THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 35 lines
Regarding ``The high cost of Virginia history'' (letter, Aug. 20) complaining about the cost of visiting Jamestown and Williamsburg and the unavailability of public entertainment in Hampton Roads:
For more than 10 years I have been conducting free tours for visiting Rotarians from as far away as New Zealand and Portsmouth, England. Never has a visitor balked at the price of admission to any of these attractions, which they paid for.
The tickets to Colonial Williamsburg are the best bargain in town - $22 provides entry to Colonial crafts, residences, the Capitol, The Governor's Palace. And, now get this, the ticket entitles the buyer to free frequent bus service anywhere in Colonial Williamsburg. Added to those bargains, the ticket includes lunch at one's choice of the inns and restaurants in luxurious settings of historic importance and beauty. Lunch at The Inn or Kings Arms - either tavern is worth twice the ticket price.
Visit the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and taste its special Colonial cuisine. Many visitors foolishly skip this wealth of historic furnishings, silver, textiles, porcelain and a bookstore where one can browse in privacy.
There is more to Jamestown and Yorktown than the ticketed attractions. At both sites the National Park Service operates free tours and a gift shop whose bargains are unequaled in America.
The telephone directory green pages have money-saving coupons to Colonial Williamsburg. The National Park Service has lifetime passes free to senior citizens.
JEROME E. BLAIR JR.
Chesapeake, Aug. 22, 1996 by CNB