Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown

I had signed a contract with Virginia Hospital Center to work thirteen straight weekends (Friday and Saturday) night shifts.  Preston was working every week day, and we were in desperate need of some "family time." So once my nursing contract was done, we booked a nice hotel in Williamsburg, VA and had a little baby moon!  It was so much fun!  

 When we arrived at our hotel, we were surprised at how nice the place was!  It was basically a resort in beautiful Williamsburg.  Looking back now, I wish that we would have stayed an extra day just to enjoy what was offered there.  

Not too far from our hotel, we spotted this awesome park.  It reminded me a lot of Park Discovery in Cedar City, Utah.  The park was huge and you could spot this huge ship from the road.  We stopped here for a little Carl time.  He absolutely loved it and made some friends quickly.

 Even Daddy liked the park!  These huge slides were awesome. After the park, we hit up some outlet shopping.  You can't go wrong with that.

 Our first day of touring, we went to Jamestown.  What an incredible place to learn about America's history. It was the first permanent English settlement of North America.  In 1607, thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River.  They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World.  The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure. (www.historyisfun.org)  

We were able to board replicas of the three ships that sailed from England to Virginia in 1607. This is the Susan Constant, which was the flagship and largest of the three ships.

 The other two ships were Godspeed and Discovery.

Just next to the ships was a museum and exhibits which were meant to be interactive and meant to show you the sights and sounds of a 17th century Jamestown.

This is Carl and I walking into the English village first established in Jamestown.

 This was the Anglican church that everyone met in.  While we were touring through, Carl had to try out the seats.  

 They have a blacksmith's forge that show you how mustkets are fired, interpreters that produce wood products using 17th century style tools, and others that are sewing or preparing meals. We even found some armor for Carl to try on!

 Then outside the English settlement was the Powhatan Village.  Here they showed us how they grew and prepared food, processed animal hides, made tools and pottery and weave clothing.

Their houses were reed-covered.   

 Carl even got to try his hand at grinding some corn.  

 Here is the Jamestown Victory Center.  We were able to view a movie about Jamestown and explore a museum about our first English settlement in America.  

Jamestown was probably my favorite town to visit out of the Jamestown/Yorktown/Williamsburg area.  It was definitely worth taking most of a day going there.  

 And it was definitely worth the trip to Texas Roadhouse after!  Mmmm... How I've missed you!

The next day we went to Yorktown.  This was where the battlefield was where the Allied American and French forces won the decisive battle of the American Revolution in 1781.  

 We came to the Yorktown Victory Center which had a museum and some smaller interactive exhibits outside. 

 We got there towards the end of the day and so as we gave them our tickets, they told us to hurry to the Continental Army Encampment so we could see the last cannon show.  

So we did.  As we did, the interpreter was describing different military drills and was moving on to the cannon drill.  Of course he asked for some volunteers and then as he got to the Gun Master he said he needed someone "large and in charge."  Oh yea, did I mention that I was about 35 weeks pregnant?  Yep, he looked straight at me (thank you).  He asked for a volunteer again with no response and turned his attention to me again (and my belly).  So you can refer to me as Master Caytee now.  It was pretty cool though!  Scared Carl!

 After that we learned about the medical practices of the 18th century surgeon.  Yea, they had a lot of things messed up.  Not to mention not much pain relief.  I don't think I would have been interested in medicine back then!  

 Carl tried on a military coat in one of the soldier's tents.

The next day, we felt bad that we hadn't done many things for Carl to enjoy!  So we had a "golfing day!" Our hotel had 19 hole miniature golf course that Carl loved!  They even let us play for free (because we are kind of cool!)   

Our last day of exploring we did downtown Williamsburg.  From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the happening place to be.  It was the political, cultural and educational center of what was then the largest and most populous of the American colonies.   It was the capital of Virginia for a time until, near the end of the Revolutionary War, the capital was moved up the peninsula to a safer and more centrally located city called Richmond.  

This is the Governor's Palace.

Trying to fit in with the Colonials.  

This is the Capitol.

On our way out, we hit a famous Pancake House.  As we were waiting for our food, we asked Carl to spell his name.  This is the first time we have ever asked him to write out letters... and he did a really great job! See if you can make out the letters.

What a fun trip!  It was thoroughly needed and a perfect place to get away and learn a little bit about our country's history.