Back to the Past 1776 – October 12, 2014

Today is the official start of our newest adventure.  We are spending a week in Williamsburg, Virginia visiting Colonial Williamsburg and Washington D.C.  We have invited Jim’s sister, Carol, to join us and we met yesterday at the Williamsburg Plantation Resort minutes apart.  After looking over all the options for things to do, we attacked the day with a plan for the week and excited to begin this new adventure.

Even though The Weather Channel had promised us sunshine today and delivered drizzling rain, we followed the plan and headed to Colonial Williamsburg.  We were delighted to find that the one day ticket price allows people over 55 years of age to re-enter the area unlimited times between today and December 31st.  This eliminates the need to push ourselves to see all the things available in one day.  Between Jim’s bad knee and Carol’s recent infirmities from a fall, we are in no condition to take on Colonial Williamsburg in one day!

We started with a 35 minute long film depicting the sentiment of the day back prior to the Boston Tea Party and how Thomas Jefferson and John Frye first met when they served their first term in the House of Burgess.  It’s interesting that the film was originally made in 1957 and is still the same film shown today although colorized and digitally enhanced.  The film made me think what would be my stance if I had to make those same decisions today that they had to make back then.  Do you stay true to the “homeland” or opt for something new and better.  Think about that.

As I’m sure you know, there are numerous shops with educational information given by people representing craftsmen of the day.  I got particularly interested in the Jeweler’s Shop because there was a woman working with the silver and cooper.

I asked her if there were really woman silversmiths in the day and I was surprised at her answer.  She said all the trades, include blacksmith, had women working in them.  Back then, things were not as gender specific as they became later on and a child of either sex was sent to apprentice with a craftsman in the field in which they showed talent.  She said there were many women working as blacksmiths and that the craft requires less brute strength than the stereotype.  A silversmith has to be able to strike a hammer within 1/8 of an inch of the spot they intend and a blacksmith has a variance of about 1/2 inch.

She was so informative and I was having fun, but Jim came and got me because it was time to check on our lunch reservation.  Good thing because they had called our name.  We were eating at the King’s Tavern and people were waiting an hour to get in.

We decided to eat our primary meal for lunch and partake of traditional colonial food, which meant a cup of peanut soup garnished with chopped peanuts and sippets.  It tasted just like liquified peanut butter and we were glad we got one cup for the three of us to share.  Our entrees were Chicken Pottage Pye, (their spelling not mine), Fried Chicken with roasted potatoes and baked tomato, and beef with cheese and fries.  All three were delicious and I know this because we shared so we all got a taste of them all.  By the way, the Pottage Pye is a Chicken Pot Pie if you didn’t guess that.

After lunch we went into the wig maker’s shop.

I never realized that back in the day, wigs were custom made for each person by first shaving their heads and making an exact diagram of the individual head to include all bumps and shapes to help a woodcarver make a replica of the head.  That head is what will be used to make the wig and then reshape and dress the wig each time after.  Thomas Jefferson had seven different wigs including white for evening and formal occasions.  Patrick Henry had seventeen.   Their answer for bad hair days!

The balance of the afternoon was spent leisurely walking around and enjoying the area.  Jim took these pictures that we hope you enjoy.

Interior of General Store

Jewelry Store
Bakery a must stop
Pharmacy  Governors Mansion
House along main road of Colonial Williamsburg

Episcopal Church

And we ended the day with a trip to Wawa!