VIRGINIA: Williamsburg

Today is going to be one of my favorite days because I have been looking forward to going to Colonial Williamsburg for years.

We got up early, enticing the kids again to get ready quick so they could go jump on the pillow, and once again it worked!!  Too bad we had to leave our beautiful KOA  . . . we could have just spent a day playing around there because there were so many fun things to do – they even had go-karts to use, and a big swimming pool.  Oh well, next time!! 

We arrived at the entrance to Williamsburg and boy was it crowded.  I think this week, and unfortunately next, is many schools spring break weeks.  Bummer . . . but the great news is that we got the homeschool discount price entrance fee today.  Instead of $39 for adults, which is everyone above the age of 12, and $29 for kids 12 and under, we got in for $15 adults and $8 for students.  Right on . . . that’s the way it should be, don’t you think?   Everywhere we have gone Brooke is sometimes considered an adult because she is 12.  And the teenagers are always considered adults.  Ridiculous!!    I think all the educational sites should always give a student price . . .  I’m just sayin’!!! 

  

Before we left the visitors center to take the bus out to the village, we collected a scavenger hunt for the kids which was supposedly based on a true story about the secrecy of the Patriots during the American Revolution.  They were to start by texting in a number and then we got our secret instructions.  We were told to go to the Prentis Store and tell the clerk you are 368.   We got off the bus and walked right through the town to the store.

We told the kids to quietly go talk to the clerk which they did but not quietly!  He immediately shushed  the kids to be quiet and their eyes & faces were intrigued.  He told them that they are on a secret mission for the Patriots and the only people that they could trust & talk to were people with blue bands on their wrists or tied somewhere on their coat.   He explained that they have to figure out the clues given to them and the first clue will be outside the store in 10 minutes.   He asked the kids for some money and they looked at him like he was crazy.  He smiled and told them 15 pences would do, which was the paper money in their envelope.  They smiled and quietly and secretly gave them the money.  What a great way to make living in this time period real for them!

We waited outside the store for 10 minutes, the kids looking intently for the person with a blue band somewhere on him.  All of a sudden, everyone that was waiting started walking around the corner of the Prentis Store.   We were following a lady dressed in Colonial times who had kept telling everyone to walk quietly and quickly.  She said, “For goodness sake, do you want to someone to notice you?  Hold your tongues!!”    She was serious and playing her part well!!  She walked us to the back shed of the Prentis Shop and quietly informed the kids that they are to find 3 parts to the puzzle – the Who, the What, and the Where.  And when they find each clue they are to text it in to get instructions for the next clue.  It was awesome and incredibly challenging. 

As we worked on the scavenger hunt, we walked around the town visiting each building. We first went to the Printer’s Shop where he showed us how to lay out a newspaper page for that time period with the old set & the old printing press.  What a job that was . . . made me realize how amazing technology is now. 

Next we went to the Magazine & the Guardhouse, which is where they stored all the guns and ammunition, and of course was the watch house for enemies.   They had A LOT of guns in there. 

We walked over to the Palace Green which was a beautiful grass area leading to the Governor’s Palace.  We walked around the beautifully landscaped garden area in the back.    They had a gorgeous assortment of tulips.  We walked around the side of the Palace and they had a full garden area beautifully manicured. 

Then we went through the outside kitchen where servants would prepare all the food before bringing it into the palace.  The Colonial gal dressed as a servant pointed out each type of food that they would prepare . . . onion pie, stew, rolls with currants, pickled onions, stuffed pastries, roast goose or bird of some kind, stuffed squash, bread pudding and many other sweets, and many delicate desserts, many of them made with chocolate which was only for the rich at that time.    

Next we waited in line to tour the Governor’s Mansion.  We had a wonderful docent who really played the part of a Colonial servant.  She walked us through each room and told us all about the special antique furniture, the fabrics, the decorations, the dining room, and the ball room.  The front room had an incredible display of guns which was to show off to those coming to visit. 

After finishing the tour we stopped to see the front of “Felicity’s” home which was used in that movie.  It was actually called the Everand House named after the family that originally lived there

As we walked back down the main street we worked on our clues to the scavenger hunt and went to get some refreshing , old fashioned root beer at the Greenhow store.  We sat drinking our yummy root beer and we asked a lady with a blue band some questions about the clues we were confused with.  She was awesome because she gave us all kinds of information. 

