Finally!

We started our Wednesday off at the Jamestown Settlement Museum.  We were so anxious to get going we were the first one's there!

Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the New World.  In 1607, 104 men arrived in Jamestown in search of riches...

Here we are in the Powhatan Indian Village, we were told that they would dance around these posts.  There were no volunteers though.

These huts are made of a frame of saplings and covered with mats of woven grasses.

Doesn't look too bad. 

Inside the fort, which was built in 19 days!  

This was said to be a high ranking officer's quarters...

Not too shabby!

Considering this is where everyone else lived.

A musket demonstration.

This is one of the reed roofs, look at the the thickness!

Two of the three ships in the distance.

One of the Indian canoes, a large tree was burned, down at the base then the center burned out and then shaped by fire.  Pretty ingenious for the time!

This is the Susan Constant, the biggest of the two ships.

The Godspeed

The Discovery, the smaller of the three, was meant to be left for the colonists to use.

There we are aboard the Susan Constant, what a beautiful day!

Below the deck.

How would you like to spend 4 months at sea down here with 54 of your closest "friends"?  This is a bed... sleeping on supplies.

Back on deck.

From the "Poop Deck", you figure it out...

Yorktown Victory Center

Although the 13 American colonies declared their independence from England on July 4, 1776, their dream of freedom from King George III came to fruition here at Yorktown in October 1781, when General George Washington and his French allies won the last major battle on the American Revolution.

Inside one of the homes.

Looks pretty comfy, short, but comfy!

Hanging out with George checking out the constitution.

Inside the museum, I snapped off a few before we heard the "no picture taking" announcement.

There may be something to this!

Outside to the encampment area for a cannon demonstration.

Getting ready...

Check it out!

On to the surgeon's tent, perfect for Halloween, talk about scary!

So, we only got to the Jamestown Settlement Museum and the Yorktown Victory Center.  We missed Historic Jamestown and Historic Yorktown and the Battlefield, maybe next time.  On to Colonial Williamsburg tomorrow!

Home Again, Home Again...

We made it back safe and sound with no problems.  I was expecting a little trouble through the Blue Ridge Mountain with all the snow we had heard they got, but all we saw was a light dusting here and there.

We finally got out to do some sightseeing Wednesday and Thursday, not exactly what we had planned, but good anyway.  We initially had a 7 day pass to Jamestown and Yorktown and a 3 day pass to Colonial Willliamsburg...  We ended up with two days for all three sites, actually 5 sites, Jamestown and Yorktown each have two separate sites.  So, we did what we could cram in...  Pictures to follow! 

Denied!

We made it out today, we didn't see any damage or flooding anywhere.  It was still raining and a little windy but not bad at all, and yet things were closed...

Stu in front of the Jamestown Settlement museum, which was closed.

And here I am in front of the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor's Center, which was also closed, trying to make the best of a rotten situation.

It has since stopped raining and tomorrow should be better. Hopefully things will be open, we only have two full days left, something better be open!

Hunkered Down

So here we are, it's been raining since before we got up yesterday morning.  We haven't been out all day and are bored to tears!  I just noticed that I haven't put any pictures on of the time share, so here we go...

This is the master bedroom.

Master bath.

The guest bedroom, which has the bigger bed.

Kind of hard to tell from this picture, but the wind and rain has picked up.

It's 4 pm right now and I think we are past the worst of the storm (hopefully).  It's still raining and a little wind, but not too bad.  We are hoping that tomorrow is better and we can get out and see some sights.

Awaiting Sandy...

This is what we have had all day so far, just a rainy day, not much wind and just a steady rain.  We'll see what the next few days bring us.

I was stationed at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA back in 1989, seems like forever ago...  Anyway, I came up to Williamsburg quite often since it's only about an hour or so away.  Now, as you can imagine, the colonial part hasn't change much since then, but other wise this is a completely different place!

We did go to Captain George's seafood restaurant for lunch, all you can eat...and we did!

I used to come to the Williamsburg Pottery Barn, it was one big huge building, nothing fancy, for sure.  

Well, it's gotten fancy!

Well, we've got food, water and candles, let's hope we won't need the candles!!

Williamsburg, Day 2

We went to the center of the downtown historic Williamsburg this morning and ran into a farmer's market, lucky us!

We walked away with a bag full of local cheeses...kids in a candy store!

We are still bracing for the storm coming, but were determined to get out and get a little familiar with the area.

It looks cold and blustery, but it's pretty comfortable out.

As we were walking we ran into a group in period costume getting ready to "Storm the Palace".

The Governor's Palace.

The colony's gunpowder was taken during the night by British sailors.  The Williamsburg Independent Company plans to march on the Governor's Palace to demand its return.

Look at that color!

The "Gov" has a pretty nice gate, I told Stu we should get one... 

Check out this tree...

That's a hard life!

This is the courthouse.

I love this time of year!

Beautiful!

Maybe a carriage ride later in the week...

Williamsburg, Virginia

We made it to Williamsburg, Virginia yesterday afternoon.  Just in time to get ready for the big storm coming up the East Coast.  We've got our fingers crossed hoping that it goes out to sea...

Anyway, we are staying at The Historic Powhatan Resort a time share through the Armed Forced Vacation Club.  

We took a walk around the grounds, this is a 270 year old restored manor.

The grounds are beautiful!

That little building is called The Kitchen, it's a restaurant.

The reason we went out was to see the Fife and Drum demonstration.

The outdoor pool looks inviting, it's certainly warm enough.

A stop off at the restaurant/bar on the way back... Now that' a cold beer!

We are going to get out and explore a little bit today, weather permitting.  Our friends Jerry and Sylvia are due to come join us on Sunday, hopefully the weather will cooperate!