Climb Aboard a Steamer Wagon for a Historic Ride!
Yorktown & Co.’s tours provide a unique way of experiencing Historic Yorktown
By Julie Matthews / Images Courtesy of Yorktown & Co.
As of Summer 2024, Yorktown & Co. began offering Steamer Wagon Tours as a fun new way for visitors and locals to explore Historic Yorktown and its attractions from a different perspective. Participants are treated to a pleasant open-air ride sitting high on board a shiny red replica Stanley Steamer Wagon, touring the extraordinary grounds of the charming, historically rich region of Yorktown.
“We saw a gap between visitor experience in Yorktown Village and the NPS Battlefields, and we wanted to create a unique experience for bridging that gap,” says Celeste Gucanac, owner of Mobjack Bay Coffee Roasters and Petite Café and Little York Confectionery, home of Yorktown & Co., with her husband Jo. “We decided a bespoke tour vehicle would fulfill that need, so we had one built following NPS specifications for vehicles allowed on the tour roads, creating a new way to experience the area.”
The Steamer Wagon Tours offer an extraordinary experience for all age groups. These ADA-accessible tours last one hour and run daily throughout Historic Yorktown on an approximately 15-mile loop, passing by the Yorktown Village, the Colonial National Historical Park Battlefields, the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center and more. The tours are weather dependent, and tickets (with options ranging from $25 to $55 per person) can be purchased online at YorktownAndCompany.com or in person at Little York Confectionery. Buying tour tickets well in advance is highly recommended, as the tours fill up quickly. Children age 4 and under are free.
“Our tours are an enhanced way to experience the area,” says Celeste. “Yes, we believe you must see the places foundational to American History when visiting Yorktown, the Battlefields, Redoubts 9 & 10 and more…our tours allow all guests to experience these must see locations while riding in style.”
The Steamer Wagon Tours are National Park Service certified and permitted. “Once you are with us, you can be confident the information is accurate,” Celeste emphasizes. Celeste refers to their close collaboration with the National Park as a “fantastic partnership” with a shared goal to “maintain, preserve and create a unique destination in Yorktown Village and Colonial National Historical Park.”
Yorktown & Co.’s Steamer Wagon Tours depart from the heart of Historic Yorktown Village at Little York Confectionery located in the Somerwell house c. 1690 on Main Street. Before or after the tour, be sure to stop in at this quaint, nostalgic candy shop for some sweet treats from favorite candy brands to house-made chocolates to ice cream. Little York is the latest addition to the Colonial National Historical Park and is next door to Mobjack Bay Coffee Roasters and Petite Café in the Cole Digges House c 1726. The menu at Mobjack Bay includes a variety of fresh baked goods, wraps and sandwiches, tasty beverages and more. The shop’s tranquil outdoor seating area is an idyllic location to sip on a cup of coffee or tea, or enjoy a glass of wine or a beer, while appreciating the historic surroundings in Yorktown, including the gorgeous views of the York River.
This article: Climb Aboard a Steamer Wagon for a Historic Ride! has been curated from our friends at Go Williamsburg and the original in it's entirety can be found here: https://gowilliamsburg.com/climb-aboard-a-steamer-wagon-for-a-historic-ride/