FIVE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS + ONE TICKET = AN ALL-AMERICAN VACATION IN AMERICA’S HISTORIC TRIANGLE

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Experience four seasons of fun in America’s Historic Triangle, where a year-round vacation package allows visitors to take part in engaging living-history programs and special events and exhibitions that bring fresh perspectives to stories of the nation’s beginnings – the 1607 founding at Jamestown of the first permanent English colony, Revolutionary times in Williamsburg, and the securing of independence at Yorktown in 1781.

The America’s Historic Triangle vacation package features unlimited admission to three premier living-history museums – Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center – and two National Park sites – Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield – and modern-day accommodations for up to seven days. Visitors can take a 23-mile journey along the scenic Colonial Parkway to reach all five historical attractions and seasonally can park their vehicles and take a free shuttle service connecting the Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown destinations. The Historic Triangle Shuttle operates March 22 through October 31 in 2010.

Historic Jamestowne, the site of America’s first permanent English settlement, offers a wealth of activities, from witnessing archaeology-in-action at the 1607 James Fort excavation and touring the Archaearium museum to exploring the Glasshouse with costumed glassblowers demonstrating one of America’s first industries. Visitors can walk through the original 17th-century church tower, take a tour through the historic town site to see representations of many of the buildings that once stood there, tour the Visitor Center with exhibits and a multimedia presentation, shop in its museum stores, filled with unique finds, and dine on the banks of the James River in the new Dale House Café. On May 15, “Jamestown Day,” a jointly sponsored event with Jamestown Settlement history museum, commemorates the 403rd anniversary of Jamestown’s founding.

Jamestown Settlement is a living-history museum of 17th-century Virginia. Expansive exhibition galleries and an introductory film, “1607: A Nation Takes Root,” trace Jamestown’s beginnings in England and the first century of the Virginia colony and describe the Powhatan Indian, English and west central African cultures that converged in 17th-century Virginia. Outdoors, historical interpreters depict 1600s life at re-creations of the colonists’ fort, three 1607 ships and a Powhatan Indian village, and at a seasonal riverfront discovery area that explores waterway transportation and commercial activities. Daily year-round offerings are enhanced in 2010 with a special exhibition, “Werowocomoco: Seat of Power,” May 15 through November 15 that explores archaeological findings at the principal residence of Powhatan, the paramount chief of 30-some Indian tribes in Virginia’s coastal region at the time English colonists arrived in 1607, and a related “Virginia Indian Heritage Day” event on June 26.

Guests to Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Museums become part of the story as they explore sights, sounds and tastes of the 18th-century capital of Virginia throughout 2010. R. Charlton’s Coffeehouse, the Historic Area’s newest exhibition building, reflects its 18th-century role as a gathering place for the politically connected as well as for the socially ambitious. Tours also give guests a taste of the colonial era with a sample tasting of period coffeehouse beverages – coffee, tea or chocolate.  Discover the birthplace of a nation where patriots ignited the cause for freedom and laid the groundwork for the creation of a new nation. Colonial Williamsburg's fifth season of the highly acclaimed Revolutionary City® program returns in 2010. This engaging street theater experience enables guests to follow the stories of their Revolutionary forebears’ transition from subjects to citizens and to connect those Revolutionary changes with issues facing citizens today. 

Learn about contributions to Williamsburg’s material culture spanning three centuries. Colonial Williamsburg’s Art Museums will feature new exhibitions in 2010. At the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, “Steve Harley: An Original Life” opens on Feb. 13 and explores the paintings and drawings created by this extraordinary, early 20th-century individualist. “Material Witnesses: Quilts and Their Makers,” beginning on May 29, will tell the fascinating and varied stories of the women – and men – who produced intricate, colorful bed coverings in the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, guests can see two new exhibitions. “Conservation: Where Art and Science Meet” will illustrate what is harmful to objects and what preserves them and opens on June 26. An ongoing exhibition at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, “Pottery With a Past: Stoneware in Early America,” explores the rich history of stoneware in Britain’s American colonies and the new nation from the first English settlements through 1800. Guests also can go inside Bassett Hall, the Williamsburg home of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, as well as its gardens.

In Yorktown, walk the ground where America’s independence was won in 1781 at Yorktown Battlefield.  At the site of the final major clash of the American Revolution, visitors can follow in the footsteps of General Washington and walk where this historic event took place, drive the battlefield and encampment tour roads, visit the Moore House where surrender negotiations took place, see the site of the British surrender, and watch “The Siege at Yorktown” film at the National Park Service Visitor Center, which displays artifacts from the siege, including tents used by General Washington. The 1781 American Revolutionary War victory is observed annually on October 19 with town-wide festivities, including patriotic ceremonies and a parade, and on October 16-17 at the Yorktown Victory Center history museum during its “Yorktown Victory Celebration” event.

The Yorktown Victory Center chronicles America’s struggle for independence from the beginnings of colonial unrest to the formation of a new nation.  A Declaration of Independence Gallery emphasizes the dramatic impact and relevance of this historic document and features a rare early broadside printing of the Declaration dating to July 1776, before a handwritten copy on parchment was signed by members of Congress. Exhibits also provide eyewitness accounts of the American Revolution and describe the convergence of forces on Yorktown in 1781 for the climactic military engagement of the Revolution. Outdoors, historical interpreters engage visitors in everyday life during the Revolutionary era. Visitors can learn about a soldier’s life in a re-created Continental Army encampment, and on a re-created 1780s farm help with chores such as weeding the garden and processing flax.

The America’s Historic Triangle vacation package includes lodging at one of a variety of Williamsburg area accommodations and unlimited visits with free parking to all five attractions during the package stay for up to seven days. In 2010, packages start at $335 per couple, based on a double occupancy, with a minimum two-night stay. A separate America’s Historic Triangle attraction admission ticket is available at $78.25 for adults (ages 18 and older) and $32.75 for children (ages 6-17).

For more information about America’s Historic Triangle vacation package, visit www.AmericasHistoricTriangle.com or call 1-888-463-0206. For information about America’s Historic Triangle ticket, visit www.historyisfun.org/Vacation-Packages.htm.

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MEDIA CONTACTS FOR “AMERICA’S HISTORIC TRIANGLE” DESTINATIONS:
Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Museums
Penna Rogers, (757) 220-7121 or progers@cwf.org

Historic Jamestowne & Yorktown Battlefield (National Park Service)
Mike Litterst, (757) 898-2409, mike_litterst@nps.gov

Historic Jamestowne (Preservation Virginia)
Tina Calhoun, (804) 648-1889, tcalhoun@preservationvirginia.org

Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Tracy Perkins, (757) 253-4114 or tracy.perkins@jyf.virginia.gov                                                          

1/2010