Across the street was the courthouse and the stockades .   We quickly locked up the kids and almost left them there.  J

We walked down the main street called the Duke of Gloucester Street and went through the Wigmaker Shop, the Milliner & Tailor Shop, the Silversmith Shop, the Joiner Shop, the Capitol, and the two Taverns.   It was so interesting to watch how each individual craftsman worked on their specialty.

In front of King Arm's Tavern

The Wigmakers Shop

 At 3:30 on Duke of Gloucester Street every afternoon they do an American Revolution reenactment – a drama of that time period.  We were given a printout of some Revolutionary information and timeline while we waited.  They did a little bit of drama in each area of the street and then at 5:00, at the end of the reenactment, they marched the soldiers down the main street to the market square and did rifle & canon demonstrations.  It was incredible.

  

The rifle shooting!

The Cannon firing!

Also during the reenactment we finished the scavenger hunt and had to meet behind the King’s Arm Tavern at 4:30 to get our reward.   The soldier there told the whole story of our secret mission . . . .  during the American Revolution someone tried to poison George Washington’s peas at dinner, we were the ones to intercept that and tell someone to though the peas out the window, and they way that they found out the peas were poisoned was because the chickens ate them and died.  Ha . . . whether that is really a true story or not, we don’t know for sure.    The kids were each given a large golden coin for all their hard work being spies.

As we were leaving the main street we ran into Benjamin Franklin and just had to get a picture with him. 

 What a fabulous day but I wished we had another day because there was so much more to see.  I can’t wait to come back someday. 

Now we get to drive to Maidens, Virginia so stay with our wonderful friends we met on the beach at Tahoe last summer.  We instantly bonded with them and they invited us to come stay with them on our way through Virginia.  They are a beautiful family inside and out who love the Lord and are amazingly musical.   They write and sing wonderful worship songs, traveling all over the world sharing the love of Christ.  We feel so privileged to have met them and so blessed to be able to stay with them.   The first 7 girls range in age from 48 to 36 and the adorable little one, Clare, who they adopted, is 5 years old.  The 5 older middle girls all live at home with their parents and work on music constantly.   We were so excited to see them tonight and when we arrived they all were there to greet us and opened up their home graciously so that we all had a bedroom to stay in.  What a treat!!  

  

VIRGINIA: Jamestown & Yorktown

Yahoo . . .  Dave is flying in tonight and we are so excited to see him!!  Also I have to start today’s post with saying that the Williamsburg KOA is the best yet!  We’ve had all different types of KOA’s . . . big, little, rural with dirt, close quarters with cement, clean, beautifully green, good & bad service,  and one with extremely dirty bathrooms.  This KOA’s information/guest service building is an adorable log cabin and the grounds are rural but very clean & beautiful.  They have the best playground area & pool that we’ve seen, and they have a giant blowup pillow for the kids to jump on.    It was great motivation to get them going this morning that if they got ready quickly they could go jump on it . . . and boy did it work.   

Today on the agenda is Jamestown & Yorktown.  Jamestown was the first settlement of the new world and was led by Captain John Smith.  Most everyone has heard of Pocahontas the “Indian Princess”, even the young kids who have seen Disney’s animated movie know of her story . . .  well this is where her story begins with the English settlers.

We first watched the 15 minute movie and then browsed through the incredible gallery of artifacts and displays of the timeline of events during the Jamestown era.  We were dying because we couldn’t take pictures.  

Next we met an Indian docent to guide us through the Indian village. 

Every Indian chief was called a Powhatan, so instead of trying to pronounce the complicated Indian tribe name the English people would just call them Powhatans.   We walked through a hut where they displayed all the types of skins & tools they would have for hunting & fishing

In the center of the village is where they had their kitchen.  We learned that the fire would be started in the morning and as they collected fish & game and it would be added to the pot throughout the day to make a type of stew.  The Indians didn’t have a set time to come and eat . . . they would just come & get some food when they were hungry throughout the day and then go back to work.  

Next we were ushered over to the Jamestown part of the settlement with a new docent dressed up in English attire.

