2nd weekend in Colonial Williamsburg - Day 1238 (Year 4, Day 143)

Williamsburg, VA

So much exploring to do in the area.  As I mentioned in a previous post, we plan to take things slowly rather than push ourselves past our physical limits trying to squeeze everything in in one day.  That being said... (this will be a very long post).

First, a side note: there is an arctic freeze covering most of the country and temps are 10-20 degrees below normal in most places, including here.  We've had to leave the water dripping and the heat pump switched to furnace.  Very, very cold days and it's not even the height of winter yet.

Mitch was off on Friday so we planned to go to Colonial Williamsburg (hereafter "CW") for a few hours, and focus on just one area, at least to get a feel for the lay of the land.  We made the challah on Thursday night and put the soup up in the crock pot early in the morning, so that our schedule would allow us the time to go out for a little while.  I had a little bit of work to do, so we left home around 10:00 am and arrived at the Visitor's Center at 10:30.  Being Veteran's Day weekend, we weren't aware there was a promotion of free admission to all vets and their families, so the line to purchase tickets was at least 20 minutes.  We bought an annual pass so that we can return as often as we want, without having to wait on line again (the only other options were single, 3 or 7 day passes, but they have to be used on consecutive days, so that wouldn't work).  The cost of a single day ticket is $40, and the annual pass is $65, so it's well worth the investment since we know it will take many trips to see the entire place at the pace we're going (FYI: one of the benefits is that friends & family can get in for 50% off -- in case you need another excuse to come and visit us!!!)

For those not familiar with CW, it's part of the Historic Triangle (with Yorktown and Jamestown) where the history of America began and where the Founding Fathers lived, or at least met, and where plans were formulated to rebel against Britain and fight for freedom (Yorktown was where the final battle of the Revolutionay War was fought).  CW is the actual town where folks lived, drank, shopped, fought.  Properties were handed down between generations, but after many decades, people started leaving and the buildings began to disintegrate.  In the 1920s, John D. Rockefeller purchased all the land and decided to renovate and restore the buildings and streets - to try to keep it as close to the original as possible but in better shape so the history wouldn't be lost.  All around the area, the folks you see walking around are either tourists/visitors or what I would call 18th century folk - character actors/docents dressed in period garb and speaking to us as if we were in the past (they actually rent costumes if visitors wish to really be even more part of the experience!).  There are no cars in the town; but you do see quite a few horse drawn carriages (you can ride for a fee).

There is a shuttle bus that runs around the perimeter of the area, and drops you off at different points.  There was a noon firing of the cannon near the central area - Market Square - and since it was now about 11:30, we chose that to be our starting point.  We looked through the market (hand made arts & crafts), and spent some time visiting the printing press (with live demonstration on 18th century equipment).  Here are some photos of the visitor center and what we saw on Friday:

One of the many billboards inside

The shuttle bus

The armory

A soldier

Getting ready to fire the canon

A real auction in the town square (we didn't bid on anything). They were antiques to us but popular items back then

A fancy carriage

Some homes

Glimpse down a typical street

Inker at printing press giving demo

On Saturday, we decided to check out the synagogue in Newport News, 25 miles away.  For one, I can tell you that was an extremely stressful ride, as the highway is mostly under construction, so the lanes were very narrow and uneven.  Since I have trouble with depth perception, especially driving this huge truck, it was a white knuckle trip all the way.  I can tell you I will NOT be doing that drive again; either Mitch is going to have to drive while I keep my eyes closed, or we just won't do the schlep.

It turns out there are 2 shuls on this JCC campus (which is also under construction and being renovated).  The one we had planned to go to  (which we knew about) is modern Orthodox; the other one was Conservative.  We are more comfortable with Orthodox so decided to wait for another time to visit the other one.  It seems that their original building had to be torn down due to mold so this is just a temporary spot, which is inside the child care (infant & toddler) center.  The women were not very welcoming to me, although the men were to Mitch.  The reason the rabbi only comes once a month is because he is only part-time (they don't have money to hire a full time rabbi, and probably don't have a large enough congregation to do so).  For me, not only was the trip very stressful, but the services were not all that enjoyable either.  The rabbi will be there next week, so we may give it another try (rabbis do tend to make things a bit more inspirational).  After that we may try the Conservative shul, and perhaps if we're brave enough, try out the Reconstructionist shul that's only 9 miles away.  I suspect, ultimately, we may end up acting as if there's nowhere to go.

