Colonial Williamsburg adventure day 1

Today I woke up at the lovely hour of 3am, couldn't fall back to sleep, and ended up watching a nice documentary on Versailles and its three Louis until 4am, which was the witching hour. Mom, Dad, and I quietly (I hope) packed up our remaining things, got in the car, and at 5am left for colonial Williamsburg.

The drive was pretty uneventful; traffic, me sleeping, the pop radio station playing the same 5 songs the entire trip, but we finally made it to Williamsburg, where we checked into our hotel (the Woodlands). We couldn't get into our room, so we ate a quick lunch in the car and then walked to the Revolutionary City!!



Happy car selfie before our walk in!

Selfie in front of the Governor's Palace. We were told the latest gossip by a lady as we were walking in; the Governor and his family fled the colony in the night and ended up returning to Britain. While the colonists were happy to see the Governor gone, they seemed disappointed not to have the fashionable Lady Dunmore and her children there anymore.

The Wythe House!

Duke of Gloucester Street! Not that crowded, actually, and surprisingly not hot!

Our first official stop was the Capitol, which my parents had never toured. This was where the House of Burgesses met and the Virginia Declaration of Rights was voted on. The original building was destroyed by fires twice, so this one is based on the earlier model (1705 perhaps?)

We then stopped by the Secretary's Office, where interpreters were hard at work. They're making a reproduction of George Washington's tent aka the First Oval Office aka lots and lots of linen.

After a few more building visits and eating a ginger cookie (yum) we decided to stop to listen to a talk being given by the Marquis de Lafayette and General George Washington. The Marquis was as flamboyant and French as I expected, and Washington was more subdued. They addressed the crowd's questions and told us about the upcoming siege of Yorktown. All fingers are crossed that it ends up in our favor. Washington refused to answer a question on the number of spies he had in his service and spoke of how he wished to return to retirement after the war, while the Marquis talked about l'Hermione and his wish for French citizens to have more representation in their government.

I got a picture with the Marquis afterwards, which was very nice. Mom wanted me to speak French with him, but the only thing I said was 'Merci, monsieur' after the picture. He did respond 'De rien', so I'd call that a productive conversation.

I would've asked General Washington to send my regards to Major Tallmadge, whom I'm familiar with because I watch Turn, but then I thought about how it might look if I brought up the commander of Washington's spy ring in public and decided against it. Also, he was conversing with someone else about the use of privateers.

After that excitement and some much needed fangirling time in the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop, we settled down to a nice dinner at the King's Arms Tavern!

Relishes; ham, corn, and pickled watermelon.

My dinner; a pork chop with polenta and squash that I quickly devoured.

After dinner we walked down to Merchant's Square to catch the bus back to our hotel and enjoyed the peace of the historic city at dusk.

The Governor's Palace looking regal as always.

As I'm writing this, the rest of my family is asleep, so I suppose I should join them! Tomorrow we're doing some college visiting (William and Mary) and then hopefully spending some more time in the historic city.

-Tessa :D