threesmiths: A Weekend in the Past

Our weekend spent in the past (meaning we went to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown) actually started in the present, doing something I've been wanting to do for some time - visit Bass Pro Shops near Richmond. It was huge! All that I had heard about with the life size animals, live fish and restaurant, where we had a late lunch.

This is one of the bears we were greeted by

I love how Nathaniel is looking up in this one. It also gives you a sense for how big the store is.

Nathaniel doing his imitation of a bear

Steve target shooting with a gun that only shot lasers and made a very quiet noise.

Me doing the same.

Nathaniel plugging his ears, just in case it was loud.

After we had had our fill of food and all the outdoor things a girl could want, we traveled to our destination, checking in at the Historic Powhatan Resort. We were greeted by a very tame rabbit with a "cotton-tail", no less at our condo (later that weekend, Marcia and Nathaniel had a little too close run in with a skunk in the same area!)
As we were checking out the things the resort had to offer, we heard music so we went over to check it out - it was two men dressed in period clothes playing a drum and fife! In between songs, they would answer questions from the crowd. We found out among other things that they would rather play in the heat than the cold, that the drummer played other drums too and had a band. Also we found out about the meaning of some of the items on their clothing. (Sorry the video is sideways! I have got to learn to video the other way!)

The song they were playing in that video was an authentic song to that time period, but we know it as "He's a Jolly Good Fellow". After listening for a while, we checked out the putt-putt golf course where I am glad we didn't keep score!

Getting a lesson

Playing on his own.

Marcia arrived on Friday so we headed over to Jamestown Settlement. We were impressed by the set up of the settlement which illustrated how hard life was in 1607 and later on. Nathaniel liked the movies we saw and loved his VERY long pencil he got from the gift shop. I liked seeing everyone in period clothes and listening to their stories about Jamestown life. Friday night we had dinner at Shields Tavern, where we saw more people in period clothes and had some fantastic food.

In the house where the weapons were kept. Each man at Jamestown had to participate in this function.

One of the beds. I showed Nathaniel that they were made of straw and not very comfortable at all!

Nathaniel on one of the boats

Replicas of the boats the Jamestown settlers came over on.

At Shields Tavern - the tables were only lit with candles!

Nathaniel and his VERY long pencil!

Saturday it rained. And rained. And rained. We were scheduled to take a trip on one of the Yorktown Schooners, but, as I said - it rained. So, we rescheduled for Sunday. We were, however, able to visit the gift shop in Yorktown. It did clear up enough Saturday night that we were able to check out the outdoor pools. Nathaniel had a blast!

The only picture I took at Yorktown on Saturday!

Sunday, we eventually made it to the Schooner, which was well worth waiting for and I would recommend anyone who goes to the Williamsburg triangle (as it is called) to try it. We ended up having to do the Pirate Tour (which was geared more towards kids) but loved it all - except for the last 5 minutes...when it rained so hard that by the time we got back to our cars, we looked as if we had gotten in the shower with clothes on! I have to say that the crew of the Alliance did a fantastic job the whole time. We had a blast the whole weekend, even with the rain. It was a trip where many good memories were made. :-)