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The Williamsburg Indoor Sports Complex
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DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum
Photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg
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The Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center offers “Buddy Art” classes.
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The hallmark of civilization is the library. This is as true in Williamsburg as it was in ancient Greece.
After peak season crowds trickle back down the interstate, Williamsburg becomes a territory left to its native inhabitants. Winter is the season when locals glory in the town’s best-kept secrets. Explore the side of town that tourists never get to see.
Get Moving
When days are short and the weather trends are inhospitable, running the kids through their paces can be a distinct challenge. Let them run flat-out on an indoor soccer field, churn through a heated swimming pool, or bounce themselves to exhaustion in a trampoline paradise. The Williamsburg Indoor Sports Complex is a climate-controlled indoor facility offering activities galore for kids and families; a sanity-saving resource when cabin fever threatens.
Museum Crawl
Capacious indoor galleries at the Jamestown-YorktownFoundation mimic London’s city streets circa 1609; the year fortune-seekers set sail to discover a new world. Life-scale dwellings give curious children spaces to discover and explore, while innovative multimedia exhibits spin the fraught and fascinating story of first contact in Virginia. Admission is free forVirginia residents.
Explore charming folk art and naïve craft at the Abby Aldrich Folk Art Museum in the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. The DeWitt Wallace Art Galleries display some of the most elegantly-crafted objects from early America, and a kid-focused installment designed to inspire young eyes. Pick up a Good Neighbor pass to enjoy all that the museum has to offer.
The Archaerium at Jamestown Island combines an archaeology gallery with an architectural experience, all while overlooking the same view of the James River that John Smith squinted across 400 years ago.
Learn a Craft
The idea of cozying up with a cold-weather project appeals with a force that can only be instinctive. Adults and kids can learn to knit or crochet with classes at local yarn store Yarn Matters. An array of textures, fibers and colors dazzles when winter colors are dull, and the shop’s social knitting circles provide community and the chance to build your skills.
Pick up a brush and palette and explore the rudiments of composition on canvas at the Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center. Take a class or join a workshop and see what talent lies hidden in your hands. The center’s “Buddy Art” classes offer programs for special-needs kids aged 6 and up.
Read a Book
Remember what it was like to browse a book store, hold a novel in your hand, and discuss the recommendations of a passionate local bookseller? One last beacon of the old ways hides like a time capsule buried beneath Prince George Street. Those intrepid enough to hunt down the hidden staircase to Mermaid Books will find a wondrous subterranean remnant of the race of old-fashioned book stores.
Need books with more pictures? Get graphic with your novel at Comic Cubicle. This New Townshop’s inventory is always percolating with new releases that span the comic universe from Aquaman to Wonder Woman.
The hallmark of civilization is the library. This is as true in Williamsburg as it was in ancient Greece. They have books, sure: but they also boast an extensive e-book catalog, hundreds of periodicals, music, and films. Genre book clubs offer a social component for zealous fans. Beyond the bookshelves awaits a wealth of community resources, including lectures and classes along with preschool story time and openplay for the youngest patrons.
Harmony Hunter has no excuse to buy more books but when she can come up with one, you’ll see her at Mermaid Books.