Going Back in Time

Rainy and cold – highs to be only in the high 50s so – not a day to go to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Good thing we have American Revolution Museum at Yorktown to visit. The museum was built in 2016 and the whole museum is 80,000 sq ft. (Compare that to the 30,000 sq ft gallery at Jamestown Settlement. Both huge, both amazingly done.)

There was a hands-on display about the painting by Emanuel Leutze Washington Crossing the Delaware. It was a “Can you find the mistakes.” The one that I thought interesting was he painted the wrong flag. Also, a captain wouldn’t be standing in the front of the boat, the sides of the boat would be much higher, and the ice looks like Michigan ice, not smooth like ice on the Delaware. Just interesting tidbits. Good information displays about the French and how they sent money and supplies and then actually joined in the war. Thank you, France. Treaty of Paris, which recognized American independence and the existence of the United States was signed Sept 3, 1783. 

Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown, VA 04/24

Yorktown Historical Battlefield. We went to the visitor center. We got Kevin’s National Park Passport stamped, and watched a film. It gets an A for closed captions. In the small museum there is a display with a beam that is 6’2”. It says if you are taller than George Washington, duck, because that is as tall as he was. Then you see “portions of General Washington’s Campaign Tents” from the war. Pretty cool.

Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown, VA 04/24

In the truck, we downloaded the NPS app for this place. As we drove around the battlefield, it would play someone telling the information about what we were looking at. I was able to turn on the caption setting on my iPhone accessibility and was able to read the words. The battlefield is huge; I mean it took us over 1.5 hours driving and we didn’t get out because of the rain. The park has done a great job in telling what has been rebuilt and what is still original. Lots of earthworks, redoubts, and open farmland like the Surrender Field. On Oct 19, 1781, British General Cornwallis surrendered his army of some 8000 men to General Washington. This was here, RIGHT HERE, and was the end of any chance for them to win the Revolutionary War. That had to have been a sight to watch all those men line up and lay down their weapons. We saw the fields where the hospitals were, the French set up, the men slept, Washington’s headquarters, and more. Today with the rain, the spring bright green colored leaves are weighed down heavily. Surrounding the fields and the roads the area is wooded. So nice the National Park has the app so we didn’t have to get out in the rain to read all the signs along the way. Great for people with mobility issues, too, I am sure.

Grand Union Flag, Colonial Williamsburg, VA 04/24

A few days later we had a much better forecast. No rain and cloudy with highs of low 60s. It was comfortable with my light jacket. We drove to the Colonial Williamsburg visitor center. There is free parking there and free shuttle buses. We made sure we didn’t need a sticker to go with our tickets and no, just wear the tickets with the clip. Great. Got right on the bus and took off. This place is 301 acres; the main drag is a mile long. Fascinating history and Rockefeller. There are 88 original buildings with many more restored. Since we bought tickets, we could go in the buildings and take the tours. They were marked with a Grand Union Flag flying in front of it. 

We went into the capitol. I really liked the rounded rooms at the corners. Inside, we took the tour and it was neat to see those huge rooms with the rounded edges. The walls are really thick. At Raleigh Tavern we took a tour there as well. Taverns were sort of like hotels in that they had rooms, dining room, and a bar. The guy said that travelers would sleep in the same room as other travels that they didn’t even know! The big back room, well, when the American Rebels were told to stop meeting, they continued on meeting in secret in the large room big enough to hold dances.

Outstanding Food! The King’s Arms Tavern, Colonial Williamsburg, VA 04/24

Across the way was another tavern. We walked up to it and the lady (all the workers are in period costume) asked if we wanted to eat. Yes! So we got right in. I thought it would be crowded for lunch but thankfully it wasn’t. This place is called The King’s Arm Tavern. I had Chicken Hash “Take a chicken & stew it in good broth with onion, sweet herbs & Parsley…thicken with butter & some flour…served on trenchers. Miss Dandridge’s Recipe, 1753.” I asked what trenchers is and was told bread bowl. Yes, serve me up! Kevin had the special of shrimp po boy sandwich. The waiter told everyone that turtle soup was chicken nuggets of those days. Rated: Every Day! 

A Reflection And A Reflection, Milliner’s Shop, Colonial Williamsburg, VA 04/24

After a tasty lunch, we continued down the road, going in to most every place that you needed a ticket to get in. One place, the people, in costumes, were making clothes. Beautiful dresses and such. They also make the clothes for the people working there to wear!

Making Edges In Fabric, Milliner’s Shop, Colonial Williamsburg, VA 04/24

I saw a tool that cuts a scalloped edge on fabric. It made beautiful additions to clothes! This building is original and around 1770, English Milliner Margaret Hunter made clothes, cloaks, hats, and sold clothing accessories.

Printer, Colonial Williamsburg, VA 04/24

It was fun to see a man with a printing press across from the leatherworks. We saw blacksmiths at work, and so many other shops and stores. Everyone working there as if it was in the colonial days – a real living museum.

The tour through the Governor’s Palace was interesting. Now, you have to remember, we were told, that all this was British; this was pre-Revolutionary War. We walked in to the tall ceiling vestibule. It is round. And on almost every place on the walls in this room are either swords, long guns, or pistols. The palace guards would make a visitor wait here for a little extra time and it was surely intimidating! HAHA

By this time, we had been here the entire time the shops are open for the day so we headed back on one of the back roads to the place we started. We only had a short wait for the bus. We are so glad we came to Colonial Williamsburg. Being in the buildings, learning the stories, seeing workers in period costume, eating food from that time, well, it all added up to a great experience.