Up early in the morning so we could enjoy breakfast at the Williamsburg Inn and then get to Jamestown. John took this picture of our lodgings on the way to the Inn. Breakfast turned out to be a wonderful buffet. YUM. After breakfast we walked back and packed up the camera gear and headed down the Colonial Parkway to Historic Jamestowne.
In the literature, we had seen that there was Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement but couldn't tell the difference. As it turned out, we went to Historic Jamestowne first which is where it really all began. It's the actual site of America's Birthplace and the Colonial National Historical Park. I won't go into the history, but there is an interesting article at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/jamestown/jamestown-standalone about what Jamestown was really like in the mid 1600's.
This Historical Park contains remnants of the streets of Jamestown as well as the archeological site of Ft. James. The Historical Park is administered by the National Park Service and Historic Jamestowne (the Ft. James portion) is jointly run with the APVA Preservation Virginia.
For years it was thought that the land that Ft. James was on had been eroded into the James River. But 16 or so years ago William Kelso thought differently and began excavating and has since found the original site of the fort. Visit www.historicjamestowne.org/the_dig/ for details on the dig. The archeologists were doing an update for the volunteers when we walked in and we were invited to join them....quite fascinating. There is a wonderful Archaearium on the grounds with some great displays about their findings. Pictured above are the archeologists digging, the model of Ft. James, a reconstruction of the original church. The bell tower was still visible when the dig began. Below that is a reconstruction of one of the barracks, the statue of John Smith looking out over the James and a picture of the Jamestown Monument.
Jamestown Settlement
After several hours and lunch along the James, we headed back down the road to Jamestown Settlement. It turned out to be a recreation of 17th century Virginia with a fun "living museum" with a Powhatan Indian village and replicas of the three ships that transported the original Jamestown colonists to Virginia i
n 1607.
After a great day of adventuring, we stopped by the Fresh Market for some wine and cheese and headed back to the house for a little happy hour. Happy Birthday John. One interesting happening...while we were enjoying our happy hour, a couple came in who were in the room in the front. They were on their honeymoon. He was probably 75 and she was probably 45 or so. They were quite an interesting pair. They had made colonial costumes to celebrate their marriage. Hers was a lovely brocade ball gown and his a typical gentleman of the day. They didn't have them on then, but we ran into them going to breakfast the next morning when they were wearing them! They fit right in and the costumes were incredible!
We dined at Christiana Campbell's that night and had those wonderful sweet potato muffins!! Great day!!
