Colonial Williamsburg - Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Shew each day is longer than the one before...

We started our day at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor's Center.  We bought tickets for a Tavern Ghost Tour for Thursday evening.  We thought about taking a carriage ride - but it wasn't a very long carriage ride and it was $12.00 per person - so I decided against that suggestion.

We took the bridge walkway into the Colonial Village.  Every few feet there was a plaque that took you back in time.  Each decade identified how life was different.

It was a long walk, though.  Early on we decided that we would take the bus back to the Visitor's Center.

At the end of our walk we reached our destination.  The Children's Gatehouse where there was a 30-minute Family Orientation Walk.

We saw lots of items in the Children's Gatehouse.

We saw an outfit for a child who might have had money and social standing.

We saw an outfit for a child who would not have had a lot of money.

We also saw an outfit for a child who would have been a slave.  With each of the children's outfits they had a bag with items that they would carry.  The slave child had a letter from her owner / master that
allowed her to travel to another plantation.  Jacob and Layne read the whole letter and were very interested.

While we waited for the tour we played games with Grandma that the colonial children would have played.

Our tour guide suggested that we not talk into any small boxes as we would be "sent to the village hospital for the insane for talking to ourselves".

This is the entrance to the Governor's Palace.  This was where our tour stopped and Jacob and Layne were soooo excited to go to the Palace.  There was a long line to get in to the Palace and we tried to talk the out of going at that time and coming back later.   What they were actually excited about was doing the Maze in the Gardens behind the Palace.

This is the picture I took right before they went in to the Maze.  I knew it would be the last time I ever saw them and wanted to be able to remember them.  Well - I didnt' realize that Jacob had memorized the Maze the night before.  Grandma timed them - it took them less than a minute to get through the Maze.  They insisted on doing the Maze 2 more times.

The tulips in the Gardens were in full bloom and absolutely beautiful.

Here is Jacob in front of the Governor's Palace.  We never did get back to it to do the tour.

While we were standing on the Green on the Duke of Gloucester Street a Patriot rode down on his horse.  We were thinking that he was Benedict Arnold but he never did yell "the British are coming!".

We went into Tarpley's store where Joshua decided he really like the hats for the girls.  Luckily everything in the store was too expensive and we didn't buy anything - not even the hat for Joshua. (your are welcome, Matthew)

We waited to go in to the Wigmaker's Shop.  She was one of the best people we had heard so far.  We learned that women would dye their hair to match their outfit.  So if a woman was going to a ball or party and she had on a blue dress, then she would powder her hair blue.  Wigs were a sign of status.  Men wanted to have wigs and would shave their heads - on purpose!

We got really cold.  I did not do well predicting our clothing each day.  So at this point we took the kids down to Market Square and to a store called Everything Williamsburg to pick out a sweatshirt for the kids.  Joshua really wanted some miniature cannons and some cannon balls that he found.  I told him "No" more than once.  He already had a cannon.  I was only buying sweatshirts at this time.

Then we went to lunch at the Cheese Shoppe.  It was yummy.  I wished I had known about the bread for a $1 a bag and the awesome looking soup.  It was so crowded that we tried to pick quickly and get out.  While I was in line inside waiting for our lunch with Layne - Grandma was outside with the boys saving a table.  When I got out Grandma told me we had a problem.  Joshua had put 4 mini cannons and 3 cannon balls in his pocket and stole them from the store.  Ugh!  So Joshua was upset, I was tired, cranky and cold.  Joshua had his standard "I'm tired and upset meltdown" with huge tears, screams for mom, and then sat with a Fier in my lap and finally settled.  He eventually ate some lunch.

He was so tired at lunch, he literally fell asleep with his head on the table.  At one point he had his head face down on the table, hair in the ketchup, and zonked.

After lunch we had to go back to the Everything Willamsburg store so that Joshua could tell the salesclerk that he stole from the store and that he was really sorry.  It was hard for him and he had a hard time.  We paid for the items as I didn't feel it was right to have them take them back.  The salesclerk was really nice about it and thanked Joshua and me for telling the truth and for paying for the items.

We ended the day watching the Start of a Revolution acted out in front of us.

 

We watched the Fife and Drum Corps march down Duke of Gloucester Street to the Capitol Building announcing the Declaration of Independence. 

We heard from Slaves........

We heard from women.......

and we heard from soldiers and politicians from the balcony of the Capitol read the Declaration of Independence.   They all had small microphones and there were speakers strategically around the venues.

Next we moved to the another stage and heard about the War in the West. We heard from the British Governor of Detroit who was being held prisoner in the Public Gaol.

We moved up the street a bit to hear about the Desperate Circustances of the women and families left behind.

We hear from a woman who had followed her husband with the army.  Her husband was captured at the Siege at Charleston and she is seeking work to support herself.

Then we hear about the The Town is Taken!  The British Occupy Williamsburg.  The American turncoat - now a British Brigadier General - Benedict Arnold seizes Williamsburg.  Redcoats raise the British flag over the Capitol.

We then hear about Running to Freedom!  We hear from slaves who want to join the British because Lord Cornwallis has promised them freedom if they win.  We hear from slaves who feel they are American already and want to help build a new country.  And we hear form a slave who wants to just be a mother and live a good life.

We also hear The Promised Land, or A Matter of Faith.  Gowan Pamphlet is an African American Baptist Preacher who talks of the a future where all citizens are equal and where there will be no state church connected to the government.

Joshua slept through the previous 2 parts.  He was wiped! I mean - he slept through an African American Baptist Preacher - can I hear an Amen?!??!?!?!?

Then we all March On to Yorktown, and Victory. 

The General addressed the citizens about his resolve for victory at Yorktown.

We watched them practice and drill for the upcoming battle.  Layne took the pictures above, pretty good, huh?

Then Layne and Jacob got put into the Stocks - although they look a little too happy for this punishment.

We ended the evening at Pizzeria Uno where Layne and Joshua got to make their own pizza.  We had a warm, chocolate chip cookie bowl filled with ice cream and hot fudge that the kids declared was the best food ever in the whole universe.  They wanted to go online and look for the closest Pizzeria Unos to us in Georgia.

I hope remember today's adventures when I blog them later.  Just too exhausted tonight.  But - I got to hear Jacob say "I will never feel the same about History again.  It really came alive."  And - Layne agreed.  I also got to hear Joshua say "Now let's go get us some ghosts!" when we started our Tavern Ghost Walk.

So many experiences in such a short time.