Stepping Back in Time: Colonial Willamsburg, part 1

One of our favorite stops on the whole trip was Colonial Willamsburg in Virginia. It was really amazing - so authentic - like stepping back in time!

Colonial Williamsburg is a recreation of the colonial town of Williamsburg. Many of the buildings are the originals that have been carefully restored to their 18th century state, and others are recreations on the same spot. It it several blocks long, and completely authentic (with the exception of AC, thankfully, and light bulbs.)

But it isn't just the buildings that are re-created - what makes Williamsburg so amazing are the people. They all wear authentic period dress and speak with colonial era grammar and diction.

The aim of Colonial Williamsburg is not only recreate the physical environment but to teach people about the origins of the idea of America and tell the story of how diverse peoples, havig different and sometimes conflicting ambitions, evolved into a society that valued liberty and equality. It is a story worth telling, and so Williamsburg is a place worth visiting.

One way the did this was to have several reenactments of important events that happened there. The reenactments are different every day of the week, and all have to do with a different theme. On the day we were there, the theme was "The Challenge of Independence" about difficult decisions that Americans had to make about the revolution.

The first reenactment was a call to enlist and about one young man's decision to sign up to go off to battle and leave his mother and sister behind to fend for themselves. The recruiter laid out his case and was quite convincing as he pled with us in the audience just like we were a crowd gathered in the streets in 1776. I almost thought a few of my boys might step forward and enlist right then and there.

It was so cool that they had people dispersed among the crowd who called out to the speakers and discussed with the tourists around them the happenings of the day. This fine fellow is sharing his opinions about what he thought about the British and this whole revolution business with the boys.

The boys also loved how they give three cheers when they heard something they liked. Instead of cheering "hip-hip-hurray!" they cheer "hip-hip-huzzah!" Pretty cool, huh? The boys want to adopt that one into our vocabulary.

And then, amid hisses and boos, good old Benedict Arnold himself sauntered in on his horse wearing a red coat. That's why they call traitors "turncoats." Nobody seemed too happy to see him or his British entourage. He certainly didn't get a "hip-hip-huzzah!"

But we followed him anyway to the to see what he had to say.

Arnold's argument was pretty powerful and quite convincing about why this revolution is useless cause and how silly and these colonists were being for trying to even attempt it and that they were only making matters worse for themselves. He spit the term "freedom" out like it was a bad word and asked us what freedom really gets you any way. He promised all sorts of wonderful things from the king if we would just stop being so ignorant and insist on fighting this stupid, unwinnable war.

His speech was chilling and reminded me way too much of the kind of of arguments you hear from liberal politics today that make fun of the ideas of our founding fathers, and that treat Americans as if we are too stupid to make decisions ourselves and need the elites to make these decisions for us.

His speech sounded good, it seemed like a strong argument, and yet it felt so wrong. It really helped me to understand what the colonists had to go through to make the decision to fight, and keep fighting for freedom. For each one it was a personal battle between their heads and their hearts. How grateful I am that they chose to follow their hearts and their yearning to be free!

Then we followed the "locals" to another area for another reenactment.

This was the most heart-tugging of them all. The British had promised the black slaves their freedom if they would join their cause to stop the revolutionaries. Each and every slave had to make that heart-wrenching decision on who to support. Do you support the cause of freedom at the cost of your own freedom? Do you trust the promises of the British who you had seen break all the promises they had made to their own ccitizens? Do you stay knowing that your children will be born enslaved or run off into an unknown future and hope for the best?

I just kept thinking, "Man, that is a rough decision!" I don't know what I would have done.

Besides the reenactments of actual events, there were colonials just doing their everyday activities all around us, like these girls dancing to the sound of a fife.

Their costumes were wonderful. It was fun listening to them interact with each other on the street.

Finally, one more reenactment. News had arrived of the success of Patriot action at the battle at Yorktown and a speech by that French friend of liberty to whom we own a debt of gratitude, Lafayette, once again espousing the principles of liberty and freedom for all man kind. It was really great - stuff we really need to be reminded of today. Hip-hip-huzzah!

After the reenactments were finished, we got a chance to explore the beautiful town.

I just loved the architecture and all of the details!

We peeked into a millinery shop where the milliner explained how clothes were made back then as he carefully marked some fabric for cutting. It was quite interesting. Having a dress made what quite something, and the pantaloons and bustles and corsets - oh my. And trying to stay on top of the latest fashions kept each milliner on his toes.

