11/2/17

Colonial Williamsburg

We had such a wonderful day yesterday. Colonial Williamsburg is a must-see for anyone visiting the area. The Colonial capital was moved inland to Williamsburg from Jamestown in 1699. Visiting was like returning to the 1770s and reliving the times when our country's future was being debated. We strolled among costumed townfolk as they went about their daily business. A few of the buildings are carefully restored replicas, but most are the original buildings, meticulously maintained.

We started at the visitor center. The price of admission is steep here at $40 each for adults. Children are less, and we got a 10% discount as seniors.


We took a shuttle bus the 1/3 mile to the actual town, but first stopped off in the restrooms. There, I was charmed by this hexi-tiled wall as I went through the hallway. I would have liked to back up and get a shot straight on, but this was the best I could do. I imagine you hexi people will see a quilt here.


When we got off the shuttle bus, we stopped briefly to watch these gentlemen brewing ale. Throughout our day, we were able to stop and watch some demonstration or another going on.


We were on our way to the Governor's Palace.


It was a constellation of structures and a large garden, but this was the main house.


Just behind me was the gate leading into the gardens. Keep in mind that this was before the Revolutionary War, and so the colonies were still ruled by the King of England. The coat of arms above the gate includes a unicorn on the left, representing Scotland, and a lion on the right, representing England.


We took a tour and were given a very interesting history lesson by this gentleman. He told us many things we already knew, but at least half were things we did not know. For example, did you know that George Washington was considered a very good dancer? Yes, women would stand in line for a dance with the good General.


Inside the front door was a display of weaponry that was quite fascinating. We were told there were something like 570 weapons at various places in the house. These were essentially a show of force to anyone entering the public spaces inside the house. There were swords, muskets, and flintlock pistols.




There's another shot of the coat of arms, and it was displayed at various places inside the house and outside in the town.


Beneath our feet was this floor made of marble. This is not the original structure because the original burned down in the late 1700's. It has been meticulously restored by a member of the Rockefeller family. Enough of the building was left to identify the region where this kind of marble was located, and so it is the same as was used in the original building.


They were also able excavate the foundation to help with sizes and support structures. Also, there were drawings from eyewitness accounts, and so our guide could say with confidence that the structure was nearly identical to the original.

As long as I'm showing you what was beneath our feet, I thought you might enjoy seeing the rugs we walked on as we toured the house.




This was the master bedroom. Pretty fancy, huh?


This was a common way of decorating bedrooms. All the beds and even the cribs had bed curtains. I asked about the absence of quilts, and apparently, that was not the decor of the day. Instead, rooms were decorated in a single color from the wallpaper to the bedding.

Our next stop (simply because it's what we came to next) was this house:



To the rear were some beautiful gardens. On the left was the kitchen garden.


In the middle, some men were restoring the flower garden.


Inside, it looked similar to the Governor's Palace, although not as ornate or quite as large.


I zoomed in on that blanket resting on the bed.


And this embroidery hoop.


I took the image below to show you the square nails used in the wood flooring.


Next along our route was the church. There was no religious freedom, and all the townsfolk were required to attend this one church, regardless of one's faith. Failure meant they were required to pay a fine. If services were missed for more than a month, one could be jailed. Also, this church has held services continuously since the day it opened, and indeed, there were services going on inside while we visited. We didn't go inside.


That is the church steeple in the foreground. It was so tall, I couldn't capture the whole of the building in one frame.


There was also an ancient cemetery there. Many of the inscriptions on the headstones were weathered away, but I did catch these two...buried during the Civil War. Recall that Virginia fought on the side of the Confederacy.


From there, we continued our walk through the streets, finally coming upon this shop.


The sign offered no description other than this name.


Inside, it turned out to be a dressmaker's shop. There were dresses, dolls, and hats for sale inside, along with some displays of sewing tools of the time. Some were simply for looking.


Others were for sale.



Also, fabric! Well. Don't you know I got pretty excited about this. It was available for sale in minimum one-yard cuts, but you could also purchase larger cuts if you wanted.


There were some fat quarter bundles available as well, but they were priced pretty high. The one yard cuts were $14 per yard, and I walked out with this one.


Also, I couldn't resist this book.


Inside are pages of quilting designs, not that I would ever do anything this ornate. Still, I might pick and choose smaller portions of these designs.


The facing page for the page above reads as follows:


From there we walked on, passing by the stocks. I visited Williamsburg when I was a child, and this is the one clear memory of have of the place.


Here, one could be forced to sit on that pointed rail while one's ankles were locked in. The upright appears to be a whipping post.


And we were hungry by then, so we stopped in at a tavern for some lunch.



We were taken up a winding staircase to the dining room upstairs. Charming. Our server was dressed in period dress. Everyone in the town was attired in period garments.


There was a good menu. Mike chose the Beef Trencher.


I chose the Roasted Vegetable Trencher. Here's my lunch in the image below.


I was curious about the bread. It was a flatbread, similar to naan, and folded over like a taco shell. Our server informed us that it was similar to what the colonists might have eaten, but they would have allowed the bread to become rock hard and then loaded the filling on top. That allowed them to take it with them into the trenches, thus the name, "trenchers."

Mike had a glass of beer, and I had some hard cider, which meant we both wanted a cup of coffee before moving on. It was served up in a little tea pot. Our server quipped that it was coffee from "last night." Whatever was left from the night before was simply poured back into the pot. We laughed at this, and she told us that a previous customer had said, "If that's true, I don't want it."


