Thursday, July 30, 2009

The Search for A Good Place To Eat in Williamsburg

Williamsburg is a strange place.  A community that dates back to the early days of the English colonization of America, the town now makes its living through the glorification of the good old days. To paraphrase Colonial Williamsburg's motto:  "So the future can earn from the past!" Besides the local community of history workers, William and Mary college professionals and students, and a newly arrived flood of northern retirees, millions of tourists visit each year to experience the pleasures of hot, sweaty historical reenactments, thrill rides at Busch Gardens, and avant garde shopping at the numerous outlet malls.  As a consequence, food is a big part of the Williamsburg experience...the good, the bad, and the downright awful.

The title for this blog was lifted from the name of a restaurant once run by Colonial Williamsburg in Merchants Square.  The restaurant was geared towards fast food/cafeteria items for the school bus crowds that used to flock into the historic area.  As you can imagine, it really was anything but a good place to eat.  Fortunately, that eatery is now defunct but its name still haunts my sensibilities about the greater Williamsburg dining experiences.  In the future, I intend to log my experiences, reactions, and recommendations in this space.  I have no preconceived audience--I hope only to entertain myself--in reporting on the search for good food.  I expect to host occasional guest reviewers who share similar interests.  Soup's on!

1 comment:

  1. Hi, I'm a friend of your son's, he "tweeted" about your blog. I'm from Williamsburg (did 5th - 12th grade there), and I remember "A Good Place to Eat." I was one of those mopey local townie kids in a hoodie that would congregate and sit on the steam vents through the cold winter in Merchant's Square.

    Invariably, a tourist would ask us, "do you know where a good place to eat is?" And we'd silently point them to what was basically a re-branded Burger King -- pretty good ploy on the part of AGPTE really. Had we managed to point about 30 degrees further left, they would have actually found the Trellis -- a good place to eat, and not A Good Place to Eat.

    For these consistent referrals, my friends and I procured a long roll of 16 oz. paper cups from AGPTE's storage closet in the basement and enjoyed free "refills" of soda for the next two years.

    Can't wait to read more on your blog!! :)

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