He walked us through the “Common House” where they all gathered to cook & eat and then the “Store House” where they stored the food & tools.

Then we went into the church where they were all REQURIED to gather to worship the Lord.   They had strict rules about church attendance . . . the first time they missed church their food rations were cut . . . the second time, they got a whipping . . . and the third time, they were hung!  Wow, what a difference from today!  I would imagine that nobody missed church!  J

As we walked out of the fort down to where the ships were, we walked out of the fort walls, which is a wooden fence surrounding the colony in the shape of a triangle.  I’ve had my kids draw this picture of the fort walls so many times that it brought back many memories of homeschooling them when they were little . . . Aw . . Sigh . . . a little nostalgic moment!!

The three ships that the Jamestown people sailed over on were at the dock on the James River . . . The Susan Constant, The Godspeed, and the Discovery.  The Godspeed was not actually there because it was in dry dock to get some work done on it, but The Elizabeth was there and it was the only ship that actually sailed all the way from England, and the docents were very proud of that fact.    We were able to climb aboard each one and imagine how they lived in such tight quarters for 5 months.  It made us feel better about our small quarters especially after we were told that each person had to bring their own ceramic pot to go to the bathroom in, and they could only empty it overboard when it was full.  YUCK!!

On the James River!

Right before we were getting ready to leave they were doing a canon firing demonstration which was fun to watch for the kids. 

After the canon firing, we left to travel over to Yorktown.   We followed the signs through the beautiful Colonial Parkway roads which they called the Colonial Triangle (Jamestown, Yorktown, & Williamsburg).  It followed along the James River and was beautifully landscaped with greenery – I told Shelley it looked like the roads around Disney World . . . immaculate & beautiful!

We arrived at Yorktown, showed our tickets, and went right out to the encampment area.

 

 

The demonstrations going on today was the rifle shooting and the medicine doctor.  Since there weren’t many people there at Yorktown we had a private viewing of each one – quite a nice change from Jamestown which was packed with people.  After the artillery man shot the rifle twice, he let us each hold it to see how heavy it was.  Wow . . . it was a whole lot heavier than I expected.  

We finished up Yorktown with the beautiful gallery displaying the entire Revolutionary War victories and losses.   Yorktown was truly a brave, intelligent, and amazing battle to win a great victory that would begin this country’s freedom . . . HIS Story!!!   I loved seeing each of these places.

We had 3 hours to kill before we picked up Dave at the airport, so we decided to take a stroll through adorable & beautiful downtown Yorktown which is right on the banks of the James River. Every building was brick and old fashioned colonial style.

As we walked down to the water we noticed that Ben & Jerry’s was having free scoop day, so of course we had to get into that line, and we all picked out a yummy ice cream.   They were raising money for a Christian missions type organization, so of course we added some $$ to the pot.   

We took many pictures all over the town, and on the beach which was on the Chesapeake Bay and then headed out to go get Dave. 

We still had a little time before we needed to get him so we found a Costco to do a much needed shopping run. . . Hallelujah . . . food.   The kids are eating everything very quickly and we don’t have much time for shopping or preparing food, so major snacks is the key!!

Yeah . . . .Time to pick up Dave!!  We arrived at the Richmond airport and he was waiting outside for us.  It was a great relief to see him and know that he made it here safely and actually that we have too.  Next one to fly in is Brandon on the 15^th.    He flies into Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and I’m very happy that we all came to a compromise and figured out that he could come for 3 weeks.  I know that he won’t regret it and neither will we!  Praise God!

NORTH CAROLINA: The Outer Banks

Today we’re going to Outer Banks North Carolina!!    This is an island at the farthest east part of North Carolina.    When we were driving I noticed that it was incredibly windy as it blew the camper back and forth.  We  reach the bridge to take us over to the island and it wasn’t very far up off the water . . . Oooo, scary.  The wind was howling and we were rocking, and all I could see was very large white caps in the water.  We weren’t very far from water, and it was only a two lane bridge, so my hands were gripped tightly to the steering wheel praying hard all the way over the bridge.  We made it to the visitors center and we stopped to get some information.  The man there said it wasn’t supposed to get this windy and if the gales got above 45 miles and hour that they would close all the bridges . . . thankfully that didn’t happen!

