In the interest of fully documenting the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute experience, I present to you the Woodlands Hotel and Suites, which sits directly adjacent to the Visitors Center.
This was a great facility, offering everything I needed for the week - a place to sleep and a place to eat breakfast. My roommate, SAM, was from Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he is currently the librarian for a school containing only the primary grades up to third. We were a great match, getting along quite well, and easily communicating.
The room itself was inviting, with colonial-style wallpaper, tightly made beds, a desk, and a couple of chairs. The photographs on the wall were of the historic area and kept me in the mood for exploring my American roots.
The room itself was inviting, with colonial-style wallpaper, tightly made beds, a desk, and a couple of chairs. The photographs on the wall were of the historic area and kept me in the mood for exploring my American roots.
Outside, the splash pad was themed to the roots of the area, with a sailing ship, with dumping buckets, a little canoe slide, another canoe with water falling over it for a nice place to sit and cool, some ring fountains, barrels with water cannons, and a wagon wheel shower. It looked like a lot of fun for the kids
|
I wondered about a sticker that I found on a light pole. While I understand that Colonial Williamsburg is where the Revolutionary War was born, I suspected that this sticker - "REVOLUTION IS TRADITION" - was placed there from some modern, rebellious group.
It didn't take much of a search to find that the organization is "perhaps the most active white supremist group in America". That's a jolting realization bit of information. In a place where a revolution was born to gain freedom, we have to acknowledge that the revolution this group and others are promoting is one that suppresses the freedoms of some of our citizens. While revolution is not always a bad thing, revolution does not have to equal hatred and prejudice. |
|
About the only complaint anyone had about the Woodlands Hotel itself was that second night when we were all awakened at 3:00 am with an alarm that told us to evacuate the building for an emergency situation. Swiftly dawning more clothes and shoes, we rushed to the parking lot where flashing red lights strobed.
  | The message in the video below repeated for a full thirty minutes before being turned off. A firefighter in the second-floor window waved to us, and we assumed it was OK to reenter the building, where a nice pillow was awaiting my head neatly planted in its fluffy-soft center. Some folks were dragging at breakfast later that morning, but I seemed to have taken everything in stride even texting my pictures to Former Principal Bozarth with a message: "Our 3am wake-up call. Life is an adventure." After he responded with, "That's a rude awakening...," I texted him, "Hang around with me and you get to experience real life." |
This comes after the May Disney trip for the 50 Teachers Celebration began with the plane slamming into the runway and a cluster of oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling in the middle of the aircraft. I texted him with a picture of that, as well. "Hit the runway a little hard in Orlando," I sent. "Adventure!" "Holy cow," he responded. "Good thing you love adventures[.]"
As a matter of fact, I do. These little features that pop up really add flavor.
As a matter of fact, I do. These little features that pop up really add flavor.
Read more about Disney's 50 Teachers Celebration.
Read the account of hitting the runway and falling masks.
Read more and more and more about the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute.
Read the account of hitting the runway and falling masks.
Read more and more and more about the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute.
