I not had a baby in tow the whole time, but we had so much fun as a family and it was the perfect trip even with very young kids!
I’ll leave you with a small memento I found in the John Greenhow store for the dolls’ collection, a reproduction of the original teapot in the museum!
Thanks for stopping by and happy sewing, friends!
– Elizabeth
Historical clothing and patterns for 16" and 18" dolls 