DAYS 27 & 28 -- COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG & YORKTOWN

                    DAYS 27 & 28 -- COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG & YORKTOWN 

            We were lucky that Janet managed to get us a reservation at the Williamsburg Lodge, right on the edge of Colonial Williamsburg, given the nice weather (sunny and low 80s) and a big arts festival in town for the weekend. The Uber ride took about 45 minutes, including the waiting time, and we arrived at the Lodge a bit after noon. After checking in we walked into Colonial Williamsburg and found a place to eat in Chowning's Tavern (a recreation of a mid-18th century tavern without having to wait too long. 

            It turns out that most of the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg are recreations, and the history of how the whole thing happened is interesting. Wikipedia has a good article on this, but in a nutshell, the Rector of the Episcopal church in town (which really was old) saw the potential for recreating what Williamsburg was like back in its heyday as the capital of Virginia before the Revolution and got David Rockefeller to agree with him. Even though much of it is recreated, they did a nice job, and it was an enjoyable visit. 

            We saw a recreation of the old state capitol building (with an enthusiastic tour guide giving a good talk about colonial government over the cries of restless little ones) and the real home of Peyton Randolph, who was a major figure in the early stages of the Revolution (he was president of the first and third Continental Congresses) but died late in 1775. The guides at the Randolph house made it a point to explain how the Randolph family (Peyton and his wife, who was a Harrison, and occasional nieces and nephews) and their 27 slaves used and lived in the house and its outbuildings, which was eye-opening. 

            After enough history we went back to the Lodge, cleaned up, had a cocktail, and walked into the commercial area for a lovely French dinner at the Blue Talon Bistro. They had computer issues, so the latter part of the meal was delayed, but fortunately our bottle of Sancerre came on time, so we were happy watching the semi-chaos of the staff trying to figure out how to run the place with pencil and paper. 

            We set the alarm on Sunday so that we would be sure to make the 9:15 service at Bruton Parish, the oldest parts of which date back to 1715. An usher recommended that we sit up in the balcony in the back to get a good view of everything, which was fun, although the stairs were steep and narrow. 

            After church we had brunch at the Lodge, then took a short bus ride to a flintlock shooting range, which I had signed up for the previous day. There were only two other shooters, so I got an instructor all to myself. I got to take six shots from a standard British military musket (sometimes called "Brown Bess") and six shots from a typical colonial fowling piece. Both were reproductions, but otherwise authentic. Very interesting to learn how they worked and felt in action. Our instructors were very good at giving history and context as well as ensuring good gun safety. 

            After shooting we took an Uber to the Yorktown battlefield and spent over an hour listening to a Ranger talk, watching the movie, and exploring the museum. We didn't walk the battlefield, but instead walked into town for an early dinner at a local pub right on the beach, which was very popular spot on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We watched the end of the U.S. Open and then took an Uber back to the boat. 

                                    

            The last highlight of the day is that we were able to get the Sunday NYT and the Washington Post at the Williamsburg Inn! We will have plenty of reading and puzzles to keep us busy this week. 

            The plan for this coming week is to work our way up the bay to meet our friends Dave and Sue in Annapolis on Friday morning, and we'll cruise with them over the coming weekend. Between now and then we to spend Monday at Smith Island, Tuesday at St. Mary's City, Wednesday at Solomons, and Thursday at St. Michaels. The Bay should be relatively calm according to the NOAA forecast.