My family really enjoys Colonial Williamsburg and the nearby Jamestown site. We've spent many days in Gettysburg (we used to do Civil War reenactments) and I highly recommend the Jenny Wade house there, the visitor's center, and a guided tour of the cemetery monuments and the battlefield.
If you're open to going north a bit, there's tons of historical stuff in Boston. The tea party ship, the USS Constitution, the Freedom Trail, Bunker Hill monument... Then there's old Sturbridge Village in central Mass. which is a large scale recreated village from the 1830's, with people doing actual spinning, blacksmith work, gardening, etc.
hth!
Lorel
