Wayne had a rough night, coughing, sneezing, stuffed up. He took a decongestant, had a muffin with his coffee & I had toast :) then we headed for Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown today. What a trooper! We never made it to 1 of the 3 historic places. We missed Jamestown because the road was closed at the bridgeway but Colonial Parkway Drive was a beautiful road to travel to get to the three places. The trees were tall and there was quite a bit of color. It was a lovely fall drive through a park setting as opposed to going through the middle of town. The picture to the right is a shot of one of the places in Williamsburg.
Colonial Williamsburg is quite a bit larger than I expected. It's a 300-acre living history museum. I was surprised to see the tour buslines and posted entrance fees to gain access to the shows, exhibits, etc. $56.00! It's like paying to go to an amusement park like Cedar Point. It seemed a bit steep to me to get a history lesson, so... since we’re lacking funds, we did the foot walking tour around the town square. It was nice to see people walking around and standing around in their 17th century garb (they also have costumes you can rent for the day). As you take the walkway bridge back through time, across the valley to the old town they have bronze plaques embedded in the cement with dates and sayings i.e. you are now leaving the 21st century; 1820s you cannot travel over land more than 70 miles a day (heck we can’t travel over water that far STILL!); 1776 – from this date back you are a subject of his majesty the king; They were pretty neat to read going back and then returning to the Visitor Center.
The cemetery at the church had quite a few old graves going back to the 17th century – some quite difficult to to read. It was interesting to think about the patriots sitting around the tavern debating the merits and pitfalls of creating a new democracy.
The Yorktown Battlefield was thought provoking. As you stand there looking out over the battlefield in the quiet afternoon with the sun setting to the west, you get an eerie, feeling thinking about the many lives that were lost here. Standing in the quiet air near the cannons I could hear the battle raging in my mind, I could picture the fallen and dying soldiers as I looked out over the empty field, to be finally brought out of my reverie by the singing of a bird in a nearby tree. The battle that was won here ensured our freedom to become citizens of America and no longer subjects of the British crown.
An amazing 300 years of history along here and the York River. Victory Monument was erected out to commemorate our victory over the British and to memorialize the fallen that fought so bravely for freedom; Commissioned in 1781 by congress, it was finally completed in 1884. America won her independence here at Yorktown during the last major battle of the Revolutionary War on October 19, 1781 when the British surrendered to General George Washington and our French allies.
It was an interesting day exploring some of the history of the U.S. We fought for so much and gained so much and now it seems we’re frittering our freedoms away, giving them slowly away once again. I almost bought a “Don’t tread on me flag” today” still want one…
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