Day 2: Colonial Times to Civil War Years...

The next day we were up early for a yummy breakfast at our B&B and ready to see some Colonial sights! This will be a VERY picture-heavy post as we saw lots and lots of things in this jam-packed day. We also squeezed in a carriage ride, our anniversary dinner and a night program. So, here we go!

First we made a stop at the coffee shop so I could get something they were famous for… a Chocolate Chai. OH MY it was good. Then a funny thing happened as we were leaving… I saw someone I knew – all the way in Virginia!! I was shocked to see a familiar face! Leigh and I worked at Samsung together many moons ago. Our tight group of friends from there hung out for a long time after we had all left that insane workplace. Since then, Leigh has moved to Richmond and is married to her longtime boyfriend! Richmond is still a couple of hours from Williamsburg, so it was a TOTAL fluke that they had come to the area for a weekend outing. It was so random and unexpected!!

 

So, after Leigh and I caught up for a few minutes, Brad and I ventured out. We toured the entire Colonial area. This included the Magazine, the Governor’s Palace, every store front, all the trades (Blacksmith, Carpenter, Silversmith, etc.), the Courthouse and the Jail.

Sweet, sleepy lamb.

Armory Shop

Watch out!

Beautiful gardens at the Governor's Palace

Gates of the Palace

Cook preparing dinner at the Palace.

I can still see you Brad!

Jail cell where members of Blackbeard's crew were held before they were hung.

After a bite to eat for lunch, we had a date planned… with a horse and carriage!! It is a short trip around the area but these tickets are tough to get and sell out every day. We had made sure to get our ticket first thing that morning and our designated time was 2PM. It was a nice break for our tired feet. 

After our ride, we saw more things and watched some of the daily re-enactment they put on. 

The Silversmith's Shop

Show me your guns!!

Storytelling in the Magazine Building

Goods at a store.

They made change in a very interesting way... by cutting up large coins!

Blacksmith Shop

The Red Coats coming to clear the streets.

Getting directions from one of the Locals.

I made Brad take this picture... I found it VERY funny that a realistic Colonial town has the newest light bulbs!

Carpenter's Shop

We were pooped, so we headed back to the B&B and took a nap. Then we headed out for a super fancy dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Even though our anniversary was actually the next day, our plans for that day were more of the “scream your head off on a roller coaster type”. So, we “observed” the occasion while in Williamsburg at an awesome restaurant called Berret’s.

Horrible picture - but it is the only one of our dinner.

After having a yummy dinner and topping it off with a Pumpkin Crème Brulee, we jumped on the bus back to the Colonial area. We don’t have any pictures of what we did next, but trust me that it was AWESOME!

Our night program was a Walking Tour called “Women of the Civil War”. I have never done anything like this and I LOVED how they did it. With a tour guide, our group walked through the Colonial area with a lantern. As we walked she told us about Williamsburg during the Civil War (up until then, all of our focus had been on Colonial times and the Revolutionary War). The town was located right along the Union/Confederate line so it saw a lot of action. She talked specifically about the role of women. Along the way we met with 4 women (in character) that told us about their lives. The first was a Confederate sympathizer whose husband had gone off to fight against the Union. She talked about how much the town had changed and those “dreadful” Union soldiers taking the town. The next woman was a former slave who had worked to buy her freedom and now worked as a Baker. She and her husband fed the Union soldiers pie and were known to be friendly towards them. What the soldiers didn’t know was they were reporting anything they heard back to the Confederacy! The next woman we met was the director of all the Nurses in Williamsburg. Since they were so close to the front lines, all the large buildings in town became makeshift hospitals. Both sides of the war were ill-prepared for the type of wounds and the high count of casualties. The final woman was a Union sympathizer whose son was fighting in the war. She talked about being at home, trying to keep things running while ALL of the able-bodied men were gone.

The walking tour was SO COOL!!! What a fantastic way to enjoy the night air, see the town in a different way and learn stuff! I absolutely loved this and it was a great way to end our visit to Williamsburg. If you are ever in the area, I can’t recommend the Colonial Williamsburg experience enough. And while you are at it- stay at the Fife and Drum Inn. It is owned by a gracious couple and they are so knowledgeable about the area.

After our tour, we turned in for the night. We had an early wake-up call and a full day of adventure ahead of us!!

