Day Five: Colonial Williamsburg

My group got a good preview of Colonial Williamsburg when we were wandering around town the night before.  The next day, after hearing the morning's guest lecturer, a tour guide took us on a walking tour of Colonial Williamsburg. 

We first headed to the Governor's Palace, the home of Virginia's governors during the 18th century.  The mansion has been reconstructed from its original foundation. 

 

 As we entered, we were greeted in the lobby by an extensive collection of guns!  They were meant to show off "strength" and to intimidate.

 I love this- the wig and powder room, from which we get the term "powder room."

 This original painting of King George hangs in the ball room.

 

This huge coat of arms was on the outside of the palace and is pretty symbolic.  The motto loosely translates to: God and My Right, basically the belief of the monarchy that God has given them the right to rule.

Next, we headed to the Town Jail.  The Jailer lived in the home attached to the Jail.

The longest amount of time a prisoner would be held was 14 months.  Notice the "throne" in the corner!

Near the jail was the Capitol that consisted of rooms for elected representatives to meet (House of Burgesses), a room for the Governor and his 12 appointed leaders, and a supreme court.

After our guided tour, we were given time to explore on our own.  We took our time walking down the main road.  There is so much to do here- I love how a person can learn firsthand about this time period by visiting homes of different trades (eg. wigmaker, shoemaker, tailor, or printer) and see them in action.  Everyone is in character and dressed accordingly.       

 Michelle and I goofing around in Market Square

Our group headed to lunch at Berret's and then spent the afternoon shopping in Merchants Square.  In the late afternoon, I heard some drums and fifes being played in the distance.  Rita and I went to check it out- here's what we saw coming towards us.

I was so excited- we got to watch a reenactment of the Continental Army being rounded up under the direction of General Lafayette (on his horse, speaking English with a French accent).

It was one of the highlights of the day!  The soldiers shot their guns and a cannon, too.  So cool!  

Our day ended off at the King's Tavern near the Capitol.  We were treated to a colonial style dinner, served by people dressed in character.  It was a nice way to end off our week.  We boarded our bus and were on our way to Richmond.  We had to get to the airport the next morning by 5:30am to head to Dallas.  We arrived in Fresno by 1:00pm (Pacific Time), and I was exhausted! Well, can you believe it?!  That was my week in a nutshell!

Day Four: Jamestowne & Yorktown

We stayed in Williamsburg for two nights. Look at this beautiful hotel (we stayed in some nice places!).

On Thursday morning, we boarded a bus and headed to nearby Historic Jamestowne.  Apparently, we missed out some of the features of the area, like the Jamestown Settlement area and a "glass house" (?) which I am sure would've been very neat to visit.  I didn't know it at the time though, and based on what I did get to tour, I still think it was pretty fantastic. Next time, right?

A very informative guide took us around and pointed everything out to us.  We also heard a lecture from the author of one of the books I had to read about Jamestown.  We visited the archaearium, which houses over 1,000 artifacts that have been uncovered at Jamestown.  In the last 10 years, archaeologists have actually found over 2 million artifacts, but not all of them are on display. I think that would be the coolest job- imagine doing that every day, searching for treasure!

 If I heard right, Jamestowne is the only place where British flags are allowed to be flown without the USA flag

 Fun times with Michelle

 It is said that the actual site of the first landing by the British has eroded into the James River, but still- isn't that neat?

Human bones were found in these areas marked by the crosses (there's even a human skeleton on display in the archaearium- no pictures were allowed in there)

 Here is an actual archaeology dig, right in the middle of the colony. Work is more sporadic in the winter because the ground is harder to work with.

 There has been evidence discovered of the foundation of what would've been the settlement's church.  The four crosses are where four people's remains were found, most likely people with authority (such as the priest and captain). Right between those four crosses is the location that is believed to have been where Pocahontas and John Rolfe got married.

Statue of John Smith

This church was built in the 17th century and still stands today.      

 Inside the church

A statue of Pocahontas

So interesting!  We boarded the bus and ate lunch as we headed over to Yorktown Victory Center.  