We really enjoyed the silver shop where the master silver smith worked on a small charm while the other explained the process to us. We found out that all the artisans that we see at Colonial Williamsburg are real craftsmen, most of whom have started out with apprenticeships of sometimes 7 years, and after many years in the trade achieved master craftsmen status. They all practice their craft in the traditional manner, and take great pride in preserving and passing down the knowledge of their craft.

This gentleman has been silversmithing here for over 30 years, and his mother was a master silversmith here before him.

Knowing this was really eye-opening to me. These artisans really knew their stuff and you could ask them anything. I loved to see how passionate they all were about what they did everyday.

After the revolutionary period reenactments were done, all the shops put out their Union Jack flags to and the whole town went back to a colonial era where everyone was still subjects of the British crown.

For me, one of the most interesting shops was the wig maker. I have never understood the silly fashion of wearing powdered wigs.

It is quite a process to have a wig made. First they have to shave your head so the wig maker can take precise measurements, then a mold of your head has to be carved. Wigs were often made from the hair of Northern European girls who grew their hair out their whole lives, always keeping the hair up and protected, only to have it cut in adolescence and sold for the price of a fancy new dress.

But the fancy formal wigs were the white wigs. For white they had to use the hair from the belly and the beard of goats and the longer it was, the more expensive. The hair was tied into tufts and then carefully sewn in layers. A good wig cost several month's salary and was quite a status symbol.

Look at this do! He must have been someone pretty important.

Really fascinating stuff.

Next we went into the bookbinder's shop. Bookbinding was good business and people paid top dollar to get a book bound. In the day the bookbinders were some of the richest tradesmen in town.

He showed us all the steps to make a good, hand-sewn book. It is a lot of work! This guy is a master craftsman and even today people pay a lot of money for his hand-bound books. I love books and I love paper, so I was really fascinated by the process. I would love to try make a book one day!

Right next door to the book binder was the printer, of course.

He showed us how the print was laid out, inked up, and then printed a page of the local paper for us.

Dad got to peruse the printed page for errors.

I loves the big stacks of papers all over the shop.

Next we visited the Prentis general store.

What a fun store that was, filled with all kinds of period things, and most were really for sale: hand-dyed yarn, wool socks, and hand-painted floorcloths.

The clerk showed the boys how to use some period wood toys.

I loved the pottery and hand made baskets,

And the yummy smelling handmade soaps!

I really loved the store.

Look at the great brickwork!

I thought it was great that all the people who worked here had to be completely authentic. They had to even use period cups (wood or ceramic) and instead of bags or purses, they had to bring thier lunch in a canvas bag or a basket.

And I loved the great store signs.

It was a hot day, so Dennis stopped to buy a couple re-fillable cups for lemonade. It is a great deal. For $10 you get the cup and all refills are free for the rest of the day! We got a lot of refills because it was so hot and humid that day.

This is the courthouse of Williamsburg.

And right outside of the courthouse is where you find the stocks - a good place to tie up your children and let then hang there for a few minutes so you can take a break from chasing your kids.

Stocks also work well for teenagers. We need to get ourselves one of these - or six of them.

There were also stocks for feet, though I think Luke could probably get out of there if he wanted to.

Inside the courthouse a very lawyerly type gentleman explained to us how the legal system worked back then and told us about some actual court cases of the day. He is demonstrating what it means to get a lashing.

We visited a shoemaker.

He showed us how shoes were made back then. I loved all the wooden shoe molds lining the wall.

The boys really liked our visit to the gun shop - I live in a house full of gun lovers, surprise, surprise.

Needless to say, we were in that place for a long time as my dad, hubby, and boys asked every question they could think of to a real live gunsmith. Too bad they didn't get to actually shoot one.

Dylan enjoyed checking out the garden. It was a little late in the season, but there were still pumpkins and a few other crops. Dylan wondered about the condition of his own garden, all neglected back at home. Oh well.

I couldn't get over all the mossy roofs.

Visiting all the shops was so educational and fascinating to see how things are made and how hard people had to work to make even the most basic everyday items. But half the fun of Williamsburg is just walking around and imaginaing what it was like way back then before the birth of this nation.

I thought it was just beautiful, and I took more than 1,200 pictures that day - which is why this post is only half of our day in WIlliamsburg.

To be continued...