The next morning, in contrast to the day before, was quiet, sleepy, cold and rainy.  Most mornings we are ready for the day early but don't want to sit in the hotel. We come out and visit with the animals while waiting for the sites to open. 

One of the cows came over to see us this morning.

Then we went to the Presbyterian Meetinghouse.

     We had not been here since our 2004 trip. At that time, I was confused about the differences between Presbyterians, Anglicans and Episcopaleans. I tried researching the church history, but ended up in a muck of confusion. Now that we've been through the TOG, learning history sequentially from the beginning of time, reading books on the Reformation, Inquisition, and King Henry VIII, it makes more sense now. When you walk into this building, Patrick Henry starts speaking, telling the story of the Presbyterians, of which he was a part. Presbyterian minister, Samuel Davies was a major influence on Patrick Henry's life. From him, Henry learned oratory skills.  Patrick Henry was also known to read his Bible everyday.

      Next we went to the Carpenter shop.  I knew my husband, especially, would enjoy that, since he has a degree in building construction. 

Here is my son looking at an 18th century measuring stick. 

They are working on pieces for the Coffeeshop.  

     The Coffeeshop is, in fact, an exciting new building project at CW. We first saw it as an archaeology dig in 2004, which was quite a bit deeper in 2008. 

     Last autumn a webcam was put up for the Coffeeshop and we've been watching this be built, from the preparation of the foundation, to the walls being raised the old fashioned way, to seeing the finish work going on today. 

On the way to the Apothecary, I met a lady knitting socks for a soldier.  

Then we went to the Apothecary Shop. 

     While everyone was talking, I went into the back to check on something. I laughed and said, "There's the skeleton!"

     My kids came over to see and we took pictures.  Everyone wanted to know what was so funny.  Well, in 2005, we read a wonderful series of historical fiction chapter books (dialectic level) on the Hutchison family by Nancy Rue. It traces the struggles of growing up in various historical eras, tracing the descendants of one family over time. There are six books to each location. The Salem Years is set in the 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts.  Due to severe persecution, the family leaves a year before the Salem Witch Trials for Williamsburg. (They were persecuted by the accused witches, and it shows where it was more meanness leading to extreme evil than witchcraft. Therefore, it doesn't get too heavy for kids, yet opens the door to discussion of the witchtrials.)  The Williamsburg Years opens a few generations later, during the 1770's, concluding with the victory at Yorktown in 1781.  Thomas Hutchison is the son of gentry. They live on a plantation near Yorktown, but have a house in the town of Williamsburg. They do not believe in slavery, but have indentured servants.  Because Thomas refuses to learn his school lessons and gets in trouble all the time, his father moves him to town and apprentices him to the apothecary.  Thomas arrives at the apothecary and finds this skeleton and takes the master's words, "work to the bone" quite literally! Scared to death of the skeleton, he obeys the master and starts to learn the trade quite ably (he becomes a doctor when he grows up), while dealing with adventures, struggles within himself, and deals with the likes of Banastre Tarleton and Benedict Arnold.   As he starts to mature, he attends the grammar school at the College of William and Mary and gets caught up in espionage for the Continental Army.  His father is one of the Burgesses, often out of town on business for the patriot cause.  His older brother, who had been attending the College of William and Mary, becomes a spy like his hero, Frances Marion, the swamp fox.  His best friend is a delightful girl whose father is a loyalist.  The lady who ran the apothecary wanted to know the name of the series so she could buy them at the bookstore and read them. Sadly, they are out of print. That is a shame, because these books are not fodder. They are deep. They have complex intermingling plot lines building interest, show the development of character building and teaches lots of history. (The story of the Hutchinson Family continues with the Charleston Years in Charleston, South Carolina during the pre-Civil War Years,  dealing with abolition and concluding with the firing on Fort Sumter and escaping slaves and abolitionists.  The Chicago Years is set in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties, dealing with mobsters, working with Jane Addams in the tenements, and ending with the beginning of the Great Depression.  The Santa Fe Years concludes the series during World War II in New Mexico, near the site of the atomic bomb test. The father of the boy in the book, is a victim of the Bataan Death March.)