Flags representing the Thirteen Colonies

Yorktown was the site of the last battle of the Revolutionary War, where Cornwallis surrendered and the Americans ended up winning the war.  The museum has recreated a farm and even an army encampment from that that time period.  We had guides take us through, but there were also people in period dress to help us understand what life would've been like.  I loved seeing the farm, complete with kitchen, tobacco barn, crop fields, vegetable garden, and even the chickens running around.  

 Tobacco became the cash crop- money became obsolete as people used tobacco as the means of trade

 The home's kitchen area

 The garden area

There is a beautiful, new exhibit that showcases different perspectives that people would've had during this time period.  I thought this museum did a great job portraying daily life of colonists and the impact the war would've had on their lives. I think that my fifth graders would've loved it here- the museum is very informative, interactive, and kid-friendly.

 

How would you have liked to have this as a soldier?

Here's a glimpse of the encampment.

I got to watch a cannon demonstration!

So much fun! This was probably my favorite day of learning. The information I learned, the things I saw, and the connections I was able to make will surely help me to convey what this time period was like when I teach this to my students.  It'd be awesome to be able to take our kids on field trips to places like Jamestowne and Yorktown.  If only!

The rest of the day was free time.  My group and I decided to go explore Merchants' Square near our hotel.  We visited a few shops, then had dinner at DoG Street Pub, a gastropub with an extensive beer menu.  I even texted Jason a picture of it- he would've loved this place!  After our delicious dinner, some locals suggested we visit Chowning's Tavern, a short walk away.  What a cool experience- musicians dressed in 18th century clothes sang colonial songs and played fiddles as they went from room to room.  As well, the waitresses taught us some colonial games (Shut the Box, and Ship/Captain/Crew), which we played by candlelight.  We celebrated our friend, Aaron's birthday with colonial-inspired cocktails.  Did you know that the Happy Birthday song hadn't been composed yet?  We sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to him instead.  It was such a fun and memorable night!       

Our group!

 Our group with one of the musicians

Not only did I love our Jamestowne and Yorktown experiences earlier in the day, I had an amazing time with "my group" exploring the town in the evening.  This was probably my favorite day of our entire trip! (by the way, I took some of these pictures from my fellow TAH teacher, Heather- thanks, Heather!!!)

Day Three: Charlottesville, Virginia

Our first stop of the day:  the University of Virginia campus.  Most people I know have asked, "Why there?"  I was curious to know, too.  It turns out that this university was founded and designed by Jefferson and was one of the 3 things listed on his tombstone that he wanted to most be remembered for.  His ideals were brought to life through this school.  The first few colleges were established around religion- here, the campus is centered around a rotunda which housed the library (symbolizing education as opposed to religion).  The university has received designation as a World Heritage Site.  In front of the rotunda is the Academical Village, which was where both students and professors lived.  Jefferson believed that a good education involved close interaction between students and professors.  The professors lived in the two story buildings, where their classrooms were the bottom floor.  Nowadays, students who are in their last year have to apply for the privilege of living in the Academical Village.  Wouldn't that be so neat, to live in a place with such history?

 Here's a group pic of our whole teacher group

 The Rotunda

      These units line each side of the Rotunda

 Jefferson's home, Monticello, overlooks the campus from afar

After our tour, we boarded the bus and headed to Michie Tavern, an 18th century tavern where we feasted on a buffet with amazing Southern fried chicken.  We got to take a quick tour and the host even taught our teachers a dance that would've been popular in that time. 

 I was very intrigued by this outhouse- did you know that people used corncobs before toilet paper!?

After boarding our bus, we headed to Monticello.  I was very much looking forward to this visit and was not disappointed.  If there was something I knew about Jefferson, it's that he was a very complex and controversial figure.  Our teacher group participated in a special program where we got a hands-on experience that we could adapt for our classroom.  We got a guided tour of Jefferson's residence and I learned even more about him.  When you see this picture of Monticello, it looks like a single story home... You'd be surprised to know that the house was actually 4 stories!  Jefferson loved architecture and enjoyed experimenting with design.

