Going back in time

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We are going back in time. The reason for our stop here is to visit Colonial Williamsburg. If you aren’t familiar with the area here is the history. John D. Rockefeller decided to fund a complete restoration of the original settlement of Williamsburg Virginia, the second capital of the colonies. They developed the village to be a very detailed replica of the Williamsburg of 1774. Jamestown (about 100 miles away) was the first British settlement of the new world, when they gave up on Jamestown they moved the capital to Williamsburg. 88 of the buildings are original and the rest are restorations. Everything is authentic from the buildings to the merchandise for sale in the stores to the people who live and work there. We took a few of the walking tours available, one was about the slaves of Williamsburg, another was a walk about town with one of the local residents (in costume and character) the wife of the man who produced the newspaper. It is just like stepping back in time. You wander about town going into the houses or the shops and the interpreters in the costume and character of the time explain what you are seeing and answer any questions. We saw a wigmaker, blacksmith making nails, pharmacy, silversmith and lots more. We walked through a local farm where they were working on logs and making roof and house shingles, 2 women were chopping out the inside of a log to make a feed trough for the livestock. They did such a great job on the park. It can’t be compared to Disneyland at all. There is a lot of emphasis put on authenticity and ensuring everything is authentic to 1774 (before the revolutionary war) when we were still an English colony and subjects of the king. The whole goal of the village is education, not to make money. You can’t even buy souvenirs in the village, you have to get them at the visitors center. In the village they only sell what would have been sold in 1774.

As I write this we are on underway for our very first ferry crossing with the trailer behind us. We didn’t realize our route took us on a ferry until we pulled up to the ferry loading area. Oops! Up until now we have always avoided any route requiring a ferry crossing but this one took us by surprise, can’t back out now. Mike drove us onto the boat and so far so good. We are crossing the James River in Virginia. We are now on the other side and we made it!

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