Colonial Williamsburg

Our campground was across the wide James River from Williamsburg. A ferry took cars the 20 minutes across for free to Jamestown. The same Highway 31 actually continues on the other side. Kraig and the boys experienced their first auto ferry!

This is what another one looked like as we passed. Each ferry carried about 35 cars.

At Colonial Williamsburg we visited the brickyard. The guys enjoyed walking through the clay used to make the bricks (or did they just enjoy getting messy?)

The dramas played out on the streets of Williamsburg that day were "The Collapse of Royal Government" (1774-1776 prior to the Revolution). Kraig was chosen to be the first recruit for the Patriots!

The Fife and Drum Corps then marched to the Capitol.

After speeches by Thomas Jefferson, Peyton Randolph and Patrick Henry at the Capitol, cannons were fired in celebration!

Inside the Capitol, we discovered that the House of Burgesses met on one side and the General Court met on the other.

The guys' favorite part of Williamsburg seemed to be this refillable mug we bought for $11. It could be filled for free with pop, tea, cider, frozen lemonade and best of all....ice cream! It was filled numerous times that day!
In 1769 when the House of Burgesses was dissolved, the "former representatives of the people," as they called themselves, met the next day at the Raleigh Tavern with Speaker Peyton Randolph in the chair. They adopted a compact drafted by George Mason and introduced by George Washington against the importation of British goods.

The tour inside Raleigh Tavern was the best! Many people tried to stump him with questions, but he stayed in character. This room was one of the dining areas.

The bar inside the tavern. They actually used to put the alcohol behind bars to keep it from being stolen. The liquor was taken into the bar through a trapdoor in the floor. This is the room the guys would have played cards.
Upstairs most of the guests staying overnight would share a room - they were just renting a bed or a space to sleep. This tavern was unusual to have some private rooms through those doors (they still had to go through the larger room to get to the private rooms).

Peyton Randolph, Speaker of the House of Burgesses and first President of the Continental Congress' home (and cousin of Thomas Jefferson). He was considered very wealthy with this large home and 26 servants/slaves. Behind the house are numerous buildings such as the kitchen, dairy, smokehouse, granary and storehouses.

The public gaol (prison). When Blackbeard the Pirate was captured and killed in nearby North Carolina, 15 of his men were held here.

Home of George Wythe, signer of the Declaration of Independence, first law professor at Williamsburg's William and Mary College and designer of the seal of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson was his student and friend. In 1781 George Washington made this his headquarters when in pursuit of Cornwallis. The paint and wallpaper is just period style, but the structure of the house including the floors and railing to go upstairs are original.

After Colonial Williamsburg closed for the day, we stopped in the museum, but the boys were tired of museums and walking and were more than ready to go back to the campsite. The next morning we packed up and drove home through a slightly longer route via West Virginia and the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains.

The week's vacation was definitely not a restful one, yet it was filled with wonderful family time and educational experiences that brought our country's history to life - which was our goal. For the rest of the summer, we'll be staying closer to home to explore more of Cleveland!