Roadtrip - Raleigh to Jamestown and Williamsburg
Trip Start
Jan 18, 2006
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48
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Trip End
Dec 2006
Raleigh, Virginia, United States
Monday, June 19, 2006
I was in a grumpy mood as we headed east, I just could not find any football coverage in North Carolina (I was later to find out I was in the worst of states for football... er soccer... well you know England Vs Trinidad!)
We arrived at Willamsburg very tired and checked into a quaint little hotel and snoozed to regain some energy so that we could explore the place.
Energised and ready for action we took a trip back in time and to the center of Willamsburg
Jamestown 4
. By now I am sure you can guess, the town of Willamsburg was named for King William of England... can't remember which one, so a mystery prize to anyone who can name that one correctly! The town has been very well preserved and restored with a main high street looking much the way it would in the 1770's when the Revolutionary War freed the colonists from the British Crown.Beautiful wooden houses line the streets and a selection are open to the public, some of which have actors in attendance in period costume. We strolled the streets and felt what it might have been like to have been a colonist in the new world... we considered that the clothes might have been tough to wear, but the large selection of pubs would have helped to ease our plight!
The evening was made all the better by the open air concert that was being held in the plaza and hundreds of local veterans turned out with their deck chairs in hand to applaud the spectacle.
We browsed the shops and listened to the music until we were tired out. As the sun went down we knew it was time to get a pizza and turn in... our decision was given a shot-in-the-arm when an Irish man began singing a song about Old Ireland which was so bad we simply had to leave!
The next day we woke up and took a lazy morning watching repeats of the Golden Girls on TV, it was something we used to watch in the 80's and far better the CNN's morning show!
Once we had packed up our bits and pieces we made our way to Jamestown, the first place to be founded by the brave sailors from England and the site that is being carefully restored by archeologists
Jamestown 1
.As we travelled along the unspoilt James River, we could imagine the ships that came from Britain carrying hundreds of colonists some who volunteered, some who didn't, to a new life in the new world.
Jamestown unlike Williamsburg is not a town that is inhabited and is far smaller than its more successful neighbour. The site has been preserved as a tourist attraction and recent digs have uncovered the Jamestown Fort, the foundations of which have been preserved and are available to view.
The fort was vital to early colonists in keeping native attacks at bay. Despite many attempts by the settlers to befriend the natives, including the marriage of Pocahontas to James Smith, wars continued to rage and thus the fort was critically important. Sadly the fort was left to ruin when the early government moved to Williamsburg and thus Jamestown, named for King James I was destined to ruin, while Williamsburg flourished.
We toured Jamestown and learnt more about the early colonists and their struggle to free themselves from the crown. The museum had many artifacts and the findings from digs proved to be a fascinating insight into the lives of these so-called "Early Americans".
The exhibitions included the skeletons on several colonists and their burial chambers had provided other items such as coins and clothing.
With Jamestown toured, we had to move on and head up to Washington... after all Lynsey had an important flight to catch...!
