Not long after we arrived in Cary, college friends Susan and Ken invited us to accompany them on a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. What transpired in early December was one of the best short trips we've had, in part because of the company but also in part because of the exceptional place we visited. We'd been to Colonial Williamsburg years before--day visits with kids--but now we had the opportunity to spend three off-season week-days there, with ample time to interact with the "re-enactors" (more anon), to really savor what is a fine research and educational institution, indeed the largest living museum there is. BTW, we found nothing candy-coated about the place...the negatives as well as the positives of the society and times were well evident.
Colonial Williamsburg has a fine website, with many pix, much commentary, and several virtual tours as well (https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/virtual-tours/?from=home), so I won't attempt any more here than posting some of our better pix with relevant commentary. Vicki and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and are certain to return. Thanks, Susan and Ken, for rousing us from our down-sizing doldrums!
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| We stayed at the Colonial Williamsburg Lodge |
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| On one of the several house tours |
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| Street scene; the foregoing and immediately following by Ken |
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| Posing our last day there in front of the Governor's palace |
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| The plan: Ken and Susan are very organized travelers |
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| At the witchcraft trial our first night there |
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At the blacksmith's shop: these are no mere "re-enactors"...they
are really practicing the trade as it was done in colonial times and
appear free to come and go out of character as the circumstances
warrant...they all have a canned intro for the casual or hurried
visitor...but if you stay a bit, you can have a long, detailed, and
edifying conversation...we saw this in every house, every workshop...
the intersection of technology and science is always fascinating... |
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Revered in Virginia because of the tobacco thing, I suppose;
executed as a traitor long before there was a colonial Williamsburg |
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| In the apothecary shop |
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| Really gnarly old tree |
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| Susan and Vicki approach the capitol |
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| Among the meeting rooms |
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| Getting educated about colonial governance |
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| Rifling at the gunsmith's |
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Street scene; OK, this is not what it would have looked like in
1760, but some concessions have to be made... |
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| Christmas decor competition (appetizer foreshadowing) |
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| At the silversmith's |
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| Wigmaker |
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| Champion wreath |
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| Research and preservation going on all over |
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| Among our several visits to the excellent museum |
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Eating well, as often as possible...a great captain's plate at Berret's;
preceded by the cheapest oysters I've had since France, as foreshadowed |
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Goodwin preached at the Bruton Parish church as well as other
places in the East; was an unrelenting advocate for the preservation of
Virginia's historical buildings and artefacts; hit the jackpot when
he interested Rockefeller ("Praise John from whom oil blessings
flow") in the project; we found ourselves sitting beneath the plaque
during a concert at the Bruton; erected by "friend and fellow worker" John D. |
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| Weaving |
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Several of the Founders did time in Williamsburg, Virginia's
capital until the Seven Years War (aka the French and Indian
War) |
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It would be another two generations before Thomas Crapper
was born...yes, I enjoy perpetuating the "over-statement" of
Wallace Reyburn's playful biography Flushed With Pride... |
