Afternoon: Check In, Welcome Class: "Introduction to Williamsburg and Colonial Williamsburg" Get an overview of the area and its rich history, which stretches from the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown through the revolutionary battlefields of Yorktown and the great James River plantations. This class will focus on the area immediately around Williamsburg and how the town was transformed from a sleepy small college town to a world renowned living history museum.

Dinner: Dinner

Evening: Program Overview, Introductions, Group Riding Tips

Lodging: Clarion Hotel Historic District

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast

Morning: Class: "Jamestown: Virginia's First Colonial Capital" Learn about the founding of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Explore the interactions between the colonists and the powerful Powhatan Confederation of the local Indians. Here in 1619 the first representative legislative body in North America met and established many of the governmental traditions that we continue to this day. Here also the first African Americans arrived in Virginia as indentured servants. Activity: Review of Virginia Road Rules for Biking; Bike Fitting Field Trip: "Bike to Jamestown Settlement" This trip follows the picturesque Colonial Parkway along the shores of the James River, the original "highway" sailed by the first colonists. Stop at several pull-offs with historical markers to discover more details about life in early English America. The route will end at Jamestown Settlement with its recreated depictions of the earliest Indian and colonial life.

Lunch: Box lunch

Afternoon: Field Trip: "Jamestown Settlement" Enjoy a self-guided exploration of this site which includes a newly renovated museum with interactive permanent galleries and special loaned exhibits, along with a recreation of a typical Powhatan Indian village, a replication of the fort built by the English adventurers on nearby Jamestown Island, and replicas of the three ships used by the first colonists in 1607. Afterwards, bike over to Jamestown Island, actual site of that original fort. Tour the Visitor Center newly built for the 400th Anniversary celebrated in 2007, observe archaeologists uncovering the remains of the fort and its buildings, and be amazed by the incredible artifacts recovered from the fort site as they are interpreted in the Archaearium. Finish your visit to Historic Jamestowne by biking around the Island Loop Road.

Dinner: Dinner

Evening: Performance: "Rare Colonial Instruments" Enjoy the marvelous talents of a skilled musician as he plays and discusses a variety of 18th century instruments, some familiar and others very unusual.

Lodging: Clarion Hotel Historic District

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast at your leisure

Morning: Class: "Williamsburg" Take an in-depth look at the town that became Virginia's capital in 1699, exploring its beginnings, its society in black and white, and the institutions that made it the center of life in Colonial Virginia. Learn about some of the landed gentry who came to Williamsburg as students, teachers, or legislators and found themselves debating freedom as they became our founding fathers. Field Trip: "Colonial Williamsburg" Enjoy a casual guided walk along Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg. Learn about the government buildings, trade shops, gardens, and lives of the people of 18th century Williamsburg. After this stroll through the historic area, remount your bikes for a leisurely ride around some of the streets and by-ways of the town and the campus of the College of William & Mary.

Lunch: Lunch at hotel

Afternoon: FREE AFTERNOON

Dinner: Dinner

Evening: Free Evening. Information will be provided about a variety of activities you can enjoy on your own. Transportation is not provided.

Lodging: Clarion Hotel Historic District

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast

Morning: Class: "Cultural Ecology of the James River" Learn about the interaction of climate, geography, flora, fauna and human inhabitants of Tidewater Virginia. The discussion includes an investigation of the native populations of the region and how they had adapted to their environment prior to the coming of the first English settlers. Field Trip: "Virginia Capital Trail" Take an leisurely ride along this new Virginia bike trail as it parallels the Route 5 Scenic Byway. The smoothly paved trail will eventually connect Virginia's three capitals of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmond. Excursion will travel on portion of the trail in Charles City County and also include side trips on local country roads, all level or gently rolling.

Lunch: Lunch at the delightful Courthouse Grill, featuring local menu favorites.

Afternoon: Field Trip: "Berkeley Plantation and Virginia Capital Trail" Take a break from peddling at historic Berkeley Plantation, ancestral home of the Harrison family of Virginia that gave our country early statesmen and two presidents. Time will be included for a tour of the house and grounds. Afterwards, finish biking this segment of the Virginia Capital Trail before returning to Williamsburg in the van.

Dinner: Dinner

Evening: Performance: "A Visit with Marye Bucke, 1623" Enjoy the company of a seventeenth century gentlewoman as she describes her life in the growing Virginia colony as it refines its culture after the upheaval of the Indian uprising of 1620. Learn about the daily life of a lady of the early seventeenth century along with the latest gossip about politics and local notables.

Lodging: Clarion Hotel Historic District

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast at your leisure

Morning: Class: "The Siege of Yorktown" Learn about the military operations that brought an end to the American Revolution. An expert lecturer will explain the action and introduce you to Washington, Lafayette, and the French allies who found the perfect combination of forces to defeat Lord Cornwallis in the fields and earthworks along the York River. Field Trip: "Bike to Yorktown" Once again take to the Colonial Parkway, heading in the opposite direction from Jamestown, along a gently rolling, tree shaded road that closely follows the routes of armies in two different wars. Eventually your route meets the York River and follows the river's southern shore, past the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station where you may see ships loading or unloading at the docks. End at the earthworks around Yorktown that mark the decisive battle of the Revolution.

Lunch: Boxed Lunch

Afternoon: Field Trip: "Yorktown Visitor Center, Battlefield, and Riverwalk Landing" After time to explore the Visitor Center exhibits, bike over to Surrender Field where the British fifers played "The World Turned Upside Down" during the formal surrender ceremony. Then follow the 9-mile Battlefield trail and cycle through the quaint Yorktown village and down to the newly renovated waterfront. Return to the hotel in the van.

Dinner: Dinner

Evening: Performance: "An Evening of African-American Storytelling and Music" Enjoy three centuries of storytelling traditions and the African roots that so influenced American music. Learn of the trials and fortitude of a people who preserved their traditions in spite of their bondage. This is a captivating performance by a talented storyteller who intersperses her tales with songs delivered in a rich and moving voice.

Lodging: Clarion Hotel Historic District

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast

Morning: Field Trip: "New Quarter Park" Enjoy a last leisurely ride that includes part of the Colonial Parkway, tree-lined residential streets, and bikeways through a local park. While you will enjoy some delightful scenery and perhaps notice a little wildlife in the secluded park, the trip along gently rolling terrain will leave you comfortable for the trip home afterwards.

Lunch: Boxed Lunch for the trip home

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch