Williamsburg

So, today I am writing from Williamsburg, Virginia. We drove ten hours yesterday and arrived at our hotel last night just in time to have a nice dinner and plenty of time for the kids to swim. This morning we headed over to Williamsburg. We started with a movie about the beginnings of the American Revolution in Williamsburg. I thought it was well done and helped set the stage for what we were going to see later. Next, we started our tour at the Governor's Palace. Williamsburg was the capital of the colony from 1699 to 1780 so naturally, the Governor lived there and we were able to tour the house and grounds.

This is the fully operating kitchen. They were serving rabbit, beef, chicken, stewed pears, sweet potato tart and also pound cake (recipe: 1 pound each of flour, sugar, eggs and butter- yikes!)

The beautiful gardens included a maze. Next, we headed into town.

We put the rowdy ones in the stocks!

One of the first tradesmen we visited was the cobbler. One of the interesting things that he told us was that he didn't make pairs of shoes with a left and right shoe. Each customer would get a pair of identical shoes which then shaped themselves to the customer's own left and right feet. Also, he uses no glue- only stitches and wooden pegs.

After lunch, we went to hear a speech by "Thomas Jefferson". It was amazing! He spoke to us from the year 1812. He even took questions from the audience and spoke about Lewis and Clark, his relationship with John Adams, the architecture of the White House, his feelings about slavery and his commentary highlighted the similarities between 2012 and 1812. This was Mike's favorite part.

Posing with Jefferson....

We also visited the Weaver. She told us about the process of spinning wool and also explained how labor intensive cotton was. It took over 100 hours of labor to get enough cotton to make a tea towel.

This is the magazine where the weapons were stored. We were able to see bayonets up close.

This is the Cooper- he was a barrel of fun!

We also visited the cabinet maker which was next to the brickyard.

My favorite was the wig maker. Wigs were made from the hair of horses, goats, yaks and humans. We were trying to imagine what Mike would look like wearing a wig!

While Abigail and I were shopping, the boys visited the blacksmith.

Abigail wore her own outfit but was trying on a cap from Colonial times.

There was a drum and fife procession. We also heard a skit where a colonist loyal to the King of England was almost tarred and feathered!

It was hard for me to wrap my head around how big Williamsburg is before we came. This is a photo of tremain street. It was such a pretty day!

We knew some prisoners in the Gaol (jail).

Waiting for the shuttle to get back to our car.....

Abigail was super excited to ride the shuttle!

It was a great day and we learned a lot. Now we are tired......

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