What was next...Williamsburg!

In between visits with friends, we took a step back in time in Colonial Williamsburg, on our way to D.C. We'd been told by way too many people this was a no-misser, especially with our heavy focus on US History tour.  We camped across the water in Chippokes Plantation State Park, which wasn't far as the crow flies, but had this extra step (that added um...some time....) It made the outing feel all the more old timey.

Upon entering Williamsburg (mention you're a teacher! They didn't ask us for ID), Des asks about the kids program...little did we know we were about to become rebels trying to help Ben Franklin enlist French support for the revolution! Williamsburg has the coolest kids program anywhere. The purple scarves you'll see below were to help the fellow revolution supporters know we were on their side.  We had to figure out codes, meet at certain checkpoints and know the secret passwords, and look for hidden signs.  So fun!  But, you'll be glad to know, Mr. Franklin got on the right ship to France.

Emm on guard at the governor's house (home to Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson)

we tried to fit it in the car

learned how to decode a pigpen cipher

Not all things in Colonial Williamsburg were old timey, or maybe this guy forgot his costume and was hustling home for it??

 Williamsburg did a great job of transporting us.  We saw a "runaway slave" being brought to the "general," and learned about the amazing acts of James Armistead.

We also got to tour the jail, where Emm is exhibiting how the old timey toilets worked.  More comfortable than what I had in The Gambia or the Carrefour in Shanghai!

Gary on timeout

We also got to experience some full-on fife and drumming, by local kids.  What a way to walk into battle...

standing at atten-hut!

Then the re-enactors blasted away at nothing in particular. So we could "hear the freedom," Gary supposes.

 When you're walking into Colonial Williamsburg, the sidewalk has a timeline going backward in time. It marks things like "you now live in a place with segregated schools," and "women cannot vote." When you're coming back out toward the modern world, the plaques mark our progress.  Emm was happy to pose with this one:

And of course, we appreciated the little things:

what a day!