With another unit celebration behind us, and wanting a break anyway from the move-in process into our new house/new area/new state, I was ready for a time of refreshment and rejuvenation.  That means none other than...a day at Colonial Williamsburg! A friend who works there highly recommended we visit on a day 2, since all three of our other visits, since we've moved to Virginia, were on day 1. She told me that there were many new scenes from what we  had seen last Aug.  Carefully checking the weather forecast, because there seems to be lots of rain in Virginia, I decided Wednesday would be the best day. Although Wednesday was looking to be hot and dry, Friday was looking to be cold and rainy.  

      My kids decided to wear their costumes this time.  As I handed my son his costume Wednesday morning, I told him to skip the stockings because the temperature would rise to 96 degrees.  Although he said okay, I found him at breakfast in full costume, stockings and all. He had a long list of reasons for wearing the stockings, which he summed up by saying if his favorite actor/interpretor at CW can withstand the heat to wear his full costume, so could he!  

     We did pretty well getting out of the house at 7:12am. It's a 2.5 hour drive and we got there just after Patrick Henry started speaking. My favorite time period in history is the American Revolution, partly because I see this as a pivotal moment in history.  Patrick Henry talks about this and I'm afraid I'm not going to get his words precisely correct. Before 1776, the people were servants of the government. After 1776, for the first time, a government was the servant to the people.  Yet it's not a democracy, which has always failed.  It is a democratic republic with three branches of government.  The branch with the greatest power is the people's branch, the legislative branch. Thomas Jefferson talks about this a lot too. 

     A question was asked about today's stimulus package put out by the government. Because history is cyclical, Patrick Henry explained one only needs to look at the past to see the future.  He told us about the stimulus packages of his day, known as the Stamp Act, Sugar Act and the Tea Act.          

     Did you know that Patrick Henry had lots of kids? He had 6 children by his first wife and 11 by his second wife.  He had 77 grandchildren. Then he thundered, "If some scoundrel in the future decides to portray me, he will meet at least one of my descendants every week!"  His presentation was standing room only and he had us all laughing throughout.

      Then for the first time,  we got to meet George Mason, who lives at Gunston Hall! Since we tried to buy a house on Gunston Hall Drive, we are now aware of George Mason!  George Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was actually the precursor to the Declaration of Independence. We got to discuss different rights. A lot of the questions from the audience revolved around slavery. It was interesting to hear the perspective of each of the delegates of the best way to end slavery.  

     The next scene was "What Holds the Future", a poignant scene about slave families being split up and sold at the auction block.  We saw the process of this scene being developed and saw parts of it performed in our EFT "Making History Live." Now we got to see the program in its entirety...and have our hearts ripped out in the process. The actors get a bit rough, so it isn't recommended for children.  

      Then we walked down to the Courthouse for another scene we've never seen before.   While waiting for that to start, I called my husband.  Once again he told me to call him whenever we were in front of a webcam.  lol  This new scene at the Courthouse, "Blessings of Liberty", opens with the announcement that the Declaration of Independence has arrived in town. While some eagerly read it, others debate it. There are still Loyalists lurking about. There are even Patriots who are out to destroy every semblance of allegiance to the king.  

     After lunch, we had a few hours before Revolutionary City began. What to do? We went to the colonial nursery. I wanted to get a special plant for my new Virginia garden. I found a bleeding heart!  I  also got some seeds for sensitive plant. This is a lot of fun to play with. You touch the leaves and they close up.  There was one on display to have fun with. I didn't get pictures of these.  But I did get pictures of other flowers in bloom.

     Then we went to the Mary Dickinson Store where they sell colonial patterns, that are more authentic than what I have from the fabric store.  Although my kids really wanted me to buy them now, I told them I still need a new sewing machine, etc, etc, etc.  We'll be back!

     Then we went to the Prentis Store and my son found the Rosewood Fife.  We were told that the junior fifers start with the maple fife like he has and when they graduate to the senior corps they get the rosewood fife. I told my son that if he keeps working on the fife and uses the recent tips he got to improve his playing, perhaps he can graduate to the rosewood fife. He is motivated.  

     Next we went to the milliner and the millinr and tailor were working in opposite sides of the shop. Last summer we only got to see the tailor. This time I watched a seamstress try to equally pleat a petticoat to a certain measurement. 

     Next we went to the Print shop, which we didn't get to do last summer.  The printer was hanging up the sheets to dry as we walked in.

