RV Parks Near Water Country USA and Williamsburg, VA

First Published at Livestrong.org/Demand Media Studios.

Overview

Williamsburg, Virginia, offers something for everyone, from adventures at theme parks like Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. Other visitors enjoy golf, biking and even bowling. RV parks in the area offer basketball and volleyball courts, shuffleboard, horseshoes and other active pursuits.

Wet and Wild

Water Country USA, with its over 30 water rides and attractions, is never far away. But at the end of the day, you can also relax by a pool near your campsite.

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An American Odyssey – A Tale of a Trip and a Missing Tiki

Previously published in Sun-by-the-Sea It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. That pretty much sums up last summer. A trip of a lifetime, followed by a totaled car, three broken bones, and months of limited mobility. But I can live with that. The cross-country trip had been in the back of our minds for years, something we would do when the kids were old enough (but not too old). There were so many things we wanted to see. My husband, Troy wanted to surf in San Diego, and I wanted to sip wine in Sonoma. It was a someday kind of thing, contingent upon getting time off work and finding the money. In short, it was one of those things we thought we’d talk about a lot, and probably never do. But the stars aligned last spring. Troy’s grandmother, Nen, left us a small nest egg. The kids aged (but not too much), and we were restless, bored. It was time to leave my job with a local newspaper (that shall remain nameless), and Troy needed a new perspective, so when he managed to get one month off from work, I started planning. Westward Bound When the time came, we crammed the minivan from top to bottom with camping gear and a bunch of other stuff we didn’t need, and like many adventurers before us, we set our sites west. Unlike early pioneers, however, we had Google maps, cell phones, reservations and air conditioning. It was a fact, not lost on our children as we crossed the Mojave Desert with the car thermometer, reading 114 degrees. “I’m glad I’m not in a horse and wagon,” my youngest, Katie said. But every day brought something new. We explored underground caves at Luray Caverns in Virginia. We hiked and swam in waterfall pools in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we strolled among Blue Grass fiddlers on Main Street in Floyd. We rocked it out in Memphis to Elvis and blues bands on Beale Street, and we kicked up our heels in Texas. We marveled at nature’s towering red rock sculptures in Monument Valley, climbed ladders into ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and gaped into the Grand Canyon. And all that was in the first week. When we set up camp in San Onofre for our first night in California, we were in a fog of road fatigue, but we couldn’t stop smiling. The next week was a Southern California dream of sunning, swimming, surfing, and cold drinks by the campfire, punctuated with visits to San Diego and LA. At night, the Pacific Ocean sang us to sleep with a familiar lullaby. Next, we headed north to hug giant sequoia trees in fairytale forests. In Yosemite, we took chilly dips in mountain springs and had several too-close-for-comfort bear encounters, before arriving in San Francisco, ready for a break from roughing it. My dad’s cousin Jerry played host on a four-day culture and culinary tour of that amazing town. Every day, we looked at each other in awe that it was really happening. And we tried to ignore the ominous feeling that somewhere down the road there would be a karmic price to pay. How could we possibly be so lucky? A Short Trip And then it happened—exactly what I feared, and when we least expected it. In San Francisco’s Mission District, I aimed my camera at Mission Dolores, took one step forward over the curb and crumbled in the gutter with my right foot throbbing. A Jerry encouraged me to see a doctor, but I had better things to do. Instead, I wrapped the foot, took ibuprofen and headed to Sonoma for wine-tasting, cane in hand. It was just sprained, I told myself, it will get better. And it did. Sort of. At least it didn’t hold us back. I limped along the Oregon trail and at Sutters Mill where the Gold Rush began. I viewed bison at a Wyoming ranch and marveled at miles and miles of corn in Nebraska. I posed with Abe Lincoln in Springfield and toured Tom Sawyer’s home in Hannibal. And it wasn’t until we had crossed the North Wildwood bridge that I admitted to myself that maybe I did need to see a doctor. Within a week, I was recovering from foot surgery— a fractured metatarsal. And that’s not all. A Totaled Wagon and a Missing Tiki Four days later, while on the way to lunch we were broadsided in Wildwood Crest by another car. Our “Conestoga” van was totaled, and I was damaged–unable to crutch and stuck in a wheelchair for two months. Four days later, my son Emmett broke his arm. Three weeks later, my daughter Anna broke her finger, and several times during the ordeal, my loving husband almost lost his mind. “Stop saying it could be worse,” my friend, Suzanne warned. But it really could have been. We might not have made it home. We might not have gone at all. My theory on the disastrous finale to our dreamy trip is you have to take the good with the bad, and the very good with the very bad. Another theory is that we mistakenly brought home a Tiki, and like Bobby Brady in Hawaii, we are doomed until it’s returned. For now, however, the curse seems to have subsided. We are all mostly back to normal, though I admit, I am still looking for that Tiki, and if I find it…and if we can get the time off work and the money…I would be glad to return it to wherever it belongs.

