Williamsburg

map of the Colonial Williamsburg area

Day one of our 'historic triangle' trip featured Jamestown and Yorktown, respectively. Day two was Colonial Williamsburg.

Colonial Williamsburg is well-known in America. Billed as the world's largest living history museum, it "includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions." (from Wikipedia)

The Colonial area can be viewed as an inverted T, with the governer's mansion, capitol building, and William & Mary University at the three points (clockwise from the top). We started at the mansion, touring that building and grounds before heading south and then east to the capitol building, ducking in various houses with exhibits to see aspects of life from that era along the way. That took a few hours, so we broke for lunch and returned to the capitol building, heading west along the main road (and continuing to visit exhibits) before hitting William & Mary's campus, where we enjoyed some shopping and a quick look at the Wren building. Then it was heading back east on the main road, where we ducked in the church before heading back north past the governor's mansion and got ready for the drive home. Pictures below capture some scenes.

Colonial Williamsburg is a fun place to visit, but can easily be done in a day and should be part of a larger visit to the area. In addition to the historic parts, you might want to visit nearby Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, Norfolk, and other attractions.

Yorktown

We went from Jamestown (yesterday's post) directly to Yorktown, site of the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. After poking our head in the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center, we decided it wasn't worth the price and focused on the battlefield itself. We ambled around for a bit, but (to be candid) there's not much left; a few redoubts and a nice victory monument (which came 100 years later). I got the impression that you had to be really into the battle to understand and enjoy the landscape.

We went west from here to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. They had a nice outdoor exhibit (a farm and recreation of continental army camp). The indoor museum was nice, too, and very similar (in size and layout) to Jamestown's. Like Jamestown, this is billed as a living history museum, and its focus is on the country's founding in general (not just the battle).

We ended the day pretty tired (having driven from our home to Jamestown, seen that, and then to Yorktown). We left the museum as it was closing and headed off to find food and prepare for the next day's adventures.

Jamestown

We visited the Jamestown Settlement (top left), not the historic site

A few weeks ago, we took a short trip to see "America's historical triangle": Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. We did the first two on our first day; this post recounts Jamestown.

On May 14th 1607, at a spot about a mile from where you are standing now, a group of 104 colonists disembarked from three small sailing ships to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America. This settlement, called Jamestown, is where the United States of America really began.

So reads a sign at the Jamestown Settlement museum, where we began our adventure. The museum is small but nice; the real attractions, though, are outdoors: the recreation of a Native American community, the James Fort replica, and two sailing ship replicas, one of which you can board.

Throughout the Fort, there are reenactors who describe various facets of daily life in the seventeenth century.

Note that the real settlement is about a mile away; we didn't visit, as we had heard there wasn't much there. (The capital of Virginia moved to Williamsburg, ten miles away, in 1699, and Jamestown declined rapidly thereafter, eventually reverting to agricultural fields.)

Jamestown is a nice hour or two; I can't see spending much more than that. Then, it was off to Yorktown (tomorrow's post).