Another note about Saturday:  it was 11/11, and our 39th anniversary.  We generally celebrate with a fancy meal out and don't exchange gifts, but Mitch decided to buy me a very special (in his mind) gift of a state of the art smartphone (Galaxy Note 8).  Mind you, I don't have a smartphone; I have an old fashioned one with a pull out keyboard and no data plan, which I am very happy with (just to prove what a Luddite I am in terms of new technology, when I saw the box, I didn't even know what it was, when I was supposed to react with great enthusiasm and excitement).  So rather than going out, we stayed in so we could set up my phone and I could become a little bit familiar with it (by Sunday afternoon I think I was mostly comfortable, and as of this writing - Monday morning - I have the hang of most of it).

On Sunday, we decided to make another excursion back to CW.  One of the activities was to hear a speech and then interact with statesman James Madison at 11:00 am, so we planned our timing and destination around that, which was in the Capitol section of the town.

We arrived about an hour early, so decided to take a tour of the R. Charlton Coffeehouse.  R. Charlton was one of the first business owners in Williamsburg and set up his coffeehouse/meeting/party facility a few blocks from the Capitol building, making it a popular stop for Williamsburg elite.  We were greeted by our hostess where we were invited to sit at a table in the main dining area, which was set up with fancy coffee cups, saucers and spoons.  Mind you - we were being treated as if we were back in 1765 so if we asked anything not related to that time period (like, are these authentic cups?) were met with answers such as "these were manufactured just last year, in 1764, and imported from Britain").  We were told that Mr. Charlton always offers a complimentary cup of coffee, tea or chocolate to his guests.  We both chose the chocolate which was out of this world (it was very thick, with a hint of cinnamon)!!!  I asked what brand they used (again: wrong question!).  I was told that "Lotty, the chef (probably a slave), has her own secret recipe and makes each cup individually."

We were the only folks on the tour so pretty much had the whole dining room to ourselves, except for one other guest (in period garb)- who, after we were served, said that he didn't recognize us as folks from the town and welcomed us.  He introduced himself as "Washington" and explained how he was a surveyor and a Colonel in the Virginia Regiment.  I replied "I see great things in your future," and he replied "Oh, I don't know about that."  We chit chatted quite a bit, with him speaking mostly about the countryside and a little bit about politics.  Our hostess then interrupted us so that she could take us on the rest of the tour (which consisted of 2 other rooms, which Charlton would rent out for meetings or events).  We pretended that we were looking for a facility to rent, which guided the conversation to all the offerings of the rooms.

Our hostess

George

Meeting room 1 (Charlton's office)

Fancier event room

After the tour, we walked to an outdoor stage (more like a large platform) where we met James Madison.  He orated very eloquently (although he admitted being very shy and not good at public speaking but much better at the written word -- which, of course, is evidenced by history), giving us pretty much his autobiography through that point in his life (1765, while he was still only a statesman).  In fact, during the Q&A's, Mitch asked him about his relationship with Alexander Hamilton and he said he never heard of him!  Here he is:

  

The next stop along the way was the courthouse, where lesser crimes such as owing money or thievery were brought to trial. Some photos:

  

Next, we stopped to see the jail (spelled gaol).  I can't imagine how horrible it must have been to spend time there.  The room is small with no light when the door is closed, except for what little sunlight comes thru the window, there's no insulation in the wood which makes for extreme temps in the summer and winter.  The thing that looks like steps is actually the toilet and there was only a block of wood to sleep on (you can see a corner of it in the lower left of the photo).

  

Our last stop for the day was the Capitol building, where the Burgesses met until they were disbanded by the King, and where the more serious crimes were brought before the court.  Below is a photo of the main chamber, where paintings of the kings surrounded the room (to remind people who ruled over them).  There is also a photo of a tiny part of the building - I was unable to get a good photo of the entire place, which is a fairly impressive brick building.

  

After being shown the main courtroom, the tour was to continue upstairs to the various other legislative chambers.  It was quite a few steep flights up and by then I did not have the stamina to do the climbing (and Mitch was getting very sleepy), so we chose to forego the rest of the tour and head back to the bus.

On the way home, we decided to have a nice meal out which we had missed the night before. We found a place with a Mongolian grill, Chinese buffet (with quite a few vegetarian options), Thai buffet, and sushi train.  All under $9.00!  I did kind of cheat on my diet (with just some tastes of stuff) but I can certainly have the option to stay low carb there if I wanted to.