Lucy Lou’s Baking from the Heart

The neon heart in the window of Lucy Lou’s pink bake shop tells it all. Baking is Susan Scully’s first love. The former echocardiographer once performed ultrasounds on the hearts of patients, but now she warms the hearts of customers in the retro-style sweetshop she opened on New Jersey Avenue this spring. Scully said she decided to pursue her degree in culinary arts when her youngest daughter began attending school full time. Scully went back to school as well, enrolling in Atlantic Cape Community College’s Culinary Arts Program. She received Gold Medal Culinary Arts Degree from the Academy last spring, she said, but cooking has always been her passion. “I’ve been baking since I was 19,” Scully said. “It’s something that always came very natural to me.” And to see her in a chef’s jacket amid the apple green display cases and tools of the trade, it’s easy to see that’s true. The newly-renovated storefront is decorated with Fifties memorabilia and vintage baking tools and supplies. Black and white photos of Lucy and Ethel from the classic I Love Lucy television show adorn the walls. And behind the counter is a wall of vintage photos of Scully’s family, including her Grandmother Louise and her great-grandmother Lucy for whom the shop is named. “My grandmother was an excellent baker,” Scully said. And she coached Scully through culinary school by critiquing her pies and sharing advice on how to improve a recipe. Scully received a gold medal at graduation for the apple pie she perfected under her grandmother’s tutelage, but Grandmom Louise passed away eight weeks before the ceremony, Scully said. “I wanted her to see the gold medal…to honor her,” Scully said, but since her grandmother couldn’t be there, she named the shop after her instead. Scully is passing down recipes and a love of baking to a new generation, as well. Her daughters, Morgan, 12, and Mackenzie, 9, are important contributors to her new venture. When the shop opened earlier this month, a small section of the one baking case was dedicated to a custom cupcake display. From that case, customers pick from of a selection of cupcakes and then chose which frosting and topping will tickle their taste buds. The build-your-own cupcake display began with a choice of chocolate or vanilla, but it has taken on a life of its own and grown to include varieties like chocolate marshmallow and coconut. There are nearly 20 flavor available now, Scully said and the display occupies a full seven foot case. “It keeps growing,” Scully said, mainly because of the creative influences of her daughters. Morgan “more or less runs the front of the store,” Scully said, and considers the cupcake exhibit to be “her baby.” “I let her do it,” Scully said. “She knows more than me what people would like.” The proof of that is the way the cupcake bar has caught on. “It’s very, very popular,” she said, drawing families from offshore who come in search of sweets. One local mom who tried out the cupcake bar with her t-ball team said it was a great alterative to a trip to the ice cream parlor. “It’s something different,” she said. And for those who crave more sophisticated sweets, Scully is eager to please. She makes and ever-changing selection of pies that includes a traditional ricotta pie, a key lime pie and a variety of fruit pies, including her award winning apple. Mini-pies are also available for those who can’t decide. “Someone can come in and say, ‘I want cherry. I want apple. Oh just give me one of everything,’” Scully said. Customers can also phone-in orders to make sure the pie they want is available. For the month of June, the shop will be open from Thursday through Monday, and Scully expects that after that, they will be open seven days a week throughout the summer. It’s been a lot of hard work for Scully and her husband Paul and their daughters, but it’s worth it, she said. “I’m having a ball,” she said.