Today was our first full day of touring. After a long day of traveling, landing and getting our feet wet yesterday, today was our first day of full on touring. Of course we started off with a breakfast at our hotel. The Doubletree got great reviews for the pillows and bed. I agree, very comfy. Bagels, breakfast sandwiches, cereal and fruit filled our tummies and it was time to go.
Jamestown, Virginia was our first stop. Jamestown was the first successful English Colony. The first colonists established in 1607. We learned that 75% of the original colonists died in the beginning due to the harsh atmosphere when they arrived. They were ill prepared to survive as they were more interested in looking for gold and rich minerals. Eventually they survived, learned to farm, grew tobacco, and made friends with the Natives that were there, the Powhatan Tribe.
We got to see people working there making many authentic things. Not just for tourists to show them what they did but because they use the stuff they make there in Jamestown. We learned how they made string. We saw how important string was to the Powhatan as it held together absolutely everything. They started learning at the age of three how to do this and by the time they werenʻt too much older they were pros.
We got to see how they made homemade drills with string, wood, and stone. Along with how they made jewelry. We got to go into a Powhatan home called yehakhin. They kept a fire going at all times inside. We also got to see lots of animal pelts like fox and skunk. Before we headed down to the ships we saw how they made canoes. Burning out the middle of logs and slowly scooping out the middle with shells.
Down to the ships we went to next. We got to go on a replica of a ship that brought people to Jamestown from England named the Godspeed. 39 people came on the ship to go to Jamestown along with 13 sailors. It was hard to imagine how 39 people could be in such a tiny space. It took them four months of sailing to arrive in Jamestown. They told us amazingly only one person died on the sailing. Unreal.
After visiting the Godspeed we went up to the Jamestown Fort. We saw a musket firing and visited the church. After saying our amens it was off to Colonial Williamsburg.
Colonial Williamsburg is the worldʻs largest living history museum. We got to stroll the streets of Colonial Williamsburg and go into lots of different stores and trade buildings. We first started off at the Capitol Building where we saw our show last night. Today though we go to go into all the rooms and take pictures, unlike last night. The first room was the court room where we learned how trials were done and different punishments. We learned one law was the speed limit of horses and carriages in the old days. The horse and carriage were not allowed to go faster than a walking person. Next up was going upstairs to see the Governorʻs meeting rooms. Then back to the room we were in last night, House of Burgesses. This was where laws were passed and debates happened.
Off to the local jail where they would hold prisoners. The jailor actually lived in the house with his family and it was his childrenʻs job to feed the prisoners. We got to see jails that held 17 people at a time. Pretty small. No beds and one "throne." A good story was the night before somebody was to be hanged theyʻd bring in that personʻs casket and they could sleep on it the night before they were to be hanged. We saw a replica of the gallows. Theyʻd hang up to three people at a time. Not like how we see on tv nowadays with just a drop. But the person would have the rope around their neck slung over the wooden beam connected to a carriage or animal. That would then start going the opposite was as the gallow slowly lifting the person up to hang. If you had money, you could pay people to pull you down and grab your legs to speed the process up........
Next were the shops and trades. Our fist stop is called the apothicary, a drug store. It was neat to see how they made medicine in colonial times that in a sense, we still use today. For example our modern day tums and antacids were made with chalk and ground up oyster shells. Saw tools used to pull teeth and other medicines they had. After that it was off one of Kualapuʻu favorites, the wig maker. Weʻve always gone to the wigmaker and always interesting to see how they make wigs. We learned that Hollywood has made the use of wigs by everybody a popular thought. The reality was that most people didnʻt use wigs. But, that doesnʻt mean they werenʻt still used often. She told us that their biggest clients were men to get shaved because back then a three day old non shaved face, by many but not me, is unsightly and rude so their main source of income was giving men straight razor shaves. But we did get to see her working on a wig for the townʻs "Martha Washington" using real hair.
Off to the Silversmith who was a quite entertaining guy and loved our kids. He was working on making a spoon out of silver. Taught us how the bars of silver were worth lots of money and you could make lots of things out of them to make money. Showed up some pieces of silver that he had made that were worth $18,000! Due to the amount of silver it took to make the items. It was great. Then to the blacksmith that was working with fire and pounding away. Finally we saw the tinmaker that was working on cups.
Our final stops in Colonial Williamsburg were the stocks. Kids got to try their feet inside of them and a whipping post. All were forms of punishment back then. Women werenʻt put in the foot locks and were whipped instead. Finally we stopped in front of a church that the future Martha Washington attended and has some children buried in. Girls learned how to do a proper curtsy and the boys learned how to "put their best foot forward" to show off their calves and bend over to the women.
Lunch time in Merchant Square where we chose where to eat. Many went to a Kualapuʻu favorite, Mellow Mushroom. Pizzas, calzones, sandwiches etc. The other choices were smashburger and a Mexican place. We filled up and marched (drove) onto Yorktown. Our final stop in the Historic Triangle.
Yorktown is the scene of the surrender of the British Army to the Colonists essentially ending the Revolutionary War. It forced King George III into peace talks then creating the United States. Not just the 13 Colonies. We started with a recreation of the battle encampments. Learned that in the tents six soldiers would be assigned one tent. Again saw more ways of "healing" wounded soldiers. One of the biggest issues was bug bites. One cure for this was an ointment that would kill the bugs but smelt like rotten eggs. The smell kept the bugs out of the tent so they learned to deal with the smell.
We then kept touring the field and saw farms that wouldʻve been there then. We then went into the museum and our guide did a great job of ushering us through the museum to see actual dueling pistols, swords, guns, and a great nine minute movie that surrounded us and kept the kids awake.
Theyʻd been moaning and groaning for awhile how tired they are. As I type this driving up to DC 95% of them are asleep on the bus as we watch National Treasure. They truly needed their sleep.
Pause as we arenʻt in DC yet. Currently driving through massive thunder storms slowing us down tremendously.
Well, we were supposed to go to the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korea tonight. We never made it. The driving was so slow we never would have made it there till well past 9:30. It wouldʻve been dumping anyways so tonight the kids are going to get that rest they asked for half the day. Weʻll still see the sights because we have time to do it in the next few days in DC.
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