July 2:
Full Day in Williamsburg
Our full day in Williamsburg was a wonderful experience. We got to see Patrick Henry speak, Benedict Arnold take the city and George Washington re-take the city all in one day!
We talked to many local residents and overheard all sorts of gossip and talk of treason. We even attended a meeting of the local slaves and help decide to if they should side with their masters or help the British – not an easy answer with much riding on the outcome.
Daniel assisted some women plucking a pigeon for dinner. Later we walked through one of the mansions and – there was the pigeon Daniel plucked with the same women earlier in the day.
Later that night we enjoyed a “Ghost Walk” tour. We heard 3 different ghost stories as we walked the town with a local villager learning more about the history of Williamsburg and how their daily life was played out on the morals of the day.
Mount Vernon
Our bus driver was wearing his colonial tri cornered hat in honor of our visit. Too soon, we left and began our last leg of our tour. On the way to Washington DC we stopped at Mount Vernon for lunch. What a beautiful house he and Martha had on the Potomac! We enjoyed the tour of the house and grounds. We sat on their porch just thinking how it must have felt those many years ago. We could almost hear Martha calling us to dinner.
Beth, ever the perfect hostess, made sure we all tried peanut soup as we came back to our bus. We all agreed the visit was first rate but it was time to head north- to the capitol of the United States. Before getting to our hotel, we were delivered to the International Spy Museum. This was a hit for all the children; from 8 to 80 we all enjoyed this fascinating place! Daniel got a spy hat- at this point we almost needed a suitcase for the hats!
Again, Beth and our driver had taken our suitcases over to our hotel while we enjoyed the museum. We played – they worked!
