The Next Chapter - Part II: The Journey: Another visit to CW

Williamsburg, VA

A note that on Saturday, we did not schlep out to any shul but rather stayed home, prayed, rested and read. Slow and relaxing day.

On Sunday, we made another trip to Colonial Williamsburg to visit another unseen section -- the Palace (more about that later). This was also a big event day: the "Grand Illumination." Starting at 4:00 pm, there would be a fife & drum parade & ceremony, followed by holiday lighting of all the buildings (many just candles in the windows as they did in the 18th century). There were several different bands playing throughout the area (jazz, bluegrass, "oldies" among others), followed by fireworks at 7:30 pm. The shuttle buses would stop running between 6:30 and 9, so if you didn't leave before the fireworks, you were stuck there for at least another hour afterwards.

Although we originally wanted to go, we thought about the logistics and realized it would just not work for us. Not only do we hate crowds, but between the thousands of folks heading for the buses and leaving the parking lot at the same time (causing a traffic jam), we wouldn't get home until close to 11pm, which is way too late for a work night (when Mitch has to be up at 5:00 am). So we decided just to visit the area like we would any other Sunday and leave before the crowds came.

Unfortunately, many, many people did come quite early so the place was still packed. Even the buses were standing room only (I left like I was back in NYC!). People brought their lawn chairs to set up for the bands and good viewing for the fireworks quite early. There was a huge police and security presence, even porta-potties all around as the restrooms wouldn't be enough to accommodate such a large crowd. Many streets and some exhibits were closed off in advance.

We got to the park around noon and took the shuttle to the Palace stop. In today's terms, this would be the Governor's Mansion which is exactly what it was, when the colonies were still under British rule. Before taking a tour of the Palace, we stopped at the Playbooth Theater for a cute little 17 minute play, written and performed by a local troupe. It's not really a theater, but a rickety outdoor stage in an area where the first real theater of the colonies stood. "The Comet Huntress" was loosely based on the life of astronomer Caroline Herschel.

After the show, we headed over to the Palace. Before entering the main building, we passed through the gardens and a few separate buildings which housed the kitchen, smokehouse, salt house and storage facilities. In the kitchen, there was a demonstration of the cooking and types of food the governor (and other wealthy folks) would eat. The chef was currently cooking rabbit (it smelled delicious):

We next went inside the main building (had to use a side door as the main door was blocked off due to the event). The side door was probably used as an entrance for servants and deliveries. Overall, I found this to be quite an impressive building for it's time, although I was far more impressed by the Biltmore (which was built about 125 years later. Here is my post about that place: http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2016/03/biltmore-estate-day-626-yr-2-day-261.html).

The outside of the Palace and gardens:

The main hall where one would normally enter was covered, floor to ceiling, with swords and guns - hundreds, if not thousands of them - mounted in a very decorative fashion. The message was "don't mess with us!"