We set off for The Lost Colony of Roanoke on the North end of the island.   We arrived at the visitor center which was very informative and well done.  We watched the 15 minute movie about the Colony, and then the kids began the Junior Ranger program of answering questions. 

The first English Colony of Roanoke, originally consisting of 100 householders, was founded in 1585, 22 years before Jamestown and 37 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, under the authority of Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1584 Raleigh had been granted a patent by Queen Elizabeth I to colonize America.

John White, an incredible artist, was sent on the journey to draw and take notes of what he saw.  He became the governor of the colony, and  led the people with enthusiasm at the same time taking great notes and drawings of what was happening.  His daughter was the first English woman to have a baby in America, so  they named their baby girl Virginia after the name of the colony.   After 7 months of building homes and trying to survive they were running our of supplies, so they begged John White to return to England for supplies.  He reluctantly left and was unable to return for 3 years because Raliegh was unable to get him a crew & ship.  The Colony was getting help from the  Indians for food, but they also antagonized the Indians by such tactics as kidnapping them and holding them hostage in exchange for information. When John White returned the colony was entirely gone and unable to be found.   It is one of the great mysteries of North America, Roanoke's so-called "Lost Colony" of 90 men, 17 women and 9 children, founded in 1587 and discovered to be missing in 1590, but for the word "Croatan" carved on a post. Although both the English and the Spanish searched for clues to the colony's disappearance for many years, the mystery has never been solved.  The surrounding County is “Dare” county after the first American born child, Virginia Dare. 

After the kids finished all the Junior Ranger information, we walked the pathway to the area where the colony was. 

At the end of the path is an incredibly outdoor theater that has a dramatic reenactment of the Roanoke Colony.  Unfortunately for us it only plays during the summer.  But the stage was beautiful and right out there on the “windy” Atlantic Ocean.

We got back into the RV to drive to the Bodie (pronounce body) lighthouse since the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which is the largest in the United States, measuring at 208 feet tall, was closed.   The Bodie lighthouse was the next best one, measuring at 187 feet tall.   We were not able to walk up in it though because they haven’t made that available yet .. . . bummer!!

Next, we drove over another incredibly windy, close to the water bridge, to Kill Devils Hill.  Have you heard of that name before??  I hadn’t before I came here.  I’ve heard of Kitty Hawk, but not that name.  Well, that is the actual place where the Wright Brothers flew their first airplanes.  In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright, two brothers from Dayton, OH, became the first people to fly a heavier than air, power controlled machine, known as the Wright Flyer. This did not simply happen overnight. The brothers had been tinkering with the idea of flight off and on since childhood. They were mechanically inclined young men who were inspired by the efforts of others.

In 1878, the brothers’ father, Milton Wright, brought home a rubber band powered toy helicopter, which eventually inspired their idea of the aeroplane. 

“The brothers were dressed in coats and ties that December morning - a touch of private ceremony for an event that would alter the world. The pools around their camp were icing up, and the break in the weather might be their last chance of the season. Words were impossible over the engine's roar, so they shook hands and Orville positioned himself on the flyer. Then, on a remote, sandy beach, in the year 1903, he broke our bond to the earth. He flew. It lasted only 12 seconds, and the distance of the flight was less than the length of an airliner. But for the first time, a manned, heavier-than-air machine left the ground by its own power, moved forward under control without losing speed, and landed on a point as high as that from which it started. Within two generations we had taken to the air for routine travel, seen an aircraft break the sound barrier, and watched a man walk on the moon. Their amazing story does not even end with these successes. It continues, in the 1920s, when a group of people began the first efforts to commemorate "the first successful human attempt in all history at power-driven airplane flight" and to establish a memorial to commemorate the brothers and their achievements. “  National Park Service Wright Brothers Web Site.

This memorial was an incredible tribute to their work of genius.  And look how far we have come in just over a 100 years.   I loved seeing all of the museum and the statues, I just wish we had a little more time there – we didn’t quite plan our time well – we took too much time at Roanoke -  but I’m thankful we got to see most of it. 

After the memorial was closed, we decided that we had to go buy all of us some famous Pirate Rum Cake to try.  What we didn’t know is that they must be a delicacy because one little cake the size of a cupcake was about about $8.   We split it 7 ways and enjoyed every bite. 

