Traveling to visit Williamsburg 10 years this past week was a great experience for me, especially in providing an opportunity to see the history of the colonial and Revolutionary periods come alive.
Below is a collection of photos from that wonderful trip.
Please note that, to the best of my memory, the photos in which I don't appear were taken by me. The photos in which I appear were taken by either Mom or Day, unless otherwise noted. This was with a family digital camera we all shared, as I wouldn't get my own camera until almost three years later.
On Saturday, July 18, after checking in at our hotel resort, upon entering our unit, I was delighted to see the number of the unit was 1826, which was the year the United States marked 50 years since independence.
Below is the fort at Jamestowne, and I am posing by an entrance to it in the photo above.
Below are the excavated remains of the House of Burgesses building. Notably, it was on July 30, 1619, when the House of Burgesses first met--and the 400th anniversary of that first meeting is in the upcoming week, on July 30, 2019.
The photo above shows the plaza built for the Quadricentennial of the 1607 founding on Jamestown, celebrated in May 2007. It is outside the visitors' center that serves as the access point for Historic Jamestown site and the Jamestown Settlement living history museum.
Below, I am posing by a sign welcoming visitors to Colonial Williamsburg.
Below is a bridge that leads from the Historic Colonial Williamsburg Visitors' Center to the path leading toward the historic area. Walking toward colonial Williamsburg are a series of plaques taking people back in time, which give a lot of perspective on history and characteristics of different eras. Heading toward the visitors' center are plaques that take people toward the present and mark the progress toward greater freedom.
Above and below are images of the same plaque, but oriented two ways so you can read both sides. As the context would indicate, this plaque is at the end of the bridge leading on to the path toward the colonial Williamsburg historic area.
Above and below are images of the same plaque, but oriented two ways so you can read both sides. As the context would indicate, this plaque is at the end of the bridge by the visitors' center building.
Here's the plaque right before reaching the end of the bridge at the visitors' center.
Above is the printmaker, and below is the wig shop.
Above is the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg.
Above is the colonial Virginia capitol building, and below is the chamber of the House of Burgesses inside.
On Tuesday, our second day visiting Williamsburg, we attended an outdoor play that was staged mostly on and around Duke of Gloucester Street, recreating scenes from the years leading up to US independence.
Below, I am posing with Patrick Henry, who appears to the left, and Richard Henry Lee, who appears to the right.
The characters in the play act totally in character according to the times: So when I remarked that my Dad had a machine to take a picture of us instantly, Patrick asked me what tavern I had been to, for clearly I must have had too much (alcoholic) punch to think that a machine could instantly get a picture of us.
Above, Lord Dunmore addresses the gathered crowd about actions the British Crown is taking, which will curtail the democratic processes of government in Virginia. Before the play started, a costumed figure informed us that we were going back in time: We would all become British subjects, thereby obligating us to properly acknowledge the King's representative, Lord Dunmore, the Governor of Virginia, as he passed by in his carriage.
Below is the crowd gathered on Duke of Gloucester Street, facing toward the capitol.
Above is a cannon salute in the scene in which, so far as I can remember, the characters took decisive steps towards independence. Below is a parade of fife and drum players, who walked from the Capitol down Duke of Gloucester Street.
I got super excited in the exuberant atmosphere and began cheering loudly. Dad was a bit taken aback, feeling that if he was living in that time, he wouldn't be as eager to support the movement for independence.
And it's true that by moving toward independnece, the colonists were breaking away from a country that had defined so much of their existence and their land for over a century. Yet, I became convinced that the colonists were motivated by noble aims that gave them courage to break from Britain and forge a new country. They were moved by a patriotic spirit that I feel in myself today.
Above and below are photos from Presidents Park, with large busts of all the US presidents. Unfortunately, it closed. It was so fascinating to walk around and look at the presidents and read signs that told about each of them and the times in which they lived. These photos were taken from a balcony on an upper level of the visitors' center building at the park's entrance. Upon investigating, I found out that currently these statues are being held in a farm somewhere nearby, awaiting an opportunity be part of a new attraction.
Below is a photo Dad took of me at the entrance of Presidents' Park.
On Wednesday, July 23, on our way back to Oak Park, we stopped for a tour of St. John's Church in Richmond. The photos below and above show the inside. Back on March 23, 1775, St. John's Church was much smaller than it is today: The altar would have been in the spot depicted to the far left in the photo below by the large paneling display that contains, so far as I remember, the 10 Commandments and one of the Creeds. The pews would have faced toward that altar. Even though much smaller than it was today, the tour guide, Rick, indicated that this church was the largest building in Richmond at that time, which is why the Second Virginia Convention gathered there.
Rick took the photos above and below of the three of us. Above, we're posing by the main entrance of 1775. below, we're posing by the main entrance that has been in place since the Church was expanded, so far as I remember, sometime in the 20th Century.
Rick also took the photo above of the three of us posing at the (current) main entrance, which shows the whole church tower to the cross on top.
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