Vacations Blog

John F. Kennedy bust at Presidents Park in Williamsburg, Virginia

It’s inauguration time and if welcoming in our nations next president means a family trip to our nation’s capitol you may also like to visit Presidents Park in Williamsburg, Virginia. Except for the one in South Dakota, or the new one in Texas, it would be hard to find a location that proudly displays eighteen foot tall busts of all our former presidents. It is quite a display and it left me wondering just how many pounds of concrete were used to sculpt all those presidential noses. I also thought the chip in JFK’s head was a little tacky.

The presidential statues are arranged in chronological order along a winding and tree lined concrete path. They offer several color-coded self-guided tours that focus on several topics including:

18 Foot Tall Presidential Busts at Presidents Park in Williamsburg, Virginia

• The Constitution and The Bill of Rights
• Protecting The Nation
• Human Rights, Civil Rights, Slavery
• Religion
• Assassinations and Near Misses

The themes are non-partisan and very well done. The entire park is a fun and stress free educational experience and this is definitely an excellent alternative to sitting down with a textbook and looking at pictures of funny looking old guys. I really like this place and I give a big thumbs up to the sculptor David Adickes.

The site includes a presidential pet museum, replicas of inaugural ball gowns, and a replica of the Oval Office where you can pay to have a picture taken with a cardboard cutout of the president.

If you get hungry you can dine in the Air Force One Café and then a quick stop at the gift shop will fulfill all of your presidential shopping needs.

No word on when they will be adding the Obama statue but you can buy your own if you want.

Photo Credits: Photos by or adapted from photos by D.B. King

Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, is the author of the critically acclaimed book Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide To Living Cheaply In San Francisco. Stuart has been busy the past year writing another ‘living cheaply’ guide – for New York.

He lived in NYC and tramped the streets, put up with friends, hunted down cheap eats and bars with happy hour drinks and free food, and in general, experienced how it feels to be ‘young, broke and beautiful’ in the Big Apple. The book is due out in November. I asked him a few questions which might help you out if you’re stuck in a bad spot in NYC. Even if you have no such problems, follow his tips and your New York vacations will be memorable, to say the least. Read More »