Friday, April 20, 2012
We spent the morning walking through colonial Williamsburg ... I used to think, in my younger days, that I would make a good early pioneer woman.  No more !  I like my creature comforts too much.

This is for Cathy ... and, no, we didn't stay for this.

On the walk from the Visitor's Center, there were neat medallions in the walkway, like the one below.

The entrance to the Great Hope Plantation, where there were actors to talk about life during the colonial time.

These two pictures are inside the smoke house.

We found the kitchen, but NO microwave !

Sawing planks for buildings ... he is above a deep pit and there is a man below pulling on the saw blade by its handle.  Actually goes pretty fast.  However, in the colonial period, the plantations would buy their boards from a lumber yard that had them sawed .... much like today. The slaves are who made the plantation owners wealthy and gave them a comfortable life.

This picture is for Brenda ... and, yes, he is a live pig on the plantation.

Beautiful gardens at the Governor's Palace .... this was part of the "upper crust" of the people in the community, obviously.

The front of the Governor's Palace and what a beautiful day it was !

A crypt in the churchyard ... the church is still functioning and is not part of the foundation.

Inside the church, and one of the members who gave tours.

 An affable older gentleman who gave a demonstration on carding and spinning wool.  This was quite interesting, to me, with all the knitting I have been doing lately.

This is one of the approximately 100 homes in Colonial Williamsburg that is still a private residence.  They don't have many backyard barbeques and can't put in a swimming pool !

After leaving here, and on the way to Washington DC, we decided to stop in Fredericksburg to see some history about the Civil War.

Part of the diorama showing what Fredericksburg looked like after the battle in the city.

Chatham, which was used as a hospital during the Civil War ... and was visited by Lincoln.

Catalpa trees at Chatham, which were alive during the Civil War !

It was getting late, so we had to head on to Washington DC.  Will have to save the rest of the battlefields for another trip. Took lots more pictures, but didn't want to overload everyone .....