Now we are back on the main land and heading for Virginia.  What a great day being at the Outer Banks!!

SOUTH CAROLINA: Church , Boone Plantation, North Carolina

Today is Palm Sunday and we were excited to get up and go to Mount Pleasant Seacoast Church.   We all got dressed up a little, and Christian and Brooke unhooked the RV all by themselves!!   I’m so proud of how helpful and responsible they were this morning . . .  much better than yesterday!! 

We drove off to find this church that I had found on the internet.  It was supposedly only 20 minutes from our camp ground and we were actually on time.  We arrived at the address that we had but it appeared to be only small office buildings.  Hmmmm . . . and there weren’t any cars in the parking lot.  This couldn’t be it . . . we called the phone number and the address was the same.   BUT at the end of the message it said that the office is across from the church campus.  Ahhh . . .  we turned around and saw it across the street . . . how we missed it I’m not sure, because the church and parking lot was enormous.  When we drove in, there were 5 men in official t-shirts directing traffic.  There was a sign that said “if you need special parking, let us assist you,” so I rolled down the window and told the guy that indeed I needed special parking!!  He smiled and pointed us to the overflow parking lot. 

Now that we were 10 minutes late because we couldn’t find the place, we ran through the parking lot.  We went through the entrance and found the room that said “The Chapel” and we went in.   But something wasn’t right because the parking lot was packed with cars and there weren’t very many people in to chapel.  I asked the user if this was the main service and he said, “Oh no, it’s through those doors.”  So we quickly walked through the glass doors and entered what felt like a large pavilion.  There was a coffee & bakery center (and Oh did it smell good . . . like fresh cinnamon rolls), a bookstore, and a large information center.    We asked the lady at the desk who was wearing headphones and look quite professional where to go.  She asked how many of us and then grimaced with the answer of seven teilling us that thee probably isn’t any room.  She radioed to her buddy on the head sets and he responded to go to balcony B.  The funny thing is, this lady had no idea where balcony B was . . . we ended up finding it on our own. 

We walked into the balcony and “Oh my goodness” the congregation was HUGE!!!   And the whole place was packed . . . we had to split up into 3 groups to find a seat.  We missed the worship but the young pastor started his teaching on hope in Jesus and prayer, based on Palm Sunday and the coming of Easter.  In Phillippians 4:6-7 he talked about praying specifically and not stopping, and then God will give you a hope and peace.  It was a great reminder.  After his message he invited us all to take communion after we spent time praying & preparing our hearts . . . the worship band, which was amazing, started playing, and you were to get up when you were ready to take communion which was over in the corner of the  balcony.  He also invited anyone who needed prayer to come up front to pray with any of the lay people.  After finishing communion, he made some announcements about Easter and mentioned that the church had 20,000 people . . . WOW!!  Our mouths just dropped.  20,000 people!!!  I’ve never been to a church that big.  He also announced that they were selling box lunches outside when you left the church for $5 for their missions ministry.    Sounded great . . . easy lunch and supporting a ministry .  . couldn’t be better!!  So we all decided to get one and they had a wonderful variety of sandwich wraps or salads, and they were delicious too!!  That was a fabulous church experience, one that we all will remember forever.

The Boone Plantation that we wanted to visit was just down the street from the church.   This is one of the biggest and most important working plantations in South Carolina.  After we paid at the gate we drove down a dirt road towards the entrance and all of a sudden we saw the trees . . . . “the trees” from North & South, the mini- series movie that is one of my favorites and that I just had the girls watch before we left!!  The girls were jumping up and down and yelling they were so excited.  Then Madison piped in and said, “It’s the road from the Notebook”!”   The row of trees to the plantation house was beautiful and I could just imagine riding on a horse down the row of trees to the front of the house. 

As we drove down the road through the trees, to the left were 8 small rectangular, probably 10 ft x 18, brick homes intended as slave quarters.  It was very interesting that they were to the front of the plantation house, but we learned on the tour that they were placed out there purposely so to show the wealth of the master by how many slaves they owned.  They had only 8 homes out there now, but it used to be 3 rows of eight. 