     We got to talking about the circulation of the gazette.  He compared the population of Williamsburg to the larger colonial cities of the time. He asked us which colonial city was the largest.  My daughter said "Boston".  Correct!  Then he asked for the second largest colonial city. My son said "Philadelphia". Correct!  Next he asked for the third largest which was between the other two. When no one else answered I said "New York". Correct!  Finally he asked for the fourth largest colonial city, south of Williamsburg. Once again no one else was answering, so I said "Charleston". Correct!   These larger cities might have a daily gazette, but Williamsburg had a weekly gazette.  He showed us how he prepped the ink...

...he applied it to the typeset...

...he pulled the press...

...he pealed off the paper...

...and there is one side to the gazette!

     It was 1pm, so we went upstairs to the store to get a demonstration on the use of the quill.  This is another activity we had wanted to do last summer but couldn't work it in.  The gentleman wrote my daughter's name on a card with a flourish underneath, then it was her turn to do so.  Then it was my son's turn.  The gentleman made comments with both of my kids because they write with their left hands. He told us that in his day, everyone writes with their right hand!  Then I had a turn and left out the swirl underneath my name. He told me I needed that because someone else might come along and add something else that I didn't want underneath my name. One of the guests heard our last name and asked if we were related to a certain someone in Hollywood. I laughed and said, "Oh yea, we're real close." and he laughed too! This guest had his name done before mine and it was fun to watch. He was really getting into the 18th century!

  Well, after this I had to have a snack. It was really hot, my blood sugar was dropping, and I was dragging. We went to sit on a bench in front of the Kings Arms Tavern and listened to the tavern owners banter back and forth with each other across the Duke of Gloucester Street.  One of the actresses got some Service Berries from the garden and shared them with us. I never heard of them before. They looked like a purple blueberry and tasted a bit tarter than one.  They were delicious! 

     The oppressive heat of the day must have caused the dark, ominous clouds in the distance and the threatening rumble of thunder.  Hopefully Revolutionary City would not get rained out!  The warm up program began with music and dancing!

     As we headed to the Capital for the reading of the Declaration of Independence, I was surprised to see the horses!  They weren't in the program I saw last year!

     After the horsemen arrived at the capital, my son ran over to take pictures.

Then the fife and drum corps arrived...

...leading us to the meaningful reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Everyone gets a part. By the end, my son joined in reciting it with them.  No, he did not have the words in front of him.

     As the fife and drum corps played and marched out, we were told to gather for a major announcement.   I don't know what was wrong with us but he asked us three times to gather closely to him for a major announcement. I finally got it and I moved closer, as did everyon else.  I had a difficult time concentrating, because I was thinking I should have toted our rain gear with us. The temperature had significantly dropped, the wind was rising, the sky was darker, the thunder was booming and the lightening was flashing in the distance.  Were we crazy people?  Actually we were proving that we were duds as actors. LOL As the guy told us about the major victory at Saratoga, which caused France to decide to support our cause, we weren't responding the way he expected.  He kept prodding us to say something. So we did!  We started "booing" when we needed to "huzzah!" and we "huzzah!ed" when we were supposed to "cheer".  The poor fellow was so patient with us.  We were laughing, then TRYING to get into the spirit of things when he told us to give three cheers for that selfless patriot who made the major victory at the Battle of Saratoga possible...Benedict Arnold! Um I confess we were a bit lame in our "huzzahs" over him. If only he knew what we knew.  =)  But that's the point of Revolutionary City...to get caught up in the events of the day, not the future. Why did people feel as they did and act as they did during certain events? What would we really have done, not knowing the future? These are pages of a history book come to life.

   We got a few rain drops during the next few scenes, and then it was time to head to the Capital because the Redcoats were coming, led by the turncoat, Benedict Arnold. Because of the lightening and thunder, the horses were not used.  The Redcoats came to us through the Capital.

      By the end of the Revolutionary City program, the storm had moved further out and the sun was in!  We followed the fife and drum corps to the Courthouse to meet with General Washington for the program, "On to Yorktown, and Victory!" 

 
 Generals Washington and Lafayette arrived...

...to assure the citizens of Williamsburg that victory is close at hand. 

The British are surrounded at Yorktown and the French have arrived by sea and land with men and provisions.

After the generals left...

we followed the General's staff and the fife and drum corps back to the Capital. 

     Sadly, it was time to go home.  As we walked by the windmill, my son took a picture of the cloud formations.

     I captured the more  forbidding clouds that indeed caused some challenges in getting home.  Downpours and deluges dumped on us south of Richmond, through Richmond and then again in Northern Virginia.  Finally we arrived home safely.  The rain could not damper our spirits and we deluged my husband with the events of the day when we got home!  We can't wait to go back!