Colonial Williamsburg For Reals

When I grow up, I want to be a Living History Actress at Colonial Williamsburg!  We started out early and parked at the Visitor's Center and took the shuttle over to the Governor's Palace.  There we watched a short play about Governor Dunsmore and his wife.  The carriage house and the wheelright at the Palace are actual working shops that make the carriages and wagons used in Colonial Williamsburg.  That was also true of the Blacksmiths shop, that actually makes items used to restore and replicate the buildings and implements of the times.

 

The Governor's Palace (inside) was actually closed for the filming of HBO's special on John Adams.  We wandered down the streets and spent a lot of time in the dressmaker's shop deciding whether or not to rent costumes for Mikaela and Madeline, or buy them.  We ended up deciding to buy and were glad we did.  The girls had such a great experience and will used their costumes to dress up at home too.

 

We then went to Lady Stith's house where we watched people dance traditional country dances from the time period, plus got to sing along with some patriot songs.  They took volunteers but the girls were too shy.  We had lunch in the Kings Arms Tavern, where the waitress told us that women and children would not have been allowed to eat.  After lunch we checked out the capitol building, the gunsmith (we waited for daddy a looooong time there), the Presbyterian Meeting House and the Gaol (jail).  By then it was time for the afternoon Revolutionary themed living history experience.... I don't know how else to explain it.  Basically we just wandered up and down the street interacting with living history actors who were moving in and out of more "organized" sketches.  We got to talk to slaves and indentured servants, rich people, regular folk, continental soldiers and local business people and elected officials.  We got to see the progression and response from the Virginians to the Boston Tea Party and the English's response of closing Boston Harbor.  The Governor of Virginia responded to the local response of support of Boston by disbanding the legislature.  In the end, the ousted officials declare that they will vote with the other colonies for independence should there be a call to vote.  It was all very exciting and really made us feel like a part of the whole process.  Mikaela and Madeline talked about English oppression and shouted "Huzzah!" with the rest when Patrick Henry spoke about Independence.

 

We -loved- Colonial Williamsburg... the costumes and the history and the way we felt like we took a part in supporting the "rebels" and calling for Independence.