Colonial Williamsburg, VA

We had a great time in Colonial Williamsburg. We really did need three days, the first day we goofed off, looked around in the gift shops, had lunch, checked out the town, and met up with our friends from California.

We’ve known the Gath family since Roy’s homeschool kindergarten year. This is the second time we managed to cross paths with them while they are visiting their East Coast family. The photo below is missing two children from our homeschool class.

Horses pull carriages up and down the streets and graze during their rest hours.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living History Museum where visitors can engage in conversations and take tours as if we were there in the 18th Century. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and the craftsmen are masters at their trade. This town exists for us to learn about our American heritage courtesy of generous donations by J.D. Rockefeller who financed Colonial Williamsburg’s restoration.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the history being made in Williamsburg during the period the town presents. Williamsburg was the capitol of the Virginia colony where wealthy, educated men, who were elected to the house of Burgesses, met to represent their communities and make laws for the Virginia Colony. They were led by Peyton Randolph and included men such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington as well as other signers of the Declaration of Independence. The only person who could trump their decisions was the Governor, appointed by the King of England, and that’s when the trouble began.

The tour of Mr. Randolph’s house was from the point of view of a servant. She showed us the wall and floor coverings that demonstrated his wealth, talked about his wife running the household and managing the servants, who and how they entertained and possible discussions that may have gone on in their house.

The house was sparse but beautifully decorated. Our guide pointed out details that we don’t think of today. For instance, the bed curtains weren’t for decoration but to keep out the cold in the winter and dust in the summer. The servants slept where they worked. If they were the personal servant of the family, they would sleep in the same room as the family member they served. This way they could take care of their master’s needs at any time of the day or night. If they were a cook, they would sleep in the kitchen, someone would sleep by the front door, stable men would sleep with the animals to guard them at night, etc.

Mr. Randolph’s house was unique in that there was a hallway between the kitchen and the house. This display of his wealth was to impress his guests that their food was always covered on it’s way to the table.

An interesting point that the tour guide made was that while the famous people in our history were heroic and brave, they weren’t always 100% honorable. Like all humans they were sinners and while we put them on a pedestal for their accomplishments in our history, we also mute or forget about any less desirable qualities they may have had.

On to the brick maker. The exhibits that don’t offer scheduled tours do present information about their trade as an ongoing discussion.

We spent quite a bit of time learning and participating in the brick making process. The kids had a blast mixing the clay. It was a very sticky business and required quite a bit of scrubbing to get all the clay out of their toenails.

At the encampment they would collect visitors and run them through the drills of new recruits. We practiced soldier etiquette and musket loading.

Then went to learn about the over 400 drum beats used to communicate orders to the troops.

Like all the trades we learned about, the shoemaker took his business seriously. Besides making shoes for Williamsburg employees, he also did projects duplicating historical footwear.

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At the weaver’s shop we watched them twist sheep’s wool into yarn on a spinning wheel. It was fascinating how a tuft of fluff twisted so easily into thread to be woven into cloth.

Besides these ongoing tours during the day, there were a few scheduled reenactments. At the capitol building they read the Declaration of Independence focusing on comments by people of the period in the crowd and around the scene. I read somewhere that a great way to learn history is not as a list of names, places and dates but as the feelings, attitudes and concerns of the people of the time that led them to make the decisions they did. These reenactments demonstrated how the common people were feeling about the politics of their time.

In the Capitol Building we got an overview of Virginia’s government. Once again, the tour guides were more like actors who extensively studied their character and history they were representing. I was really impressed with everyone of these guides.

What trip to the past is complete without some time in the stockade. Naughty people were displayed here for everyone to point at. Next door is the courthouse where we listened to court proceedings for a hand full of different crimes.

In front of the Governor’s Palace the reenactment of the discussions over the British removing the colonies’ gunpowder was exciting. There were heated arguments from both sides, the town’s people were in the audience complaining, and men were ready to fight.

On the tour of the palace we saw the contrast between the wealthy Virginians and the King’s wealth and power displayed for the Governor’s visitors. The hallways were lined with weapons on the richly paneled walls.