Virginia's Historic Triangle: The Off-Season is the Best Season

After returning from a week long adventure to Virginia's Historic Triangle I am convinced that off-season travel is the only way to go. Well, actually I have known this for quite some time, I have always had a better experience traveling when others are not. However as many of us know it is not always realistic. It can be harder to get the time off from work and your kids are probably in school, but if it is at all possible, do it. Besides allowing easier access to the region's great attractions, traveling during these times helps the local economy, especially if you eat and shop away from the chains and outlets.

Mild weather, half-full hotels and restaurants, thinner crowds and fewer crying children are just some of the benefits my wife and I discovered while visiting the Historic Triangle in November. This portion of Virginia's Tidewater region is immensely popular during the summer so for anyone with more than just a passing interest in our American past, a visit without the crowds is well worth it. There are always plenty of visitors but not so many that you cannot see the performances or have to elbow your way to a decent picture of George Washington on horseback.

That is not to say a visit during the peak seasons will be disappointing, lovers of history will find lots to see and do regardless of how crowded it is. Besides, there is always Busch Gardens to occupy your time and wallet. However everyone I asked, be it costumed performer, shopkeeper, wait staff or local resident, the off-season (especially October and November) is the time to visit. When not dealing with throngs of tourists amid an oppressive Virginia summer the staff at Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown and all the shops and restaurants in between can give visitors the attention and service they deserve.

Leaf-peepers will also enjoy visiting the Historic Triangle in the Fall, Williamsburg's Duke of Gloucester Street is ablaze with vibrant foliage. This was a treat since our local foliage season of 2007 was cut short due to a series of storms. The scenic roads like the Colonial Parkway were traffic-free and full of vibrant reds, oranges and yellows from the trees. It definitely was comparable to New England's best foliage, just on a smaller scale and without the crowded hotels and traffic.

We had a wide choice of hotels due to the season and we decided upon the recently built and very affordable Comfort Inn Historical, located upon Bypass/Richmond Road. My wife and I use our hotel rooms to sleep and keep our souvenirs so we were not looking for the extras. Although the hotel did provide an indoor pool and Jacuzzi, the pool was not heated and so we had a disappointing walk back to the room one night. The staff was pre- occupied talking on the phone or surfing the net, so thankfully we did not call on them often. However I did not like the staff responses when asking about a public computer and the fact that every vending machine in the hotel was out of bottled water. In fact that was the closest we got to a bad customer service experience in Virginia. Otherwise the place was clean, virtually empty and conveniently located just down the street from the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors Center.

Since there is much less traffic in the off-season any of the roads to the historic sites are useable. However it is highly recommended to use the Colonial Parkway when you can since there are no traffic lights and, no traffic. We were laughing at the Congestion Zone signs along the Colonial Parkway - we were the only car on the road. Take care though, the Colonial Parkway also has no street lights and can be pitch dark on moonless nights, making the tiny deer look like ghosts hopping in and out of your peripheral vision.

We had no problems making any reservations for events or dinner, although some restaurants were closing very early for obvious reasons. The Colonial Taverns always require a dinner reservation, but entire rooms were empty. Merchants Square in Williamsburg had everything you could want from food to gifts all within walking distance. While Merchants Square was not exactly dead at night, there were plenty of people milling about, we did not need to make dinner reservations either.

My wife and I had such a positive experience in the Historic Triangle that it really makes me wonder about all the negative reviews I read online about service in the area. We both felt that we were treated excellently everywhere we went, from shop owners to wait staff to folks we met on the street. Maybe we are just jaded New Englanders, not expecting people to be this polite, unless they have an agenda. The people we met while on our trip really made it even better and I am sure that not dealing with the heat and crowds of Summer has something to do with it.