Williamsburg Tour and off shore for 72 hrs.

 

Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Monday,  May 16, 2016

 In front of the Colonial Williamsburg Palace. The British Governor fled when colonials raided and stormed the Palace.

 This maze/labyrinth is over 6 feet tall.  Great fun to walk through.

 English Governor's Crest with French  symbols as well.

 The main street.  In the background is a market with replica items. toys, soaps, etc

 A public shame punishment - the stocks

The Governor's Palace

  We rented a car for Sunday to visit Colonial Williamsburg, a place renovated and reproduced for America by the Rockefeller families and other well to do charitable givers during a time when fortunes used their philanthropy to do parks and public works.  What a wonderful afternoon.  The experience has nudged Drew and I to plan a visit to Plymouth Plantation, MA where, my niece, Rachel, always said, “At Plymouth Plantation they actually live there and live the life of 1620 residents year round.” 

  Williamsburg is pretty incredible, but there is a good deal of hired help who don’t live in the area.  In that sense it isn’t a living museum, albeit many costumed actors perform all day and wait on customers.  When we asked a question, “Who lived in the brick stables with such nice quarters?” – a living room and nice bedroom.  No one was able to answer -- a groom?  The footman?  They aren't immersed in the culture.

   I can see how it might seem bland, but the ways of the Colonials v. the Brits was fascinating: the clothes, implements, gardens, beautiful homes, history … and then there was lunch.
     The Governor's Palace entry room to impress all who came for business; swords and hand guns.

Tour guide of the Governor's Palace

  We ate at one of the several taverns, "Chowdry's" and ordered: stew, a hard apple cider, local beer, and local salad grown there.  Two roving costumed poets captured our attention.  They began by going to each table (about 10 in the room) and with English accents and vocabulary requested one English word, any word from the diners.  Drew gave “pie” which they loved.  They wrote the words in a notebook.  A half hour later they returned with created original poems that they read with great flourish and expression; each to much applause.  Interesting job.  Wish regular restaurants did that.

 Drew and I felt ourselves feeling so comfortable and relaxed in this environment where everything is well made solid and all in colonial style.  Everything is simply made to last. Beauty and design were considerations when making a lock or utilitarian gate.  Since the place is well endowed, developed in the 20s, it has been maintained and improved over the years.

  The Visitors Center, where we entered gave incorrect information about the two museums I wanted to see, Abbey Aldrich Rockefeller Museum of Folk Art (the ticket person said it was closed) and the DeWitt Wallace Furniture Museum.  We found them both. For now they are in one building that had few visitors, no surprise.  The two museums’ artifacts are squashed together in one building.  Some rooms are well done and others have crowded glass cases with porcelain figurines, china and silver jammed in. 

 The large and small dollhouses,

 The hand crafted colonial furniture with fret tops, the grandfather clocks, the room of folk art wind vanes, signs, and carousel animals, two rooms of piano fortes, harpsichords and claviers and the original antique maps held us there for 2 hours scrutinizing and reading.  


The US in 1755, The Mathews Map, a British map.  A French map showed the French owning all land west of the Appalachians to Louisiana and Florida.

I purchased a birdhouse for my new collection in the woods and some stocking stuffers.

  We took a tour of The Governor’s Palace, outside vegetable, herb, floral and labyrinth gardens, and outside kitchen buildings: the kitchen, a smoke house with real meat hanging from the roof and a butcher house.   

We were surprised to see that since the public lives in some of the houses, not just workers, we could have driven into the area and walked around. Restaurants and some buildings are open for all without paying the $40 per person fee when you come in via the Visitors Center.  The fee allows you the tours and museum access. Good to remember.

  After 6 hours we ambled back to the car along the fenced-lined natural dirt path and reentered the land of electricity, TV, cars and pavement. 

  We peeked in at the beautiful Williamsburg Inn. Dillon had recommended drinks on the terrace.  Today no one was out on this slightly chilly (57 degrees) day.

We walked around the outside to see white foxgloved speared gardens with pinx and white snaps accented by just-flowering dogwood trees.  We drove back to Shawnee in Hampton. 

  Drew has the heart app on his Iphone where we found out we walked 10,000 steps or 5 miles.  : )  

 
  Drew ready to leave Hampton:

Now we are 20 miles off Maryland on our way to Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay, Kingman Marine or Parkers in Pocassett.  Should take about 72 hours if we sail and motor.  So far blue skies, sunny and a mild 10 k wind.  Mazu is snug in the aft cabin asleep at my side, no shaking or panting, as I type the blog on "Word."

Bird landed on the boat as it was migrating.

One of the sunrises that predicted rain.  Red sky in morning sailors take warning:
No photo  filters

Tuesday May 17, 2016

The Things They Carried

This what is in our cockpit on any voyage out:

* 3 PFDs, with EPIRD emergency contact to Coast Guard

* 2 sunlotions: 15 for Drew and 70 for me

* OFF insecticide

* dog water bottle

* Ipad running Navionics - a chart plotting and map of the seas    app

* Kindle

* 2 Iphones, Drew’s and mine, usually no service, it has “Word Warp” a game I play endlessly

* The boat log we write in during the trip – 1 book per season

* Fleece blanket
* a turquoise Pashmina
* puffer jackets for the cold and wind

* Rag

* Pillow

* 2 water bottles

* New Yorker

* 2 pairs of binoculars

* 2 gallon red gas container, extra for the dinghy

* 1 blue pail with orange sponge (to clean up after Mazu)

In the cockpit  The turquoise towel is to cover the nav station light at night, Ipad for Navionics trip track:

Food pre-prepared for grab n go on a possibly rocky boat for the 3 day journey:

Egg salad                               canned soups               

Tuna salad                                    instant oatmeal

5 grain salad                          greens for salads

yogurts                                 spam - lite

crackers                                canned deviled ham

cheese sticks                          hard boiled eggs

Zone Bars

Deli meats

Apples, bananas

Cold drinks  Honest T

More on the last leg of the homecoming trip tomorrow.