When the wind and rain died down from our visiting Florence, and before the marina’s yard and access flooded, we went to Colonial Williamsburg. Not crowded at all… probably because sane people were worried about flooding or whatever. But an absolutely beautiful day!
The pictures above and right below are the Governor’s Palace. Very opulent, and not a good way to win the hearts of colonists who resented all the money the English King was trying to squeeze out of them. They also made a big deal about how well fortified the palace was, with many walls amazingly weaponized. But a beautiful building and grounds…
Williamsburg has a lot of wonderful buildings and period props, but what makes it really special is the great folks working there. They are in period costume, and in period mindset. If they ask you where you are from, and you reply “Colorado”, they look all puzzled and say they’ve never heard of it.
There are all kinds of trades being practiced, and you can watch and ask questions – it’s fascinating to learn how things were done.
Below is a shoemaker. We heard the difference between a shoemaker and a cobbler – a cobbler is not in the same league as a shoemaker… he doesn’t make shoes, he repairs them. “Cobbles them together”. In the shoemaker’s shop, we also saw three lovely young ladies who (I think) were on a homeschool tour.
A silversmith showed us how his craft worked, and as an example, the making of a spoon. We had a sit down conversation on “current” events with a lawyer.
The capitol building is awesome, and a ways behind it is the gaol, or jail. I understand one way to beat jail time if you were convicted of theft or murder, was to be branded on your hand with a “T” or “M”, and run out of town. While this would be painful, the worst part is you would never be trusted in any other place in the colonies. In an era when checking on a person’s credentials was impossible from a distance, this was a way to insure baddies couldn’t do harm elsewhere.
Looks like we got in trouble too, and had to spend some time in the Stocks. I have pictures of my Dad in these same Stocks years ago!
This is a fire engine, which pumps from a reservoir of about 100 gallons that we filled with a bucket brigade. Four people on each side pump up and down on the handles, and the guy on top aims the nozzle. They said the goal was not so much to put out the fire, but to keep it from spreading to neighboring structures.
I loved the “cars”, even if only 2 horsepower.
And of course there are dozens of quaint shoppes. I love Chocolate, but not enough to buy (or buy for my daughter) this history of Chocolate.
The King’s Arms served us a great meal, made all the better by the very witty and fun waiter. Finished up with a fine Bread Pudding. Fabulous!
