This is the day we'd been waiting for!  We were going to Jamestwn!  I bought the tickets for this event back in January, so we'd had a long wait.  We had to go to a remote parking lot and take a bus to the location--big crowds.  Up to 30,000 people expected each day.  Yikes!

We enjoyed the learning areas, such as the replica of the fort.  There were several educational exhibits set up.  The kids really enjoyed the canoe making experience,

and we can't forget boarding the replica's of the ships--The Susan Constant, The Godspeed, and Discovery.  I was surprised how small they were (supposedly they were built actual size). 

We got tired of the heat and crowd pretty quick, especially with the nearly 2 hour wait just to eat lunch.  There were not many places to get a drink, or go to the restroom.  Porta-potties were even scarce.  Not pleasant!

After we finally ate and had a respit, we headed over to the island, which was the original location where the settlers landed and built their fort, etc.  It wasn't an island then!  As soon as we walked onto this place, we knew that this was what we had come for. 

First off, they had a neat museum of artifacts.  Then we headed to the actual sites.  Many of the foundations had been excavated--fabulous!  We also saw the wonderful monument that was dedicated (honoring God!) 100 years ago.  We admired the famous statues of Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith and even watched the archeologists work on a current dig site. 

Son was overjoyed at the gun and weapon demonstrations throughout the day.  He also received a personal demonstration/lesson that was very informative. 

So we had bought two day tickets, but as it began pouring rain on us as we stood in line for the bus, we realized we'd seen enough.  This incoming cold snap lingered into the next day and altered our plans to visit Colonial Williamsburg.  We voted for Yorktown instead. 

We thought we'd start the day by trying to sell our 2nd day Jamestown tickets.  We were met with quite a surprise when we got to the parking lot/bus depot and were told that President Bush had arrived and so the park had been locked down.  They basically said come back in a few hours.  Well, for us, we just had to eat the tickets.  Though it would have been nice to see the President!

Apparently there were quite a few very angry people--very!  People that ended up in places like Yorktown where they decided to let everyone in for free that day--yippee! 

Though we froze, we stayed dry as we spent the day in the colonial town that still has many of the original homes.  We never found Cornwallis's cave (drat!),

 but we enjoyed the battlefield...  and especially Surrender Field where the British conceded and laid down their weapons to the puny Patriots that whipped their...well, you know!  It was a great day of history. 

I couldn't help but feel all the things you feel when you look in a creek bed or behind a hill and know that the people who fought for our country walked there and many died there.  It was very moving and could not be ignored.

As we left Yorktown with our still unused Jamestown 2nd day tickets, we remembered the FireWorks they were going to set off.  We did the whole bus thing and got there in time.  The kids played a bit and then we watched the great celebration.  Tired is putting it mildly.  Happy...definately!

To be continued...