This plantation was the most known brick producing plantation in South Carolina.     In 1743, the son of Major John Boone planted live oak trees, arranging them in two evenly spaced rows Boone Hall is one of America's oldest working, living plantations. We have been continuously growing and producing crops for over 320 years. Once known for cotton and pecans, they are still actively producing strawberries, tomatoes, and pumpkins.   Because the slave homes were made of brick, we learned that placing the slave homes in the front of the house was like an advertisement of the manufacturing of the plantation’s product.   They were also the nicer homes for the slaves that had a skill . . . the majority of the slaves, who were cotton pickers, had homes farther out on the plantation. 

As we walked over to the slave quarters there was a black “Gullah” lady making their famous Sweet Grass Baskets.   We watched her weave the reeds together and she was amazing.  She told us she had been doing this since she was 8 years old and that all the Gullah women learn to weave sea grass baskets when they are young.   

We strolled down the slave quarters to the last building where they were having a Gullah drama production.  We sat in the outdoor theater and a beautiful, older black woman came out singing an old hymn, raising her hands as if she was singing to the Lord.  It was beautiful.  She then said, “the faces of my people are beautiful; the eyes of my people are beautiful, “ and went on to tell us “dramatically” about the Gullah culture . . . how some slaves were treated harshly but most were treated kindly but like children;  how they lived in such small quarters with very little food & worked from sun up to sun down; how they only had first names & they acquired the last name of their master; how they worshipped secretly in the woods at night, after they were taught about Christianity (they were not allowed to worship all together – they had to worship with their owners at their church only); how they had to get permission to get “hitched” by their master, and their master could end it at any time if the spouse was sold . . . and they didn’t have an official ceremony, they took a broom, put it in the doorway & jumped over it holding hands, and they were “hitched”!!    Because one of the main crops on many plantations was rice, every meal had some kind of rice dish . . . they never had a meal without it.  And most of all, the Gullah slaves came from North Africa, not Jamaica or the west Indies, and they had their own language where you could be in an English conversation with a Gullah person and have no idea what they were talking about . . . kind of like the“pig latin” language.  

It was an incredible performance and at the end, she dramatically said three times, “My story . . . your story . . . our story (with her arms crossed against her chest), and after the 3^rd time she said, “My story . . . your story . . . our story . . . His story (pointing to the sky).   I was crying at the end of the performance.  Powerful!!

After the performance we ran back down to the Gullah lady weaving the baskets to buy the basket that we wanted before they were all sold.   Shelley and I each bought a beautiful little basket for $25 . . . best prices in town we were told.  This basket with the top cost $150 which should tell you how much intricate work goes into making these baskets.

Next we went back through all the slave quarters with each one representing a different part of the slave cultures.   Most of it was a review of what it Gullah woman just told us about how they lived, but one building explained how they were bought and sold, and had the documents written out in detail of how much each slave was worth on the Boone Plantation, right next to all their equipment.  It was heart wrenching and very sobering.   

Next we went on the house tour.  The front of the house looked like the one on North & South but the inside looked nothing like it (the wonders of Hollywood J).  We toured the main entrance, the dining room, the library & music room, and the sun room.  Of course it was all elaborate & beautiful, but we couldn’t take pictures. 

The docent talked about all the different owners of the house and each detail that they put into it.  The main crop’s of the plantation was cotton. Pecans, and indigo originally, and then they mainly worked on brick production.  They realized that the mud by the waterway running next to the house was perfect for brick making.  The waterway would transport the products to Charleston Harbor. 

Last we went on the plantation gardens tour on the trolley to see the ground, although while we waited in line for it we went into the little café to buy homemade ice cream & strawberries.   Still today it is a working plantation growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, corn, cantaloupe, peaches, and pumpkins in the fall.  We drove by a man made pond where the tour guide said there were two alligators living in there, but since it was being cleaned out, the alligators were probably living over by the bridge.  When got back to the main house, the kids all ran over to the little covered bridge, and sure enough there was the alligator!  Wow!!

It was a busy, fun-filled day, and now we needed to drive to Willingston, North Carolina, a 6 hour drive!!    It was an uneventful drive (thankfully), and the kids were still awake when we crossed the North Carolina border.    We arrived at the very large, well-lighted Walmart, and parked next to the other RV’s there for the night and went straight to bed!!