We started our day in Colonial Williamsburg. This is a first visit for all of us so we are all excited about what the day holds. The weather is picture perfect again so it will be a great day for exploring.
We parked at the visitor center and took the shuttle into the village itself. (Exciting side note- if you visit, they offer a teacher discount for admission! We got 50% off of our admission!) CW is not a part of the national parks services, it is an independent entity. This city reflects life in the 18th century on this exact location. Many of the structures that are there currently are original or if rebuilt, they are on the original footprint of the previous structure.
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| The Capitol |
We took a guided tour through the Capitol learning how the colonist dealt with their British Governor and ruling of the day.
After our Capitol visit we ran into a local who gave us some background on the city and also mentioned that Mr. Grey was in the process of baking ginger cake just up the street..... oh how I LOVE ginger cake! We found our way to the bakery and walked in to see the oven and the baker hard at work.
Once the fire is started in the oven and the embers established, the oven temperature is around 900 degrees. It slowly decreases throughout the day so the agenda for the day had to be based on what could be baked at various temperatures. For cookies baking (350-ish degrees) they get about an hour and a half to two hours of baking time a day. When I inquired as to how could they determine the temperature at any time, he told he sticks his arm into the oven and uses that as a gauge. We laughed and said that he must be hairless on his arm- he showed us- it was!
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| Wasn't always easy being a colonist! |
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| Colonial Uber! |
We found our way to the carpenter in the city and enjoyed talking to he and his helper. They were working on a door and everything that they do is just as it was done in the 1700's.
Our last stop was the Governor's Palace. This was home to Royal Governors and then the first two elected governors of Virginia. A beautiful home and grounds.
One could easily spend several days here at Williamsburg (there are lodging options within the city) to take it all in. There are numerous talks and activities to take part in the truly learn the history here.
It is getting close to our return trip home (we have to be back home Tuesday) but are trying to squeeze in as much as possible. We are going to start the return trip but stop off in Asheville, NC as we want to visit Biltmore.
Our dinner in Asheville was at a local eatery and Becky finally got a martini that she has been wanting.
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| Dry Martini, Pale Ale, Long Island Ice Tea, Old Fashioned |
Poll results from yesterday:
You guys are hopeless romantics! I do love Gone with the Wind but my first choice would be The Shawshank Redemption. When we were at the National Soldiers Cemetery, our tour guide stated that the reason President Lincoln's address was so powerful was that in those short two minutes he gave people/the nation hope. I remember a line from The Shawshank Redemption that Andy told Red about hope- "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Good stuff!
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