Williamsburg -- Virginia in June -- 2007

I visited Williamsburg many years ago, but only briefly for dinner when I was at a conference in Norfolk, so I wanted to stay there & explore it a bit. We didn't immerse ourselves in too much Revolutionary War history but we did get some by just being there. We stayed there & took day trips everywhere else.

In terms of living history museums, Williamsburg must be the king of them all. Many buildings are original & are located where they were 300 years ago. We got to stay in one of those -- the Peter Hay Kitchen. It was tiny, but had a fireplace (which would be handy in December, but not in June), air conditioning & lots of privacy.

This is the front of it, with atypical hotel room door handle signs.

This is the back garden. We could see it from our bathroom & dressing area windows.

One of the most charming things about Williamsburg for me is that almost everything is done the way it would have been done in the 18th century. The workers are all dressed in appropriate clothing. The restaurants have no electric lighting in the dining rooms, only candles, & serve meals consistent with the times. Streetlights are very dim & there are few of them. In fact, flashlights are provided in the rooms for people to use when they walk around after dark.

The area is walkable but quite large. One modern day convenience was a shuttle bus that ran around the perimeter from early in the morning until fairly late at night. It was much appreciated after a long day of walking.

We didn't bother with the camera at night, but we did spend one solid day seeing Williamsburg & took pictures then as well as at some special events on other days. Something is always going on in keeping with what would have been happening at the time. Tourists can join in on some of the activities, such as marching to protest something, or as Trout did, learning how to dance properly.

This is the building which housed the Capitol of the Virginia Colony starting in 1699 when it moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg. It is here that much later, the founding fathers started the seeds of revolution, the Constitution & the United States.

Washington, Jefferson & many others were Virginians. They sat in this very place to discuss the issues of the day. Trout & I sat in this room one night for a harpsichord concert, all by candlelight, of course.

Protest marches were being enacted one day. These pictures show some of the street action with a mix of Williamsburg employees & tourists.

The guy in the center of the street in costume was a slave who was saying he'd fight for the colonies, just give him a gun.

These new soldiers are being trained on the field.

These ones already appear to have some skills.

Technological Distractions

One of my favorite buildings was the jail. I liked its visual images. Trout got into seeing how the doors were built.

And he insisted I take a picture of the method used by the gates to stay closed.