American Revolution Museum at Yorktown — Attraction in Gloucester Point

We loved our visit here! The museums in this area of Virginia are always so beautiful and have lots to see and learn about.

I'm going to get my single complaint out of the way first. The two gentlemen at the ticket counters weren't very attentive and were sitting on their cell phones. The man who handled our tickets didn't even look up from his phone until we were standing right in front of him and didn't bother to put on any customer service "face" so to speak.

We came on Easter Sunday maybe 30-45 minutes after doors opened and it wasn't at all busy. It was easy to walk around and really immerse yourself into the exhibits without shuffling through dozens of other people or curious kiddos with curious fingers. We were able to actually interact first hand with the reenactors in the outdoor exhibits, ask questions and have good conversation with them. Every single actor we saw and spoke to was lovely!

I didn't get their names, but the gentleman in the surgeons tent gave my family and I a thorough rundown on how medical care would have gone in the camps and how troops had their ailments treated. We were able to pick up and take close looks at the tools. He answered all the questions we had and clearly knew his stuff!

There were two women, one working in the garden that allowed my daughter to aid her in watering the vegetables and "thinning the radishes". There was another woman out towards the enslaved people's quarters that also gave us a good run through on how corn flour and other cooking/baking aids were prepared with mortar and pestle. They were both lovely and really gave my daughter a special experience we wouldn't have otherwise gotten on a busy day due to the crowds.

Overall, our visit was fantastic. The museum was clean and easy to walk through and the actors genuinely enjoy their work. Definitely a must see if you're...

The entire family had an amazing experience here. They have a great exhibit indoors, with a lot of information presented in a very clear and interesting way, including a couple of films.

More importantly, their outside exhibit is unbelievable. They have a sample Indian village of that time on display, with live guides that do a lot of things typical for the Indians of that time and are very happy to explain how things are done and why they're done in this specific way. These guides are very knowledgeable, one of them engaged me for a good 30 minutes with a conversation contrasting Roman, medieval European and Indian societal and economic structure. He really felt comfortable and very much interested in the conversation.

They also have copies of the three ships that originally arrived at Jamestown on the water in the outside exhibit. The biggest one was open for visitors, all my kids (ages 6-15) enjoyed the ship very much. One of the guides even played with us a card game, typical for the time.

Finally, the outside exhibit has a fort, very much like the one originally constructed by the settlers. We were fortunate to catch a demo there from one of the guides using weaponry of the time (in our case it was a musket), and he also was very happy to answer questions and engaged in a prolonged conversation about the history of weapons and how they were used around that time period by both the English and the Indians.

Amazing time, very much recommend you come here. They have state regulations that if lightning strikes nearby, they close the outside exhibit. If this is what happens to you, you can come back the next day and they will let you in for free.

It is useful to know that they also have a joint ticket to this museum and the Yorktown museum of the American revolution with a...

Thoroughly enjoyed, especially the outside portion. They had a camp that was very interactive. We could go in the soldier and officers tents, which sometimes had camp desks or supplies. The surgeon was at their tent with all their supplies spread out which my kids were able to touch and get explanations of. Someone was working the kitchen, there were hourly musket demonstrations, a man signed my son up for the militia and even gave him some "continental currency" as a sign up bonus Also back there was a working farm, actively growing squash, tobacco, and corn while we were there. We could go in all places, including the house, tobacco drying shed, and separate kitchen. Chickens were pretty. The inside gallery was fantastic, great videos, lots of interactive and focus on the people who lived it. One interactive area was a table where we could command an army at a real battle! You can choose your side, your formation, give some battle commands, and at the end you see how the battle actually went down. There's even a versus! Don't worry, I'm a great general and won all 4 battles. Huzzah! My complaints: the gallery needs floor patch signs or something to make it clearer which direction I'm supposed to walk, I ended up having to double back after missing a section. And the first gallery is a multi room thing dedicated to the sponsoring couple of the museum. That's very nice, but odd. Did not really care about this couples door handles when I was here to learn about the revolution? Maybe it was a stipulation with their donation? The intro video was great, well filmed and such a...