Colonial Williamsburg

Go here: Step back in time to walk the streets that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry walked on the road to American independence. Scores of original buildings and hundreds of homes, shops and public buildings are reconstructed over 301 acres most on their original foundations. Tickets start at $21.95 for a one-day pass for adults; children ages 6 to 17 get half off with a paying adult. Stay here: Colonial Williamsburg offers a variety of accommodations ranging from budget hotels to Colonial houses to the grand Williamsburg Inn , 136 E. Francis St., 800-745-8883.

Hardly a month goes by that The Sun does not further document how Chesapeake Bay pollution is eroding the livelihoods of our watermen. In a cynical moment, I once wrote in my book, "Bay Country," of a day when "we will memorialize the vanished watermen in a Colonial Williamsburg - Watermens' World, we'd call it ... tourists could view actors tonging Fiberglas oysters from the comfort of underwater viewing lounges.... " Now I'm encouraged to report that the Chesapeake Conservancy has an innovative program up and running that trains real life watermen to share their skills with tourists, supplementing their incomes while we work to restore the Chesapeake's seafood bounty.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Colonial Williamsburg is snuffing th use of tobacco in its portrayal of a state built on the tobacco trade.As of Jan. 1, smoking is prohibited inside all historical buildings, for costumed and non-costumed workers alike.But interpreter John Lowe said the ban won't hamper his presentation of life in 18th-century Virginia. For five years, he has carried a tobacco-less clay pipe in his portrayal of carpenter Benjamin Powell."I rub it around and hold it so it has the effect of being used," Mr. Lowe said.

Dr. William Lehman Guyton, a retired surgeon, World War II combat veteran and pre-eminent collector of American silhouettes, died May 23 of pneumonia at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. He was 96. The son of a physician and a homemaker, Dr. Guyton was born and raised in Baltimore. He was a 1931 graduate of City College and a 1934 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. He earned his medical degree in 1938 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed his surgical internship and residency at the old Church Hospital in 1942, when he was commissioned in the Army.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. --Colonial Williamsburg is eliminating 95 jobs in the Historic Area -- 15 percent of workers in one of its largest and most visible divisions. The cuts will come in the ranks of costumed interpreters, administrative staff and managers, all of them full-time, nonseasonal employees, officials said. As Colonial Williamsburg ends a less-than-stellar summer season and looks toward 2004, officials are aiming to get staffing for next year back to mid-1990 levels. That's when the number of visitors to CW hovered close to 1 million.

In Colonial Williamsburg, they use a musket to mark history. In Westminster, it's the pitchfork.At the Carroll County Farm Museum, officials are finding that by re-creating the lost art of daily life on a 19th-century farm -- much like the approach of their 300-year-old neighbor to the south -- they may finally come of age.The museum's board hopes to capture some of the excitement of interactive Williamsburg on the sprawling, 33-year-old site outside Westminster.Farm...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- John D. Rockefeller spent most of his life accumulating wealth. His son, John D. Jr., spent most of his life giving a large chunk of that fortune away to an array of causes.The project nearest John D. Jr.'s heart was the restoration of the historic town of Williamsburg, Va.Now visitors to Colonial Williamsburg can visit Bassett Hall, the place Rockefeller and his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, called home while they were overseeing restoration work on the town.Restored itself in 1992, the house remains much as it was when the Rockefellers moved in during the 1930s.

It's easy to see why Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., has become such a popular destination. First you have the golfers, for whom Williamsburg has become a prime East Coast destination. Kingsmill, with three championship courses, including the famous River Course, site of the annual Michelob Championship, a PGA Tour event, is a must-play destination for armies of these duffers. Secondly, the resort is only a musket shot away from Colonial Williamsburg (which bills itself as the "largest outdoor living history museum" in the United States)

London Town, the lost ferry town slowly being uncovered on the banks of the South River, has something even the historic tourism mecca of Williamsburg, Va., lacks -- a big pile of more than 250-year-old garbage.It's the best find of tavern trash, and it dates to 1725. Archaeologists and regional tourism officials watching the digs at the Anne Arundel County-owned park in Edgewater hope the refuse of broken Delft, bottle shards and oyster shells are the start of a major tourist attraction.

Instead of curling up with a book, going to the movies or flipping on the TV, find entertainment through the tales of eight nationally acclaimed storytellers at Colonial Williamsburg's third annual storytelling festival, "Spinning Stories/Spanning Time: A Weekend of Stories Old and New." This year's festival, Friday through Sept. 16, will highlight African, African-American, Asian, Cuban, Native American and other multicultural stories. The storytelling festival is at Colonial Williamsburg's Bassett Hall, 506 N. Henry St., Williamsburg.

Williamsburg, Va., which already has parks and attractions galore for Baltimore day-trippers, has added a half-marathon and 8K race, taking place Saturday and Sunday. Participating runners get the usual T-shirts and protein bars, but also receive free tickets to Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg, and discounts for friends and family. They get the chance to run through the streets of the living history museum in the early hours, before it gets crowded, and the satisfaction of helping not one but two causes.

Summer Saver Package at Colonial Williamsburg What's the deal? A family of four can visit Colonial Williamsburg as part of the Summer Saver Package, starting at $599, and receive a four-night stay and daily breakfast at the Williamsburg Woodlands, admission to the Historic Area and museums, and a $100 activities credit to be used for spa, golf, dining or shopping. The package is available May 30-Sept. 2. For couples, the resort is offering the Summer Stories Package, which for $499 includes a two-night stay with breakfast at the upscale Williamsburg Lodge, admission to the historic area and museums, and a $100 activities credit.

Go here: Step back in time to walk the streets that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry walked on the road to American independence. Scores of original buildings and hundreds of homes, shops and public buildings are reconstructed over 301 acres most on their original foundations. Tickets start at $21.95 for a one-day pass for adults; children ages 6 to 17 get half off with a paying adult. Stay here: Colonial Williamsburg offers a variety of accommodations ranging from budget hotels to Colonial houses to the grand Williamsburg Inn , 136 E. Francis St., 800-745-8883.

10 Places to See Before You're 10 1 American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore 2 Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va. 3 Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif. 4 Ellis Island, New York 5 Grand Canyon, Ariz. 6 Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles 7 Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, Calif. 8 Muir Woods, Marin County, Calif. 9 Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario 10 Sears Tower, Chicago Travel+Leisure online

Susan Wooden can work miracles with history. She can get people excited about doing ordinary tasks such as laundry, washing dishes, or hearth cooking. "I go back to a time when there was no electricity and no freezers," Wooden said. "And then I show people how things were done. I enjoy seeing the excitement in the eyes of the audience. I know I have connected with them." Wooden joins a group of historians and living history interpreters as a board member of Jerusalem Mill. She is also a docent volunteer at Hays House, a member of the Maryland Loyalists Battalion, and a volunteer docent at a Colonial Williamsburg event.

If you go The Spa of Colonial Williamsburg is at 307 S. England St., Williamsburg, Va. Call 800-688-6479 or 757-220-7720, or go to thespaofcolonialwilliamsburg.com. Century-inspired treatments run one to two hours and cost $165-$285.