When we first registered the kids for school here in Pennsylvania, I was reading on the website that the 8th graders take an “Outbound Trip” to either Boston of Williamsburg.  It sounded so amazing, and I couldn’t believe how lucky Lily was going to be to get to have such an awesome adventure.  And so, the weekend we moved into our new home, Lily was in Virginia having a blast with most of the 8th graders from her school.  And yes, it was really hard to send my baby girl off on her own for this, but she was so excited, and going with amazing kids and teachers.

She took pictures along the way, and I thought it would be best for her to tell her about her adventures in her own words :).  So, here is Lily.

Hi, I’m Lily Brown. My mom asked me to write the post about my school Outbound trip.  On Thursday, we got dropped off at school early so that we could get on the bus. I loaded on my bags and got comfy for the ride to Virginia. We watched movies on the way there, and I listened to music occasionally. We stopped to get pizza for lunch at Cici’s.  We arrived at our first stop, Colonial Williamsburg. We had fun touring the town, and some of us posed in the pillories. My group then went into the governor’s palace.

The palace-more of a mansion, but it is very fancy-was really cool. We got to walk through most of the rooms, decorated to look the way they had back in colonial times. There were weapons on display in the foyer, fully furnished rooms, even a grand ballroom and an indoor pavilion! 

There were also beautiful gardens, with hedges, tunnels, and statues. There were lots of paths, though we only went on a few.

There was also a kitchen-seperate from the house! The people there showed us dishes that would have been served back in the day, including some very delicious desserts! Some of these dishes are pea soup, rabbit, and tarts.

At one point, we passed by the house that one of our chaparone’s ancestors had lived in (He is posing by it in the collage that includes the boat). There were lots of people playing the arts of colonial citizens. There was also a piper who played super well. We got to look inside a drugstore, and then went to a tavern (well, it had been a tavern) for dinner. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, and homemade ice cream! (Note-the man firing a gun and the glassworker were not in the colonial Williamsburg and will be covered later.)

We saw many tools and goods, like gunpowder, herbs, pans, and cloth. At one point we went by a smokehouse-like where you smoke meat-and it smelled really good! After we ate dinner, we went over to the chapel for a program. It was about stories the slaves told there children, and they were super fun.

After the program, we went back to the hotel. My friends and I went to our room, and got to bed. The next day, we stopped by the docks and saw recreations of some of the ships that had brought over the colonists. We also got to tour one.

After the boats, we went to play at Busch Gardens! I rod eon the Loch Ness Monster with some friends. For lunch, we bought some delicious crepes. I also went shopping for some presents. I bought a cool roller coaster mug for my dad and a funny squid hat for my brother, Derek. We also rode the train. Here’s a funny story: So, we were going to meet up with some friends who had gone to get lunch elsewhere. The thing is, we kept going to the wrong place! We spent a while just looking around for them, and when we finally found them, we had wasted a lot of time. We had had some fun though. At one point, we were waiting and rode the Carousel. It’s all good : ). Ok, I had to say that. It is the name of the blog, after all.

Later, we went to go bowling. We had a blast! And pizza. A LOT of pizza. When we left, we had a BIG surprise. You see, some people on the bus won some giant toy Pokemon. One of them got a Charmander, and here’s the funny part. They put the Charmander in the driver’s seat! I just had to pose with it for a quick pic. (Disclaimer: neither the Charmander nor any of the toy Pokemon were mine. I only posed with it.)

 The next day, we went to the Glasshouse. There, I bought a pretty vase for my mom-and got her a shutterfly coupon with it for free! We also went to a recreation of a fort AND saw artifacts from the real thing. At the fort, someone demonstrated colonial muskets. We also visited a nearby recreation of an Indian camp.

After we saw those, we went to a museum and reenactment center. There, I bought my last gift-a tin penny whistle for Arthur. The trip didn’t end yet-our final stop was dinner at Cracker Barrel. It was good. I got steak.

Well, after dinner, we came back to the school. With my new presents, I came home with mom. That was the end of my crazy adventure in Virginia.