As end ends up, we still didn't get our facts straight. The admission fee allows you to go on tours of the buildings and see the presentations of the various tradesmen. You can enter and wander around free and the hours aren't limited. We even discovered that the place that we went for dinner that night was just off the main street (of course, that's the night that we got caught in a microburst / mini-tornedo before we got out of the parking lot) so maybe it's just as well that we didn't wander into Colonial Williamsburg.
We usually head East for Nikos and Maya's birthdays so this time, we decided to fly into Richmond and visit Williamsburg before driving up to Rutland, MA.
After catching a redeye, we arrived in Williamsburg at about noon on October 20th. Since our hotel wasn't willing to check us in before 3pm and since Colonial Williamsburg is offering a Seniors deal where a one day pass is good for the rest of the year, we went on over to the Visitors Center. We bought our passes and went on in to wander around until check-in time.
We stayed 3 nights in Williamsburg so, after that initial look around, we were able to go back for 2 more full days.
On the morning of day 2, we started out with a tour of the Governor's mansion. The octagonal entrance hall had a pretty amazing display of weapons on all 8 walls. This continued down the hallway and up the staircase.
Some of the other rooms in the Governor's mansion:
The front of the Governor's mansion:
Colonial Williamsburg is loaded with costumed characters who try to never break character. We were amused when, after getting directions from one of them, we thanked him and he responded "Allrightee!".
Kristen in front of the courthouse. The stocks, pillories and whipping post are to the right of the courthouse.
Misc. photos:
The Capitol (Williamsburg was the state capital before it moved to Richmond):
The side of the Capitol where the elected representatives met:
The meeting room where Virginia's version of the Declaration of Independence was framed in May, 1776:
The King's side of the Capitol:
A crowd gathers to hear a Governor's representative (mockingly) read the newly released Declaration of Independence.
The Episcopalian church (the only game in town back in the day).
George Wythe was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson lived in the Wythe house while he was studying with Wythe. This is the Wythe house:
The Wythe house from the back garden:
A reenactment of the riot that took place after the Governor had his troops take all of the powder from the militia's armory:
For lunch on our last day in Williamsburg, we left the park area to eat at the same pub where we had our (pre-tornedo) dinner on our first trip. Afterwards, we walked over to the Wren Building - the original building at the College of William and Mary.
The chapel in the Wren Building:
Meeting Hall in the Wren Building:
The view from the Wren Building:
We then returned to Colonial Williamsburg.
The Randolph House:
These women had been working for 6 weeks on a reproduction of General Washington's campaign tent. They said that they'd be done in a couple of more hours:
Might as well keep on going. We left Williamsburg on October 23 and took the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and Cape May Ferry on our way up to Atlantic City, NJ:
We arrived in Rutland, MA on October 24th and celebrated Niko's birthday the next day.
Maya eagerly awaits the birthday cake:
Chickens had been added since our previous visit. Meet (from left to right) Nugget, Leah, Crispy and Hanky:
-J-
