By now it seems to me that our school field trip to Virginia was a long time ago. Life starts back up again when you get home - laundry, school, errands, and so on - and a trip quickly gets filed away as something you once did.
On our way to Virginia, we stopped in South Carolina and met Katie and her adorable children. Katie and I have become friends over the last year or so and it was a joy to meet her face-to-face. She is just like she is on her blog - very friendly, sweet, and funny. We shared some FOs and WIPs and compared notes about the Ariann sweaters we're knitting together. Her daughter, AJ, was wearing her new mini-Fetchings and I have to tell you, they were cute, cute, cute and so was she! And Katie's handsome son, DJ, had the most beautiful smile and was out on the playground making friends right and left.
Next we visited Natural Bridge, Virginia. It was a beautiful place and must have been quite the tourist spot in the 1950s. There were lots of attractions nearby that looked like they were once thriving. The most interesting spot was Foamhenge. We didn't visit it, but here's a virtual tour for you. I kind of figured it might be a bit disappointing since I've seen Stonehenge. ;)
Monticello was a wonderful place, too. (In case you're wondering, the "c" is pronounced "ch." I was never sure how to say it until we got there.) Thomas Jefferson certainly put a lot of thought into his house and grounds. In his front room, there were chairs for his visitors to use while they waited on him to come out to see them. He also put maps, pictures, fossils, etc. there to teach his visitors about the world around them. Kind of like homeschooling for guests, since they didn't get out to travel like we do now.
In Colonial Williamsburg, we had a guided tour with a wonderful storyteller. He was animated and very interesting. (He bore a resemblance to Benjamin Franklin and will portray him this month or next in Washington D.C.) That tour really made the place come alive for us. In the afternoon, we were free to see what we wanted, so we headed back to the weaver's shop. I was able to talk with someone about spinning and dyeing. She made spinning look very easy! (The sheep in town are a breed called Leicester Longwool.)
We listened to Thomas Jefferson, but it was hard to hear him once the rain started. And it didn't just rain - it poured. It rained from Wednesday until Saturday. We met with Patrick Henry on Saturday morning (fantastic!) and the weather was beautiful in the afternoon. (If you ever go to Williamsburg, be sure to eat lunch or dinner at one of the taverns in the historic part of town. We ate at the King's Arms Tavern and the food was delicious!)
The next stop was Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne. The settlement was a re-creation of the original site and included historical interpreters. (The person demonstrating how to fire the gun was especially popular.) The actual site is at Historic Jamestowne and it wasn't unearthed until 1994. You could see the original fort site and re-creations of the foundations of the town that grew up near it. There were also ruins from a mansion built in the 1800s (I think). The museum was really interesting, too. It was built over the foundation of the statehouse and you can see the foundation through the floor of the museum.
The trip also included a visit to Busch Gardens. It sprinkled in the morning, but the rain came pouring down after lunch. I'm not a big amusement park fan anyway, so I caught a ride back to the hotel with another family. S and E stayed and had fun. We did get rainy day passes since things had shut down, but we didn't go back. (E wanted to go back very badly, but she did end up having fun being in Williamsburg again.)
My favorite thing of the trip was experiencing all the history of the place. Getting to see Monticello, Williamsburg, and Jamestown - well, it all overlapped and everything seemed to fit into place. For example, when the statehouse in Jamestowne burned down, the capitol moved to Williamsburg. We were able to see both places and got a feel for how things happened. And seeing and hearing about Thomas Jefferson in Monticello and then in Williamsburg gave us a sense of part of his life.
I didn't even think to look up yarn shops. Isn't that strange? (I did buy some beautiful wooden buttons at a shop in Colonial Williamsburg.) I met some knitters outside our hotel and we talked about Ravelry, blogging, etc. One was knitting a sock for her husband and the other was knitting a scarf. They told me about a yarn shop, but by then it was too late to go look it up. That's probably for the best anyway. :)
My next post will be about the swap package I've received from Yarn Yenta. The theme of the swap was Movie Night and there were some neat things to go along with the theme. This was a fun round of Lynne's Special Swap.