Day 1: Fun with Fiats & Fifes

After only a few hours of sleep due to Good Friday at church and packing etc., we got up at 3AM to catch a very early flight to Norfolk, VA. Luckily we were both able to sleep some on the plane, but we were still very tired when we arrived. As we approached the rental car area in the airport, they had a shiny new Fiat on display inside. We had seen plenty of them while in Italy last year so we were familiar with this tiny vehicle. We joked about how funny it would be if they was our rental... well, we spoke too soon! When we checked in, were informed that the "compact" car we had requested, was indeed a Fiat. We howled with laughter (I am sure the guy thought we were crazy). He asked us several times if we wanted an upgrade... however, we took the Fiat in the spirit of adventure. So, ladies and gents, I give you our tiny Fiat...

We cracked jokes the entire trip regarding the car. We even used an Italian accent when speaking for the car. We compared it to a clown car and laughed about it all week. We were elbow to elbow in that thing and my suitcase took up the "trunk". Brad's bag and everything else had to go in the "backseat". It was quite interesting. 

Later in the trip, we came up with an idea... you may have seen this Smart Car picture floating around the internet for a while:

 

Well, Brad borrowed a toy car from his 2nd cousin Hope and staged this one. We like to call it "Are you my father??"

Once we were on the road, we made the 45 minute trip to our first destination, Colonial Williamsburg. I have my friend Kara D to thank for this part of our trip. I wasn't familiar with it until she mentioned it on her blog a while back. After researching it further, I was very excited about going there. I found a GREAT Bed & Breakfast and we headed there to get checked-in. It is called The Fife & Drum Inn and I highly recommend it. Although it was a little hard to find!! It is on the top level of some shops and the sign was very tiny - but we will just call it "tucked away". 

The blue door in the center is the front door of the B&B. It opens to a staircase. The B&B runs the length of the upstairs in this picture

Cute entrance to our room. (Yes- that is a fake Virginia ham hanging by the door.)

Cute sign in our room.

Yes- the bed was so high, I had to use that stool!

We had a private entrance to a shared porch.

This B&B is in a great location since it is within walking distance to the Colonial area. So, after getting checked-in and grabbing some lunch, we headed that direction. For those of you not familiar with Colonial Williamsburg, it is a huge area of the city that has been preserved and functions just as it did in Colonial times.  Almost all of the buildings are original and there are people that work and live there just as they did then. It is really a fascinating place. 

Tired Brad in front of a beautiful scene.

Ladies in the market.

Pretty gardens everywhere!

Main area of the town - the Governor's Palace.

We went on a tour of the house belonging to Peyton Randolph in 1721 to 1775. Mr Randolph was the first president of the Continental Congress. There were many influential and famous people in and out of this house as visitors. Our tour guide was dressed and talked as if she were living in the 1700's.

We roamed around for a couple of hours and had fun.

They caught us!

As we walked around, we began hearing drums. As they got closer, we saw a Fife & Drum parade! Everyone started following them as they made their way through town.

Here they come!

They were quite good!

(Video link in blog for those receiving this via email.)

A couple of days later, over breakfast, our B&B owner would tell us more about the group. Apparently they are very hard core and serious about their jobs. It is considered a great honor to be part of the group and they practice constantly. They hold their members to a very high standard (we were told of one young man kicked out for cussing). College scholarships are awarded to the members and it is a very big deal. They are invited to parades and shows all over the country.

Eventually the lack of sleep and long travel day caught up to us. After a really yummy dinner out, we turned in early so we could see EVERYTHING possible the next day!!

What a year...

That's right folks, the blog is back! And what better way to start back up than to celebrate my one year anniversary with my wonderful husband! I can't believe it has been a year since... 

So, how did we celebrate this occasion? We traveled, of course! Since before we were married, we knew where we would spend our first anniversary - Virginia and Washington D.C. You may ask, why? There were several reasons... 1) our anniversary coincides with Cherry Blossom season, 2) I have never been to Virginia or DC and 3) Brad has family there that I hadn't met yet! (His Uncle and Aunt were at our wedding but due to new babies and other family obligations, his cousins and families weren't able to attend.) 

In typical A&B fashion, as we planned this trip, it became bigger and bigger. (You may remember the honeymoon that went from 10 days to 20?) By the time the trip was upon us, we had crammed in Colonial Williamsburg, an amusement park, family time and multiple tours in DC all into one week. So, without further delay... our trip begins.