Williamsburg, Virginia: Rotting President Heads

This was a little pricey but if you're a history buff, want great photo ops, or a teacher (like me), then this place is well worth the visit.

We spent about an hour reading the placards on each president - and taking pictures of course! This is the oval office and you have to pay $5 to use your own camera to take as many pictures as you would like...no one was working back there so we snuck by the desk to get a cool picture with the Obamas. Speaking of, the staff there did not know when Obama's statue would be erected.

The gift shop is truly lacking in merchandise. Even some of the postcards weren't that great - however, they have popular president postcards you can buy if you forget your camera.

The park is open until 5 pm or 6 pm daily depending on the month (open later in the summer months). The presidents are large -- only a few have noticeable defects. The most peculiar part is that some of the busts have nose pieces for glasses, but no glasses. Only Harry S Truman's bust has glasses.

In addition to the busts, there are signs which tell biographical info about the president, important things that he did, interesting facts about the president or his family, and then some quotes.

At the beginning, inside, there is a replica of the Oval Office (they claim you have to pay to take a picture of it... but we managed to avoid the cost), and a movie (we skipped it).

Obama is not there, although there is space if they choose to pay for his bust.

We enjoyed the "park" depite the fact it was about 100 degrees and the presidential busts were not displayed in what I envisioned as a park-like setting. I was hoping the statues would have been placed in a more stately setting with more trees and grass. That being said, I learned quite a bit from the written descriptions at the base of each president. For instance, little trivial things such as the height and weight of the presidents. I also learned much more on a DVD series which was playing in the welcome center where I sat and cooled off on this hot day. The DVD is available for sale in the gift shop. I bought it and have enjoyed watching and learning casually at home about our presidents.

I found the park to be quiet interesting. There was a lot of personal info about the presidents other than the "usual" factoids. I'm not sure why the creator felt this a necessary project but I enjoyed my visit and would recommend it to anyone traveling thru the area. George Jr. is the last head, and I asked the owner of the park who was on the grounds that day if there was room for expansion and he said that was still in the planning stages....who will it be? There is a snack bar and picnic tables so you can eat/drink and bask in Presidential history. Season Passes are also available.

On March 1st, another Presidents Park opened -- this one outside Williamsburg, Virginia. The tourist attraction features huge sculptures of the heads of all 43 US Presidents, the work of artist David Adickes....