My very favorite part of this visit was going on the Slavery Walking Tour.  As part of my grant, our professors have assigned specific books that we have had to read.  One of them, Master of the Mountain, by Henry Wiencek, was particularly intriguing.  He suggests that this iconic president, the man who authored the Declaration of Independence in which it states that "all men are created equal," actually didn't truly believe it.  Jefferson had over 300 slaves in his lifetime and upon his death, only freed 7.  The book leads its readers to believe that Jefferson knew what he was doing and he chose not to free his slaves because he knew that he wouldn't have been able to prosper without them.  I absolutely loved the Slavery tour- the guide did not sugar coat anything.  He shared stories from the slaves' perspectives and like the book I read, they were so thought-provoking.  

 The garden area, as we walked along Mulberry Row, the area where Monticello's slaves worked

This fireplace is barely standing- there are plans for archaeologists to dig deeper in this area to recover artifacts from Mulberry Row.  We were told that in five years, this tour will be totally different as more things are uncovered.

 After the Slavery tour, we continued on the path to see the Monticello Graveyard, containing the graves of Jefferson, his family members, and relatives. Jefferson left directions that he wanted 3 things engraved on his tombstone: Author of the Declaration of Independence, Author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.

This evening, we had dinner at a restaurant called, The Local.  They take pride in cooking with the freshest ingredients supplied from local farms.  Oooooh, it was so good (I started with mussels, had a chili-chipotle Berkshire pork chop, and finished with blackberry cobbler)!

Our journey continued after dinner as we boarded the bus and headed to Williamsburg.

Day Two: Washington DC (cont.)

Despite heading to bed pretty late, we were expected to be up with our bags packed early the next morning.  Except for one morning, every day after breakfast, we had a guest lecturer who would teach or share about his historical perspectives on the places we would be visiting.  On this particular day, we got some free time to tour Washington D.C.  Mike, Michelle, and I joined up with three other people from our teacher group- the six of us pretty much spent the whole week together.  We took the MetroLink to the National Mall area and spent a lot of time walking around.  Did you know that all the Smithsonian museums are free?!  We definitely tried to take advantage of that.  First up was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. 

This elephant greeted us in the lobby.

 Check out this mummy!  I am fascinated by all things Egyptian and wish there had been more things in this exhibit.  I've been told I really need to check out the Egyptian museum in San Jose.

Our next stop was the National Museum of American History.  Our teacher group met one of the museum's curators there, who guided us through an exhibit called, "Within these Walls..."  It was interesting to learn about a partially reconstructed house from Massachusetts and the families that lived there over a period of 200 years but I will admit that I was disappointed- we were meeting with a curator- I was expecting to learn so much more!  Afterwards, we were once again given free time.  We lined up for "The Star Spangled Banner" exhibit where we got to see the flag that inspired the national anthem on display (no pictures were allowed).  Our group got hungry at this point, so we didn't stick around to see anything else.  There were still a few exhibits that I would've wanted to see.  Next time!  

After lunch at a cool Asian fusion restaurant called Teaism, we walked towards the U.S. Capitol.  It would've been very interesting to see the inside, but this was as far as we got since tours have been booked solid through April.

We spent some time visiting the National Air and Space Museum.  My family would've loved this museum! My group and I even went to see a 3D show called, Space Junk. Jason was surprised that I actually went- I get nauseous pretty easily, so I usually bow out of 3D shows.  I didn't get sick- yay!

 

After this time, we had to go meet our teacher group.  We headed to dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill.  This grill was established in 1856 and presidents have dined there.  I enjoyed a fantastic meal of Irish Oat-Crusted Salmon. Yummmmm...  After dinner, we boarded the bus and headed to Charlottesville.  Most of our traveling between towns took place in the evening and we checked into our hotel pretty late every night.  With all the walking we did on this day, I was beat and quickly fell asleep.  There is still so much to explore in Washington- I will definitely be back!