THE TRIP- part 2

Day 3: July 11 Jamestown, Virginia (about 95 degrees and very humid.)

In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 Englishmen made a 5 month voyage to the banks of the James River to form a settlement in Virginia.

The site where they landed is now called Historic Jamestowne and is still used as an archeological dig site.

There are some foundations of original buildings, part of the church where Pocahontas married John Rolfe is still standing, and there's a really cool museum with tons of artifacts found on site.

Down the road from the landing site is a glasshouse which sits near the ruins of the original glasshouse.

Glass making was one of the early attempts at manufacturing in America. It didn't produce the profits they hoped for, but this re-creation gives us a good glimpse into the process.

They sell what they produce here- even ship it home for you if you want.

A bit farther down the road is the Jamestown Settlement. This is a visitors center with a museum, cafe and gift shop.

Outside is a re-created Indian Village, replica ships , and fort.

This is where we started our day and spent the most time.

Day 4: July 12 Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. (Topped out at 100 degrees. Have I mentioned that it is humid?)

After the introductory movie at the Visitors Center (Story of a Patriot starring Jack Lord, 1957), we crossed a bridge into the farm at Colonial Williamsburg. We saw tobacco and corn growing, heard the stories of slaves on the farm, and looked at the animals.

Then we walked into town to tour the Governor's Palace.

Got some cold lemonade and proceeded to the main street of the town.

We saw Bruton Parish Church- many of our founding fathers attended there.

We visited the magazine where the guns and powder were kept,

got in trouble near the courthouse,

checked into many businesses along the way,

and stopped for a bite at Shield's Tavern before going to the Capitol Building- also known as the House of Burgesses.

After that tour, we saw the jail (spelled gaol in those days) and the apothocary shop.

We ended our time at Merchants Square where the Christmas Shop is always a big hit.

Day 5: July 13 Yorktown, Virginia. (Cooler than yesterday- only 96. But still humid...)

Yorktown is the site of the final major battle of the Revolutionary War. We spent time in the Victory Center museum, re-created camp site, colonial farm, the battlefield museum, and the actual battlefield itself.

There are lots of things for kids to participate in here- from dress-up to gun demonstrations.

They had fun running around the battlefield

and then we went to lunch and headed north to our next destination- the Washington DC area.

More later.

THE TRIP- part 1

Day 1: July 9- Travel.

Yup. It takes about a day to get to the east coast. Partly because of the time change, and partly because the airlines don't believe in direct flights any more. They want us to spend money at other airports, so they give us a tour.

We got into Baltimore around 11pm, got the rental car (I heart Enterprise) and headed two blocks away to our motel.

Day 2: July 10- Richmond, Virginia. (Mid 90s and humid beyond belief.)

Richmond has a TON of history, so we had to pick and choose what to see on this trip and not overload our brains. We started at historic St. Johns Church which is the location of the famous Patrick Henry speech that ended with, "give me liberty, or give me death!" It is a functioning Episcopal church, but we were too jet-lagged to get up early enough to get to the service. We aimed instead for the Sunday afternoon re-enactment of the colonist meeting that brought the emotional Mr. Henry to his dramatic conclusion.

After all the observers were seated in the church, 6 or 7 costumed interpreters walked in. Some sat in the front, others sat amongst the observers. We were not allowed to video or photograph once the "meeting" began, but we got shots of them afterward.

The meeting was fascinating. Listening to our founding fathers discuss the issues of the day really put us in the moment. The King and Parliament were truly being unreasonable. What were they to do about it? And what of the activity in Boston? Did the Tea Party help or hinder their discussion with Britain?

I got chills listening to the whole of Patrick Henry's speech. I am pretty sure I was in agreement with him the entire time until he got the the "death" part. (Death? Really? Couldn't I just go hide in the hinterlands somewhere until all of this blows over? I promise I won't be in the way...)

The church is set on the highest point in Richmond, and right smack dab in a cemetery.

Oops- I should say graveyard. A graveyard is a burial ground within church grounds, a cemetery has no church. We saw graves of many famous people- Edgar Allen Poe's mother is buried here, as is George Wythe- a signer of the Declaration of Independence. (His death was under some suspicious circumstances- and his murderer was not prosecuted because the only witness was a slave and slaves could not testify!)

Even where you see no headstone, there's a grave under your feet. There is no room to bury here any more- the last burial was in the 1970s.

At the gift shop, I bought a book titled Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, A Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy. It's about a woman from Richmond whose family owned slaves, but she grew to see slavery as the evil that it is, so she worked from inside Richmond to help free slaves and to get messages to the Union during the war. I'm only about half-way through but it is fascinating. I love getting books when I travel- they are the best souvenirs.

After the church, we grabbed a bite at McD's and then went to see the Confederate White House and the Museum of the Confederacy.

There were tons of artifacts in the museum, and it was good to see the kids take such an interest- even if it was the museum of the losers.

That evening, we drove about an hour to Williamsburg, where we stayed for 3 days.

The girls had the hotel pool all to themselves and we unpacked and made ready to tackle Jamestown in the morning...

More later.