Mrs. DX has a conference in Williamsburg, VA next weekend and i'm heading down with her for some free time. We are heading down Friday and coming back Sunday. Saturday I am planning to ride the bike trail that goes up to Richmond. Any cool breweries/brewpubs in Williamsburg to visit? Anything unique besides the historical stuff to see? Any good eats?
Good eats and beer shop all in one - Duke of Gloucester Street pub is in the middle of the historic part of Williamsburg. It has a beer shop attached to it called Hair of the Dog that has a huge selection.
Don't, under any circumstances, waste any of your time or money on the "Pancake House" restaurants down route 60 (you'll see what I mean when you get there). The pancakes are no better than IHOP and the waitstaff dressing up in colonial garb really doesn't add anything to the experience.
Since you're coming to Richmond anyways down the Capital Trail, visit all the craft breweries while you're here.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Strangeways Brewing Ardent Craft Ales
The new Stone Brewing facility has just opened too in Richmond - http://richmond.stonebrewing.com/
These guys are in Hampton, which is east of Williamsburg. http://www.stgbeer.com/
The historical stuff is actually pretty great BTW. Fort Monroe is a neat place to see.
I would check out the Norfolk Naval Base Tours
Oh, and while you're in Richmond hit up The Answer Brewpub. 50 taps, very reasonably priced and amazing Vietnamese bar food. For more traditional Vietnamese food with an equal number of taps, go next door to Mekong (they're both run by the same person).
The Green Leafe Cafe is pretty good in Williamsburg
No local breweries really in Williamsburg proper but http://alewerks.com/ and http://www.brasscannonbrewing.com/ are both not too far north/west, while up there stop at http://www.pierces.com/ for BBQ
As already mentioned, beers are all over in RVA. If you ride the capital trail up, you'll go right past the new Stone Brewing facility coming into downtown. Hardywood has been the most successful of the newer breweries but there are maybe 7-10 more that have popped up localy
http://ardentcraftales.com/ between hardywood/strangeways
http://www.isleybrewingcompany.com/ around the corner from ardent
http://www.triplecrossingbeer.com/ not far from downtown
http://www.legendbrewing.com/ across the river from downtown
Bar/Restaurants w/ good beers on tap
http://www.joesinn.com/ (fan location)
http://www.thecaskrva.com/
The Answer Brewpub - 2nded
Prepare for traffic. 95S on Friday and 95N on Sunday is the worst.
I'm trying to see if there are any back ways to/fro. Ale Werks and Pierce look good and aren't too far from Williamburg proper.
Traffic won't be terrible at this time of the year, although I95 from DC to Richmond is a crapshoot any time. Once the weather warms up and people start heading towards the beach it becomes a nightmare.
There are TWO Jamestown attractions - Jamestown Settlement has a replica fort, costumed characters and replica ships. Historic Jamestown is more archaeological dig and museum.
Colonial Williamsburg is awesome. You can walk around for free, but if you can spare at least half a day, pay for admission - you won't regret it.
Colonial Parkway is a wonderful scenic drive, albeit at 35 mph.
Fort Monroe is amazing but 45 minutes further down the peninsula. Naval Station Norfolk is an additional 20 minutes further but if you have never seen an aircraft carrier up-close...
Air and Space Museum in Hampton
Yorktown Battlefield
Williamsburg Winery
The list goes on...
Honestly, there is WAY too much to do in a weekend, and some of the tourist stuff like Busch Gardens is closed at this time of the year
Get yourself a can of Virginia Peanuts (just about anywhere). Bring home a Virginia Ham.
Skip the Pottery, but GoKarts Plus is next door.
Walk around the campus of William and Mary and pretend you are Thomas Jefferson.
Go down to Virginia Beach for Motor World karting. 11 tracks plus paint ball and more. It's just south of the strip. Maybe an hour from Williamsburg.
92dxman wrote: I'm trying to see if there are any back ways to/fro. Ale Werks and Pierce look good and aren't too far from Williamburg proper.
The back way between Richmond and Williamsburg is VA Route 5, which parallels the bike trail (or rather, the bike trail parallels route 5).
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