Our week in Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown was a busy tour-filled week steeped in history and politics of the late 17th and 18th century. We spent 3 entire days in Colonial Williamsburg and could have spent more. My teenage memory of CW did not prepare me for the impressive restoration of the town all done in authentic construction of the period. We attended multiple re-enactments of discussions between the premier citizens of the day….Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, James Madison, Patrick Henry which surprisingly could have been discussions of current events… except it was much more civil. Sorry no more comments on our present day state of political discourse. The performance re-enacting a slave auction was so well done and powerful that many in the audience were visibly choked up and tearful. It was so fascinating to converse with modern day artisans who ply their trades in the same manner as the craftsmen of the time such as gunsmiths, cabinet makers, silversmiths, carpenters, blacksmiths, and shoemakers. So, if you have a need to know how to load and fire a flintlock vs. a matchlock we are now are conversant with the process.
We also enjoyed our trips to both Jamestown and Yorktown and spent a day at each site. Jamestown has a both a replica of the original town and ships with players similar to CW as well as an archeological site that is a current dig site. The ranger-led tour of the archeological site was excellent and very informative. We have become a fan of the tours given by the national park Rangers as the Rangers are typically both very knowledgeable as well as enthusiastic. Yorktown was also a day trip with both a Ranger tour and a car tour of the battlefield with a CD narration. Both sites had excellent museums that we enjoyed very much.
This was a memorable week with so much to see with an added bonus of 80 degree, sunny days and very small crowds as it was mid-week in November. Could not get any better than that ! We also stayed at a very nice park for the week (American Heritage) with all of the amenities that we could ask for. This whole area of Virginia is beautiful and was such a pleasure to visit. I also met up with an old friend who lives in the area and works in Yorktown – Anne Wall. We met up for dinner in historic Yorktown-a very quaint and lovely place on the York River. All in all….a week to remember ! Would highly recommend this historic triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown to anyone interested in American history.
