Williamsburg has been on our “bucket list” for some time. Kristen was there as an elementary student and really enjoyed it; she has wanted for a while to experience it again as an adult. When we realized that we had an opportunity to be in this part of the country, Williamsburg was one of the first ideas that we had for things to do as a family, and we ended up building much of the rest of our visit around it.
After parking and getting our tickets squared away, we jumped in with a tour of the Governor’s Palace. What fun! The setting was 1775 (just before the pivotal events of 1776 that led to the Declaration of Independence), and the tour guide was a phenomenal actor playing the part of a loyal British subject who had significant disdain for the rebellious sort who were stirring up trouble and threatening to upset the proper “order of things.”
We saw the extravagant entry-way for distinguished guests only – with 500+ pieces of actual British armaments (guns, swords, etc) and the first marble flooring in the colonies. Less important people had other entry ways, depending on where they lined up in that all-important order of things.
Joshua (and his parents) only had patience for one “what we do we all do together” tour, so Joel ventured to do The Capitol tour without Joshua or Kristen. This was a fascinating and stimulating tour with a focus on the evolution of the rights of the English and how the American experiment was a continued extension and advancement of those rights.
Tradespeople perform their duties as if it really was 1775. We saw several at work, including the wheel makers working on building an actual new wagon for the town’s operations. Joshua’s favorite was the blacksmith, a grandfatherly gentleman with a gentle, teaching spirit. Joshua repeated a swinging motion and “bam, bam, bam!” frequently following that moment of the trip.
In the afternoon, we headed down to North Carolina, for Joel to do his work client visit and for Kristen (and Joshua) to visit her family.
The Meyers 