Day two started bright and early though we did sleep in until 7:00 but with the time change it was really 6:00am! So we get ready and I took Janea and another girl from my class down to breakfast, we eat and prepare to leave at 8:45 for Historic Site! I had gone back to the room and finished getting all my stuff together and thought I had everything and we left the hotel and headed to Colonial Williamsburg.. We are at the Visitor's Center and several parents keep asking me "where's the historic stuff, this looks really modern" and I did start getting nervous when I remembered that the visitors center is a little ways from the historic district and there would be a shuttle.
We had a great tour guide who led us around the park. Bonehead me, I left my camera on the bed when I was getting all the tour stuff together. I had to rely on my parents to take pictures for me. Well, the first thing we got to see was the George Wythe house...he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and taught the law to Thomas Jefferson. We got to touch a door that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson touched! I found that very cool(the history geek that I am) and then we got to go inside and see a gentry level house from the 1700's. In the parlor, there was a interpreter who was playing music. He was very informative and informed us that in the 1700's girls could only play specific instruments, ones that didn't cause the elbow to jut out from the body and distort the face! The boys were kinda bummed when they learned that girls got to play guitar!
After the Wythe house we viewed a weaver, and went to the foundry where we got to see them make metal spoons. It was very cool and the kids had fun pulling on the bellows! After this we went and got to go to the Capital. Here we got to reenact history and play the parts of the men who decided that we should declare our Independence from England. This had more meaning for the kids than me just talking about it! After the capital we went and viewed the jail. Cold and creepy! I would have not wanted to be put in the prisons then! Our guide then told us a spooky ghost story about Blackbeard who was actually captured by men from Williamsburg!
We took a brief break and played with hoops and sticks and I should say I have finally found a sport I am somewhat good at! I can roll a hoop with a stick! Our last stop with our tour guide was the milliner's shop where we learned about dressmaking, tailoring, and all the accessories needed to dress back in the 1700's! I am so glad I do not have to wear the amount of layers the ladies did back them!
After lunch in a local tavern we explored more of the town on our own and then went and took a tour of the Governor's Palace. This was a great tour with a great tour guide who really made us feel like we would have wanted to join in the rebellion against the British! Our friend from the Wythe house came and explained all about the ball and the minuet...I had never realized that up to an hour and a half of a ball would be spent with one couple after another dancing the minuet one after another in order of standing in the community! That seems like a long evening!
We ended our day by warming up with hot chocolate and then going down and viewing the actors reenacting history in Revolutionary City. The kids had been complaining about wanting to leave for about an hour but once we got where there was action and basically real life TV! Then they didn't want to leave! I think they were really starting to grasp the meaning behind the Revolutionary War!
I promised all the kids souvenirs so they got to pick out Williamsburg souvenirs then we headed back to the hotel...we were going to order in pizza, but the thought of 6 kids eating in rooms and being loud we decided to go to the pizza place. The adults had a nice time talking, eating, and drinking while the kids amused themselves and ate too. All in all a full and eventful day! The kids all swam again that night and we all slept really good since we were so tired from our very full day!
No comments:
Post a Comment