Colonial Williamsburg Peninsula, Virginia

From Washington D.C. we travelled south to the Colonial Williamsburg peninsula in eastern Virginia. We camped at the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center which was a fine facility. From there we made day trips to some impressive historic sites.
Historic Jamestown is called the ‘birthplace of America’. 400 years ago, in 1607, the first permanent British settlement in North America was established there. The 104 men and boys that sailed across the Atlantic in three ships built a fort at that location. The area was originally inhabited by Powhatan natives. Chief Powhatan was the father of the famous Indian girl named Pocahontas. It was very interesting to discover more about her story there, and also the life of Captain John Smith. We saw an active archaeological dig site, and also many artifacts that were unearthed at Jamestown. It was a really neat place, especially with its special position in history.

Our next visit was to the Yorktown Battlefield. Here was the last major battle of the American Revolution, occurring on October 19, 1781. Britain’s Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington, and established the groundwork for America’s true independence from England. The mock-up of a naval ship in the Visitor Center was interesting, although being only one-fifth of the ship’s actual size made it quite ‘fun’ for Allan to go through.

We saved Colonial Williamsburg for our last location to tour. Having seen so many reconstructed historic sites, it was nice to see a town with a great number of original buildings in it. In the Capitol building we learned how colonial government was run, and also some of the grievances that the colonies had against the mother-country of England. The Courthouse indicated how people were tried in that day. We also visited the ammunition magazine, a milliner’s shop, the blacksmith, silversmith, foundry, weaver, apothecary, taverns, and original homes of famous and influential people. Probably the most impressive for me was going into the Bruton Parish Church, which has had continuous services since 1715; there we got to sit in George Washington’s and Thomas Jefferson’s personal pews. Will we ever live up to the greatness of such men? A thought-provoking idea as we wrapped up our tour of the Williamsburg peninsula.