~Wednesday, May 19, 2021~
Day 339
Regretting not staying longer in Williamsburg, we tried to extend our stay to 3 days. But when those 3 days incorporate the weekend, good luck! The best they could do was extend us one more day (checking out on Friday morning). We took it, forfeiting 1 night of our 3 at our next campground at Oak Ridge Campground near Manassas, VA. In hindsight, we should have booked 2 weeks in Williamsburg instead of one. There’s just too much to see and take in, no matter how many times you’ve been before.
To understand what makes Colonial Williamsburg so historically important, we need to look back about 300 years. As we know, the Virginia Indians were here first; tens of thousands of years. When the colonists arrived in Jamestown, there were times of amiability between them and the natives. But there were also times of great tension and conflict. Fast forward 100 years after Jamestown floundered, Williamsburg became the center of politics, trade and education. In fact, it was the Capital of the Virginia Colony from 1699 to 1779. Not long after, a new kind of tension was rising between the British and the new American colonists who wanted their independence from England, which, as we know, ultimately caused a revolutionary war; a war that cost tens of thousands of lives, but resulted in the birth of a new nation. By visiting Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg all in one trip, we’re slowly but surely putting together the many pieces of this complex puzzle.
It was a perfect warm weather day to be in Colonial Williamsburg with all of the outdoor touring we had in store.
After parking at the visitor center (which was closed), we took the shuttle into old town. As we walked down Glouchester Street, we were limited to seeing only the grounds and exterior of the buildings, that is until we purchased the park pass. Knowing we were touring old town Williamsburg again tomorrow, we wanted to get the park pass ahead of time. The clerk was nice enough to let us use the pass for the remainder of today. Yeh!! Bonus time. Buildings that were formerly homes, shops, churches, etc. are highlighted by American Flags at their entrances. We were able to take in a few of those today. Each interpreter demonstrates, acts
or performs in character, whether it be a baker, bricklayer, a judge, etc.
Touring these historic places without Sadie has actually worked out, since she has needed to rehabilitate her foot anyway. She usually goes with us whenever possible, but it’s been good for her to rest. She’s doing much better, limping less. In fact, when we got back from our tour today, we brought her down with us to the dock to watch
the sunset alongside Gordon Creek which looks more like a river. What a gorgeous, peaceful spot we had. There was a family nearby doing a little early evening fishing. No mosquitos, no wind. The water was like glass and calm enough to see the fish jumping to catch a meal. We also saw students taking a rowing class, some boats with 7 or 8 people trying to row in sync. If we move here, we’ll have to look into that.
A delicious dinner of grilled salmon, risotto (thank you Trader Joe’s) and broccoli. Yum!!