When she saw me take a picture of the coffee, she offered to take our picture.


From there, we walked on. Here's how the streets looked.


Mike wanted to stop off and watch the blacksmith at work. In the image below, he's using his left hand to operate the bellows, which you can see on the left side of the image.


Here were some of his finished tools.


Behind the blacksmith shop, this man was sewing some leather breeches.


I zoomed in to check out the quality of his hand stitching and the needle he was using. I looked around at his other needles, and they appear to be modern.


Back on the street, carriages being pulled by oxen or horses were seen regularly. Also the center of the streets were lined with, um, poo. We had to watch our steps.


We were headed to The Capitol Building.


One had to join a tour to go inside, and we were kind of toured out. We just circled around the outside.



Then we stopped off at this structure. A Gaol, is basically a jail.


Behind was this pasture with oxen...


and some very friendly sheep.


But don't let those pastoral scenes fool you. This was a grim place.




And we were kind of tired by that time, so we headed back to the shuttle bus stop and returned to the visitor center. I can't end without showing you that this was another windows and walls kind of day. Here are a few of the images I took.




We thoroughly enjoyed our day.

Today we'll visit to the third part of the triangle, Yorktown, where the final battle of the revolutionary war was fought.

12 comments:

Gretchen Weaver said...

Someday I want to visit Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. Enjoy it all for me!

Cathy Smith said...

I was there about 40 years ago with my friend's nine year old daughter. Betsy was absolutely fascinated by the period costumes the women wore. One docent overheard her asking me about the hoops at the hips/waist. When the lecture was over the docent asked us to stay behind. With that, she unhooked (yes, hooks and eyes) the side of her skirt to show Betsy the wooden frame with leather straps holding the skirt out. She was also wearing pantaloons style undergarments. If I remember nothing else about my day at Williamsburg I have always remembered the kindness of that docent answering a little girl's question.

Californianativedaughter said...

I've always wanted to visit Willliamsburg, but my husband was afraid if I got there I wouldn't want to come home. When I was on a Quilt History tour, I took two of them to the East Coast, I saw many of the thing you have pictured at Williamsburg. We visited the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York in Cooperstown. There's a Farmer's Museum there as well as the Baseball Hall of Fame, which wasn't on our tour, but I ran into the Gift Shop to get some things for my family. In Philadelphia we ate lunch at the City Tavern, the place where Paul Revere and James Adams frequented. I purchased two of their cookbooks which I use to prepare recipes for Thanksgiving. In Philly, there's a small district where fabric/antique stores are located and we shopped there. On one of our tours we were introduced to a quilt made from the silk bands found on cigars. Apparently it was the practice for young women to entice their male companions to smoke cigars so they could have the bands to make into a quilt. This has stood out in my memory. Another place we visited was Rabbit Goody of Thistle Hill Weavers in Cherry Valley, NY. There we watched looms at work making tapestries, rugs and fabrics made for use in historic homes, movies, and museums. We also visited a place that prints wall paper for history homes and museum,

liniecat said...

All that armour displaying is frequently seen here in UK grand houses and castles. Spot on I guess with the display being a boast of sorts that they have the weaponry to take care of themselves.
It always seems over the top to me, though clever I suppose that they form patterns like that which, despite the lethal nature, makes weapons look attractive!
Wonderful that they have taken such pride and care in conserving and rebuilding how it must have been, despite it having too much to do with them bloomin British LOL

Sarah said...

Being one of "those hexie people" (LOL!!) I have duly saved the bathroom lady for future inspiration. That was quite the display of swords and the like. I have yet to visit Williamsburg but my parents have visited several times. Its another stop on my bucket list as I grew up visiting and volunteering in a similar NY village/museum.

Shirley said...

Williamsburg is a wonderful place though it has been twenty years since my last visit. It was so fun to see it all again in your post. You and Mike both look fantastic and the weight loss is evident. Really enjoying reading about your trip.

Kate said...

Wow, that's a lot of history in a couple of days! Again thanks for sharing. I've suggested we head that direction for vacation a couple of times, but My Guy usually opts for one of the western states and the great outdoors.

piecefulwendy said...

What a fascinating place, and the two of you look great (and cute, all relaxed and smiley). That fabric shop would have fascinated me. I watched a video not long ago about scissor makers in England who still make them from steel, by hand, piece by piece and I'm wondering if those scissors/shears were from them. I'll have to see if I can find the video. Thoroughly enjoying the traveling with you!

QuiltGranma said...

Recalling the docent with the map of our future country on it, did you notice the arm from the west, going east with a thumb up between the great lakes to a fist at the Atlantic?

quiltzyx said...

Soooo much history! I really like the capitol building with the rounded rooms on the corners with round windows too. I wonder what those were like inside?
Cool windows & doors. These days, they look so much alike. It's nice to see different kinds.
Lunch looked good - were those potato chips?

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

We visited Colonial Williamsburg when I was little. I don't remember much, but, I do remember eating spoon bread when there. YUM! When we got back home, my father found a recipe for spoon bread, and made it a couple of times a year after that. I have the recipe, and we've had it a couple of times since I've been married.

Brown Family said...

My Daughter in laws aunt worked in Colonial Williamsburg. My DIL played a part one summer. She sat in a corner and sewed

More history That I would love to see!