Jamestown~1607

The kids didn't have school yesterday so I took the day off work and took them to Jamestown. Jamestown is located about an hour away, in the charming city of Williamsburg. Oh how I love Williamsburg! Another beautiful place added to my list of beautiful places I could see myself living here in Virginia! We didn't even scratch the surface of Williamsburg, but plenty of time to do that later. The drive was beautiful with all the trees changing. I missed a couple exits because I was busy snapping the camera! So we went and had a jolly good time, although it was 50 degrees and felt a tad chilly. I kept telling the kids this is nothing compared to Utah's chill in order to help ease their coldness but it didn't help much. We watched a movie about the founding of Jamestown and learned about Sir Thomas Dale, amongst others. I have a nephew named Thomas Dale, my maiden name is Dale, so this struck me as particularly interesting. He sailed to Jamestown in 1611 in an effort to help the failing colony. He was governor for some time and did help quite a bit. Later he sailed back to England, got a fever, and died. Any relation Dad?

We walked through a couple museums, explored three recreated ships, had fun in the Powhatan Village, and walked through the colonial village. I had a wondeful time imagining what it was like to live at that time, how hard life was for the early settlers. They struggled for a long time, at one point starving to death. They would eat whatever they could find-their dogs, their shoes, and even dug up bodies that had been freshy buried and eat them. They were desparate, and finally at one point were ready to pack up and head back to England. But new people were sent over from England, including some women, who helped whip that place into shape and eventually things got better, and here we are today. We also learned about the Africans in Jamestown, how they got here, and the influence they had on the colony. Leaves me wanting to learn so much more, and leaves me feeling extremely grateful for those who have gone before us and feeling so sad for the slaves. I could see the compassion the kids had towards them also as we looked at a recreation of what the slave quarters looked like, how they had to sleep on the hard ground with just a blanket, how they worked so hard all day long and were only in their quarters long enough to concoct a quick meal out of the scraps they were given and then go to sleep. The kids not only had an educational time but a fun time and I soaked it all in as they repeatedly told me thank you for taking them (a mother just can't hear that enough). The highlight for them was the gift shop, of course! We bought a few treasures, had lunch at McDonald's, then headed back home. It was a wonderful way to spend my anniversary, even though it wasn't with Ryan. He was busy at school suturing pigs feet, but we hooked up later.







They made beds on top of cargo-how would you like to sleep on barrels?

Gwen pretending to wretch over the side

Learning about ship life


Pierce's favorite part-this man taught us about maps, how the early settlers knew where they were going, and how to be a human sundial.




herb garden


Burning out a log with hot coals to make a canoe

They'd use oyster shells to scrape out the logs, only then the oyster shells were the size of dinner plates!





Arrowheads, of which Pierce is obsessed

Grinding corn


Cornmeal patties

Soup made of pumpkin, green beans, and turkey

Gretel fanning the coals with turkey feathers


Colonial Parkway is a beautiful drive


Came home and took a nap on the sofa bed. Ahhhh!