16. Marl Inn
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 898-3859
Address: 220 Church St.
Description: This charming bed-and-breakfast, just 20 minutes from Colonial Williamsburg, adds another layer of experience to your tour of the Historic Triangle—owner Tom Nelson is a descendant of Thomas Nelson, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Nelson operates this bed and breakfast with his wife, Poppet. There are four guest rooms, and a full breakfast is provided—unless you don’t want one. The Nelsons will take $20 off the room rate if you’d prefer the continental breakfast they lay out in the dining room. (Poppet Nelson reports 80 percent of the guests take the continental breakfast option!) The Marl Inn is child- and pet-friendly (The Nelsons have two dogs of their own). There is no smoking.
17. Moss Cottage
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 715-2007
Address: 224 Nelson St.
Description: A charming one-bedroom colonial cottage is only a short walk to the beach and Riverwalk’s restaurants, gift shops, antiques shops, art galleries, and historic attractions. Fully furnished with complete kitchen, living area, dining area, breakfast nook, and private brick patio, this makes a lovely setting for a honeymoon, anniversary, or romantic getaway. No smoking or pets are allowed.
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 209 Ambler St.
19. Founding Fathers
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 875-1776
Description: This shop, owned by the same folks as Stars and Stripes Forever across the plaza, features an array of historically themed home decor and furnishings; a year-round Christmas shop; regional foods for gifts; and a collection of books covering the area’s history. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
20. Gin Tail Antiques
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 890-1335
Address: 114 Ballard St.
Description: Antiques lovers will enjoy this shop’s gallery of Americana and folk art. It specializes in 18th- and 19th-century furniture and accessories, including rugs, ceramics, and animal art. Gin Tail is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wed through Sat and noon to 4 p.m. Sun.
21. Kinks & Quirks Contemporary Handcrafts
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 877-8787
Address: 327 Water St.
Description: This second location of the popular Williamsburg gallery-and-gift shop carries equally funky, arty, and unique art, jewelry, home furnishings, and more.
22. Nancy Thomas Gallery
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 898-0738, (877) 645-0601
Address: 145 Ballard St.
Description: A master folk artist with a national reputation (Whoopi Goldberg once commissioned a set of 12 monthly plaques) and a presence in museums and films (her work can be seen in Jessica Lange’s apartment in Tootsie), Nancy Thomas calls Yorktown her home. This fascinating shop is where you will find her nationally acclaimed works on display: paintings, wood plaques and sculptures, freestanding whimsical animals, angels, trees, wreaths, Christmas decorations, and a variety of textiles and ceramics. The gallery also carries primitive antiques and a line of custom-upholstered furniture. A second Nancy Thomas Gallery is in Williamsburg’s Merchants Square. The Yorktown store is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon through Sat, and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sun.
23. Period Designs
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 886-9482
Address: 401 Main St.
Description: Stop in and check out the wide variety of reproductions of 17th- and 18th-century decorative arts as well as some high-quality antiques from the same period. The shop—housed in the restored circa 1710 Mungo Somerwell House—was started by three friends, all William and Mary graduates. Michelle Erickson creates historically accurate ceramics for museums, while Virginia Lascara makes period frame moldings and floor cloths. Robert Hunter is an antiques dealer who also designs historical products. This shop carries fine floor coverings, ceramics, and furniture as well as items in tin, brass, leather, iron, and glass. Its framing service is museum quality. Period Designs is open Tues through Sat 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sun noon to 5 p.m.
24. Stars And Stripes Forever
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 898-0288
Description: You can’t have as much patriotic history in an area without having a patriotic gift shop, right? Stars and Stripes, on the water side of Riverwalk Landing, has the gamut of patriotic and government-themed gifts. Memorabilia and souvenirs from various military branches? Check. Tongue-in-cheek commentary on today’s politics? Got it. Braying donkeys and trumpeting elephants? That, too (the stuffed kind—not members of Congress).
25. Swan Tavern Antiques
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 898-3033
Address: 300 Main St.
Description: This fine shop, housed in a charming re-created structure, offers one of the finest collections of antiques in the area. The collection concentrates on 18th-century English items and furniture, candlesticks, prints, and accessories. The items are of the highest quality, and each is a prize find. Swan Tavern also has a wide selection of miniatures that the owner has collected, plus boxwoods that he grew at his Lisburne home. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon through Sat, Sun 12:30 to 5 p.m.
26. The Watermen’S Museum Gift Shop
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 888-2623
Address: 309 Water St.
Description: This excellent shop on the museum’s grounds offers a variety of interesting and unusual items, showcasing local artists and artisans and featuring items related to the water. You will find many pieces in here to be cherished as high-quality souvenirs or as gifts for those to whom Yorktown and the Chesapeake Bay are important. The shop is open Tues through Sat from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sun from 1 to 4 p.m.; during winter months, the museum and shop are only open on weekends.
27. The Yorktown Shoppe
City: Yorktown, VA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (757) 898-2984
Address: 402 Main St.
Description: In this small shop you will find a number of items appropriate to the setting and period to which Yorktown is a monument. There are fine carvings and paintings, replica and whimsical houses, pierced lanterns, Old World Santas, special clothes, a variety of wrought-iron items, and the extremely popular Old World balance toys, in which a figure balances on a horizontal bar. The Yorktown Shoppe is the exclusive holder of Marlene Whiting’s series of Yorktown houses. Whiting’s Brandywine Collectibles also includes the 16-piece Williamsburg set. The shop carries Linda Bennett’s unique-buttoned dresses, plus pewter ornaments carved by local artists. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon through Sat, 1 to 5 p.m. Sun.