Virginia 2018: Day 5

On our final day in Virginia, we headed down to Jamestown to learn all about the first permanent English colony in America. There are two sites to see: Jamestown Settlement, which is a living history museum, and Historic Jamestowne, which is the actual site of the first colony.

Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown Settlement includes a re-creation of a Powhatan village

and the colonists' fort. 

We also climbed aboard reconstructions of the two smaller ships that carried the colonists to America in 1607.

The boys used a pulley to lift a coiled rope from below deck.

 

Jamestown Settlement was fascinating and really brought to life the early days of the colony.

Next up, we visited Historic Jamestowne, which is the actual site of the first settlement. The memorial church behind us was built in 1907 in honor of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. 

The site of the first church at Jamestown. 

Pocahontas 

It's a really beautiful spot!

We also visited the Jamestown Glasshouse, the first commercial attempt at glass-making in America (1607).

 

As with everything else we saw on this trip, the stories of the colonists at Jamestown really came to life for all of us!

We left Jamestown in the early afternoon as we needed to get back up to D.C. for our early morning flight the next day. It was Pi Day, so we stopped in Fredericksburg in an attempt to find pie. As you can see from the picture below, we only managed to find doughnuts!

We wandered around Fredericksburg a bit more (it really is a very cute town) and popped into a number of shops, including Riverby Books, where Gene and Will found several books and I found the coolest signs.  

I'll leave you with one final photo of the four of us in Virgina.

This really was an incredibly fun trip for all of us and we learned so much. There is so much more to see in Virginia and it's a place we'd love to visit again!

Virginia 2018: Day 4

On our fourth day in Virginia, it had stopped snowing but everything was still covered in white. What a beautiful morning to explore the second half of Colonial Williamsburg!

The Governor's Palace

The gardens behind the palace

This boy loves snow! 

We toured some of the houses and made sure to visit the courthouse. 

Outside the courthouse, we found the stocks and locked Henry up -- poor kid!

We had hoped to have lunch at Chowning's Tavern because Gene ate there when he visited Colonial Williamsburg as a kid, but it was closed for the first half of March.

We popped over to Shield's Tavern instead, where we enjoyed the food

and period music! 

After exploring all morning, we spent some downtime in the hotel before heading to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, which has been open less than a year! This incredible museum tells the story of how our nation was founded through interactive exhibits and movies (including a very exciting 4D movie of the Battle of Yorktown) as well as through outdoor living-history areas.  

A recreation of the Continental Army encampment at the Battle of Yorktown

A reconstruction of an 18th-century farm

The museum was really engaging, but we still had one more stop -- Yorktown Battlefield Park, where Cornwallis surrendered, essentially ending the Revolution and ensuring American independence. 

Yorktown Battlefield

These are redoubts 9 and 10 -- when the Americans captured these small forts, the siege line was complete and Cornwallis surrendered shortly thereafter.  

All the interactive exhibits and experiences really brought American history to life for the boys on this trip.

Virginia 2018: Day 3

Even though we changed our travel plans to avoid the snow, snow was in the forecast for Richmond on the day we needed to leave the city. We decided to visit the Virginia State Capitol, which was walking-distance from our hotel before heading out of town.

The Capitol, of course, was designed by Thomas Jefferson.

We also found statues of George Washington

and Sam Houston! 

After our quick tour of the Capitol, we drove to Colonial Williamsburg, arriving just in time for lunch at King's Arms Tavern.   

The food and atmosphere were phenomenal!

After lunch, we wandered around Colonial Williamsburg. It was a chilly, rainy day, so there were hardly any visitors out and about. It was actually an ideal time to visit!

Wig shop

Jail

with Henry in chains

The Capitol -- Will was so fascinated that he didn't want to leave!

After spending all afternoon at Colonial Williamsburg, we went back to our hotel (we stayed onsite at the Woodlands Hotel) to relax and do some laundry. As I was taking our clothes to the laundry room, I peeked out the window to see that it was snowing! It started snowing aroun 4:30 pm and continued for about three hours. It ended up being beautiful and magical and absolutely delighted Henry! 

We ate at a restaurant next door to the hotel, and after our meal, the boys played in the snow, making snowmen and pelting each other with snowballs. 

After trying to avoid the snow, the snow found us after all!