Warning: this is a trip summary so lots of photos and no farm content.

On Thursday we got on a plane at Sea-Tac.  We got a nice view of Mount Saint Helens.

Then we landed at Dallas.

We then flew to Richmond and checked into the Williamsburg Lodge.  I was happy to see a sheep painting on the wall.

The next day we headed to Historical Jamestown museum and learned about the experiences there.  Here are some of the things I learned that I hadn’t appreciated fully before.

We got to see early surveying gear and how to make a beaver skin hat.

There was an early surgical kit which was pretty scary.

Woodworking

Metal work

Kitchen hearth.

Bread baking

Tobacco drying and food storage.

Arms storage

We got to see a musket shot (although without a bullet).

 

There was a recreation of a Powhatan village set up.

There was brief description of Pocahontas.  I was surprised that there wasn’t more about her.

We then went to the NPS Jamestown site itself.  En route we saw some turtles eating the small fish in the swamp.

This is the site of the original Fort.

A description of the water challenges at the time.  Unfortunately they arrive during a drought which worsened their situation.

Here are some ruins from the newer Jamestown site.

A giant Southern Magnolia nearby.  We thought they looked like rhododendrons.

We were pretty overheated at this point so drove to the Silver Hand Meadery in Williamsburg.  I got a sample of mead, and Tom got cider, of course.

For dinner we went to Christiana Campbell’s Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg.

Tom had fried chicken, and I had a seafood pie (in honor of George Washington).  It was yummy.

Back to the lodge the next morning, I noticed a Highland cow on the wall.

Due to the forecasted 100 degree weather (and heat index of 110) we decided to forgo my plan of hitting the sites in temporal order and went to Yorktown instead on Saturday.  At the NPS Yorktown museum, there were some interesting historic artifacts from the Revolutionary War battle.

We then did the driving tours with the audio from the app.  This is the Moore House where Washington and Cornwallis met to negotiate terms fo surrender, effectively ending the war.

This is field where the troops surrendered.

I have loved the story of Rochambeau.

And George Washington’s encampment site near the site of Lafayette so they could coordinate the attacks and siege.

We drove into Yorktown to see the monument that was built in 1884 to memorialize this battle.

We then drove by the Newport News beach.  It was packed with hot people trying to get cool.  It was pretty crazy busy there.  We didn’t get out.

Tom had managed to score some free tickets to see the Tower of Power concert in Williamsburg.  It was hot but great to see them play.

We then returned to the lodge, and I got to experience the bar there for the first time (Tom had experienced it the evening before when I went to bed early tired and sick feeling.  That is where he got the tickets and met his favorite bartender Christina.)  There we had really good old fashioneds and met local people.  It was fun and interesting.

On Sunday we braved the hot weather and finally saw the rest of Colonial Williamsburg.  I had been there as a child but do not remember it well.  There were these interesting trees with long bean pods on them.  My app identifies it as a Northern catalpa tree.

We went to the Governor’s mansion post.  Unfortunately it is a recreation (but careful one) as it had burnt down in the Revolutionary War when it was being used as a hospital.

Here are the scenes inside,

and the cellar.

the smokehouse.

and, my favorite, the kitchen.

We walked past the armory,

other old buildings,

and saw the printing press

and silversmith shop. The silversmith there is retiring soon at almost 50 years at Colonial Williamsburg.  I may have seen him when I was a child!

Then we went to the Capitol (again a recreation)

and saw where higher level crimes were tried

and the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia were made until direction of the King of England.

We did walk by the old hospital but couldn’t look inside.  This was also true of the weaver’s house unfortunately.

We were quite overheated at this point so went to Tom’s second favorite pub there, the DoG Street Pub, where this revived us.

We headed back to the lodge, and Tom went to the pool, but they immediately shut it down due to lightning strikes.  One swimmer protested saying “I thought this was America”.  There was a bit of culture shock for me with some of the comments I heard on this trip.

In the Yorktown museum, Tom bought this book.  I look forward to trying some of its recipes.

For Sunday dinner, we went to the King’s Arms Tavern.

Tom had the Prime Rib of Beef, and I had To Stew a Choat in the French Way.  Both were were amazing.

For dessert I had James Hemings’ (Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved African American chef) Snow Eggs.  It was an honor to try this recipe.  Quite a few of the exhibits and historic presenters included perspectives of the Native and African American experiences in this history.  I am sure this is a change from the last time I visited as a child.  I must say that all of the people we met where enthusiastic and very knowledgable about the history of their site.

On the way back to the lodge, we got to see fireflies.  We haven’t seen them since we were visiting family in Indiana.  I just love them.

We visited Christina again (our favorite bartender), and since it was a little quieter on a Monday night, we were able to talk to this amazing woman a little more.

We are now at the Richmond airport, awaiting our trip home.  It was an incredible visit, and we saw a lot in a short period of time.  It was great for the history-nerdness in both of us.  It was a cultural and weather experience as well.  The humidity is now 85%.  We do look forward to going home though.