     My kids asked about different items that were in the apothecary in the books.  The interpreter was able to show them each one!   The only location we have been to in the series is CW and the author was right on target representing the era, history, buildings, etc.  Too bad they are out of print, because they do a terrific job of getting kids excited and prepared for a full experience at Colonial Williamsburg.  

     I asked what the apothecary would have done to cure a cramped leg muscle, from which I've been suffering intensely all weekend. This has been a lingering pain for weeks and I wondered if an old cure would heal my leg.  The interpreter said the 18th century cure would have been camphor. Camphor? My kids laughed and said I'd better not become like the Combustible Woman in the podcast we listened to last autumn. (September 15, 2008) I think not.  I decided to do without 18th century treatment.    

     Then it was time for Revolutionary City! First we sang "Yankee Doodle." We sang the refrain while he did the verses. He sang several verses but never about the feather in the cap.  That was a stab by the British. 

 Earlier that morning, my husband had asked if we were going to do RC and I said definitely!  He hadn't seen all the new stuff since last summer.  Also, it would be a great wrap up to our Fourth of July weekend, understanding/remembering what we are celebrating.  Believe it or not, we were originally planning on going to upstate New York for the weekend to visit family, with plans to see Saratoga Battlefield.  My kids studied the Battle of Saratoga intensely a year ago and they have heard more about it during RC, so now I want them to go there. Unfortunately the plans fell through.  My husband is from the Saratoga area, has been to the battlefield numerous times, but scenes in RC made things click for him! Now he is ready to see Saratoga Battlefield with fresh eyes!  There is a scene where we are told the terrific news that the patriots won the Battle of Saratoga, thanks to General Benedict Arnold!  That is met with few, if any, cheers (of course, since we know the rest of the story). 

Then we get to meet the haughty turncoat Benedict Arnold when he arrives in Williamsburg.  

The highlight of the morning, is the arrival of General George Washington...

...in preparation for the seige on Yorktown. 

 Victory was near!

Huzzah! (My thanks to the horse, for continually turning around so we could get great angles of the general!)  

     By the end of RC, it was still cold and rainy.  We decided to save our packed lunch for the drive home that evening, and have some warm soup and hot tea

at Shields Tavern.

     Afterwards, we went to the museum to see the brand new display on the Declaration of Independence. (Note: This is sunny because it was taken the Friday before. We needed our umbrellas this day.)  

     I will blog more about this display later, because I hope to do it in conjunction with a future visit to meet with Thomas Jefferson about how he wrote this pivotal document. However, something funny was a detail my kids caught. They called me over to show me that one of the documents was on loan from the actor who portrays Jefferson!  I hope to soon have the kids study the Declaration of Independence in detail, in preparation for meeting Mr. Jefferson. There will be a Q&A afterwards and I'd like my kids to have great questions. My family also toured the furniture section, but that display will stay awhile, so I went into the room of the battle flags that Tarleton had taken. This display will be gone in a few weeks.  When I first saw them, the room had several people and I was anxious to get back on the streets to see the Redcoats. This time I was the only one there.  In the silence and stillness,  I reflected and contemplated on the emotions of the men carrying this flag, from the moment they entered into battle with hope...to the feeling of despair at losing it to Tarleton, if any of them survived the battle. 

     Then we went to the Palace Garden. It was rainy so my husband suggested we do something else, thinking General Washington would not show up in the rain. But what if he does?  We went and even though there was a small crowd of us, General Washington arrived and entertained our queries. 

     Because there were so few of us due to the weather, we each got to ask a lot of questions. Even I got brave enough to finally ask questions of a Founding Father. After the official Q&A, the actor stepped down from the stage, and answered more questions as the actor. This is always interesting and my husband and son asked lots of questions. Before long I realized we were the only ones left with him, and we were walking with him in the gardens.  I'm not quite sure how it happened, as this is rare, but talking to the actor (I was listening to my husband and son talk to him) seemed so natural. When guests started coming  out of the Governor's Palace, they got excited and started taking pictures. I have never been on this end of the picture taking and I quickly stepped out of the way so they could have their photos of General Washington.  General Washington!  We were walking in the garden with General Washington! What a memorable way to end our Fourth of July weekend!