The next day we started out at Jamestown Settlement. Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum of Jamestown Colony since there is very little left of the original.
We started through the museum with the Indian town of Paspahegh Town. Here we learn about the life of the Powhatans the natives first encountered by the European settlers.
The Powhatans did not live in Teepees. They built sturdy “Longhouses from sticks and reeds. The chief and the father of Pocahontas was not named Powhatan, his name was Wahunsenacawh. He maintained friendly terms with his new neighbors but his brother Opechancanough, who became chief upon Wahunsenacawh’s death, disliked the English and began a campaign to drive them away.
We next moved on to the full sized replicas of the ships the Godspeed, the Discovery and the Susan Constant. My first impression; I thought they’d be bigger! These ships are tiny by todays standards, especially the Godspeed and the Discovery. I wouldn’t head on to a lake in those two. The Susan Constant was a bit bigger and what we would imagine or have been taught about the ships of the time.
71 people made the voyage on the Susan Constant. 21 more sailed in the Discovery. The Godspeed was away from the dock on an educational tour the day we were there.
We next went through the Living History village. Here we could ask questions and learned of the ways things were done, how the colony was run and any other questions which were eagerly answered by the costumed participants.
Our next stop was the Yorktown Victory Center. This was cool and there is a great story from this one.
Above is what they believe Yorktown would have looked like in 1781. It was really just a small farming community. The people lived very simple lives.
as you can see their houses had only the basic necessities. Also on the property is a Revolutionary War Encampment.
General Washington’s Headquarters tent would have been similar to the top picture. In the middle is a low ranking officer such as a Captain. In the bottom picture behind the man is typical of a private’s tent.
We watched a cooking demonstration which was very interesting. The kitchen was open air and was circular with many fire pits. This allowed for fewer cooks to feed the troops.
Then it was time and this is where the story begins. The people had already announced that they were going to fire the big cannon at 3 pm.
The men doing the cannon were going through a whole series of commands and drills so Charlotte decided to record this process. She set her camera to record and began watching through the lens. Well he said ready aim fire and when the cannon went off it scared her so bad I though she was going to drop the camera. It was really funny!
That evening we went into old Williamsburg. We had been here a few years ago and bought tickets for all the guided stuff but this time we just wanted to walk the town during the evening. The Ghost tours were being held but we passed.
Williamsburg is a bit different as most of the buildings are original not reproductions. Yes they have been restored but the town is much as it was in the 1700’s.
In the upstairs of the Raleigh Tavern is where many of our founding patriots met in secret to discuss revolution.
The town square was in front of the Governor’s Palace. At the time of the revolution John Murray 4th Earl of Dunmore was the Royal Governor of Virginia.
This was a full adventure in our nation’s rise to Revolution.
Old Man Wandering 