Since a good family friend named Steven Walsh was visiting from Ireland, we thought we'd show him a side of America he'd never seen. It seemed like a good idea.

Steven drove with his girlfriend in the passenger seat, with Trinity and I being content with our generous portion of space in the backseat. On the car ride there, we busied ourselves with listening to music, reading, and talking. Four hours later (one of those hours being a direct result of taking various scenic routes), our car approached the town of Williamsburg. We wondered what hidden treasure we would discover in this small remote town in Virginia. A town called a tourist attraction, which seemed to be devoid of any tourists.

After the long drive we pulled into the large empty parking lot of the town�s infamous Antique Barn. We went inside and looked at some overly priced trinkets in glass casing. You'd think that these things were actually important to some people since a teddy bear ran anywhere from $50-$150. I ended up buying the hardback of Timeline by Michael Crichton for $3.95 plus tax. We left here a little curious as to what other wonders this mystery town had to offer.

The next stop was the Pottery Factory and the Garden Center. We didn't exactly feel like going inside, so we drove through the parking lot and ended up in an abandoned area with dumpsters and old rusted grocery carts. Since we were ridiculously hungry, we decided we�d just have a picnic here. We took some pictures of us sitting on the old concrete ground with the rusted grocery carts behind us with two large dumpsters and a large pile of trash in the not-too-distant background. We got some good laughs from this. Near the end of our picnic, storm clouds overhead threatened to rain on us, and we would have welcomed it at this point

After this we went to the Williamsburg Outlet Mall. We were having a peculiarly great time now because we couldn't stop laughing at how sad this town was. We went into a Christian bookstore in the outlet mall and I got Sixpence None the Richer's Divine Discontent. This outlet mall had about 5-10 people shopping in it and had large tumbleweeds blowing the length of the empty interior. We left from here and planned our next big thrill�

Parked in back of The Doll Factory, Steven and I stayed in the car and allowed my sister and Steven's girlfriend to go inside and have a look at the dolls. We put the air conditioner on full, reclined in our seats and let Sixpence�s Tension is a Passing Note lull us to deep and contented relaxation.

In attempts to go see the Atlantic Ocean since it was relatively close to Williamsburg, we got lost and stumbled across a different side of town. A side of town that had historic buildings and souvenir shops lining the streets. Happy people littered the brick laden roads as they made there way between attractions. Couples could be seen enjoying a romantic dinner in one of the various old colonial styled restaurants. Our car drove through within the safe parameters of the 15mph speed limit as we past children happily plodding along beside their parents taking in the wonder of this town. With heads drooping from sleep we noticed the day seemed to have cleared and the sun had finally come out from behind the clouds. It was as if a new day had dawned and we were still hung over from the night before. Needless to say, we didn�t stop to find out how much better this side of Williamsburg was than the one we had experienced.

With everyone in need of sleep, I volunteered to make the 3-hour trip back home. I stopped and got a 44-ounce cup of Coke, and I bared right onto the interstate and half paid attention to the road as Timeline was being read to me from the backseat. After about half of the trip, the designated reader fell asleep and the car fell silent except for the sound of the scenery slipping by. Left to my thoughts, I put the car on cruise control and felt the tugging anticipation of the place I currently call home.