Sunday, June 12

Woohoo!! Today I was handed a camera by our leader as I got off the bus! I was happy as a I snapped away! 

Most of our tour has been concentrated on the Civil War, but today we will step further back in time by visiting Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg!


Yorktown Battlefield

As we entered Yorktown, we saw beautiful paths along the shore of the Chesapeake Bay with white sand that looked so inviting! Of course it was only there for us to photograph, not walk on, as our time did not allow for such frivolous fun!

Our tour guide today was Ranger Ted - a man of character! I think we made him nervous - as most tour guides were when surrounded by 43 history teachers. However, our group was a fantastic group, always listening and being attentive!

The Battle of Yorktown was a decisive battle for the Revolutionary War. It was here that General Cornwallis surrendered and the last major land battle of the war occurred. Ranger Ted walked us through how the battle came about, strategies, and painted a picture of what was going on by quoting (yes, impressively he had memorized most of the material) from letters and other forms of correspondence that had taken place during this time period.

Colonial Williamsburg

From 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the "political, cultural, and educational center of what was then the largest, most populous, and most influential of the American colonies. It was here that the fundamental concepts of our republic — responsible leadership, a sense of public service, self-government, and individual liberty — were nurtured under the leadership of patriots such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and Peyton Randolph".  Near the end of the Revolutionary War the government was moved to Richmond, and left Williamsburg as a quiet, peaceful town that ended up being home of the College of William and Mary. In 1926, J.D. Rockefeller was approached about helping preserve the area and he funded the project. Approximately 80 of the structures are original structures. We found it interesting that people actually live in some of the structures. They are mostly people who work there and they pay a modest rent and have lots of stipulations as to what they can do (and you thought your HOA was strict - can you imagine?).  There is one dwelling that has actually been owned and passed down through the family for hundreds of years.

There were lots of interesting shops along the way, but one of the most fascinating was the silversmith shop. From a bar of silver to a finished product, the picture below shows the progression.

 Of course there were some interactive areas within Williamsburg as well!

After school detention for you!!

There is a project going on to rebuild the Anderson's Blacksmith & Public Armoury. You can watch the progress by webcam by visiting this site: Armoury Reconstruction. The site refreshes every 5 seconds!