Kanapaha Botanical Gardens Field Trip

Our October field trip was to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful weather and our group had a great guide. I think that Rosemary and Charlotte enjoyed the morning there. Ben was in school so he missed out on the trip.

Colonial Williamsburg-Day 7 & 8

Day 7

We wrapped up all we wanted to see on our last full day in Williamsburg.

My mom met up with some friends so my dad stayed with us as we walked over to Great Hopes Plantation.

Handsome Ben.

Getting some video

Looking towards the slave quarters.

We checked out the pigs too

From there we walked towards the Palace Green. It had transformed overnight into a military encampment to reenact the days before the Battle of Yorktown. Reenactors from various states came to participate.

Some of the tents on the green.

Kids playing on the field.

A few Native American interpreters were there, too.

Rosemary brought her camera the last day so she was snapping lots of photos.

I think this group was from North or South Carolina.

Lots of tents. I’m pretty sure the reenactors actually stayed in the tents for the weekend, which would have been cold the next night! But how fun would that be?

We had brought lunches again for the kids and Jonathan and my dad went up to The Cheese Shop to get the last sandwiches of our trip. Jonathan and I both got something different this time (every other time we’d basically gotten the same sandwich, just on different types of bread). I got corned beef, Jonathan had salami. While they were good, we both still liked the roast beef with the house dressing best. I mean, we must, we ate it 3 times that week. We definitely got our Cheese Shop fix this trip.

While they were getting lunch, I watched the kids as they ran around on the green. We saw a changing of the guard at the Wythe House.

I think this was one of the visiting groups.

And I got this photo of a not-so-historically-accurate-moment of a reenactor taking a picture with his phone.

While waiting, we met Polly. Rosemary asked to have her picture taken with her. She gave Rosemary a heart shaped rock.

Did you know they had cell phones in colonial times?

After lunch we caught another fife and drum march. The kids really loved this. When we heard the music from one of the videos we took when we got back home, both Rosemary and Ben got quite excited.

A quick pic of me and Jonathan as we made our way to the children’s chores and games area.

Rosemary attempted to carry water, but the ropes were a bit too long so she couldn’t quite get it off the ground.

Ben enjoyed looking through the toys and played this plate game where they tossed a bean bag back and forth.

Some of the various games.

Rosemary helped to get the dried corn off the cobs. The husks were used to make dolls. The corn would then be ground.

Ben playing on a little drum.

Rosemary hauled some firewood in the wheelbarrow. It was a bit difficult, so Ben came over to help.

After that, we headed back to the Visitor’s Center. Ben and Rosemary both bought one more thing – some more artillery for Ben’s army set and a Jamestown settlers set for Rosemary.

Then we headed back to the condo for dinner and started to pack up. We planned on leaving pretty early the next morning to get home at a good time.

Day 8

I didn’t end up sleeping well the last night so when it was time to get ready, I was pretty tired. But we got the kids packed up and all of our stuff then started home. We hit some pretty awful rain in Virginia and part of North Carolina. It was the first day that it was actually cold while we were there. The other days had been in the upper 70s and low 80s.

We listened to The Penderwick’s and Mary Poppins on our way home. I slept. Jonathan drove. We stopped in Georgia and had dinner with my mom and dad at Taco Bell before getting back to Gainesville later that night.

The trip was so fun. We had full days but weren’t worn out at the end of our trip. I think the kids really enjoyed themselves, too. They are still talking about their trip and playing with the toys they bought while there. We look forward to many more trips like this.

Colonial Williamsburg-Day 6

On Friday we headed back to the Duke of Gloucester street to finish up the major sites that we hadn’t gotten to yet. Our first stop that day was the magazine.

Inside we learned that when Governor Dunmore had the British marines remove the gunpowder, he was actually removing British gunpowder that was probably pretty old. British barrels were marked with a red arrow.

Little Charlotte wanted to come upstairs this time rather than wait outside.

She came up and sat like such a big girl

From there we walked across the street to the Courthouse.

Outside the Courthouse there was another reenactment that we watched.

We still had a few trade shops we hadn’t visited. Our kids had never seen a blacksmith shop and were looking forward to that so we headed there next.

In addition to the blacksmith’s shop, we also saw a kitchen that would have been used to feed the tradesmen in the area. In the kitchen they were cooking a large pot of stew over the fire.

Outside, they were starting an oven. They would put the wood in the oven and let it burn then remove all the coals before baking the bread. The oven stayed hot enough to bake two batches of bread.

From there (and I don’t know why I didn’t take any pictures of this), we walked back to see Colonial Williamsburg archeologists working on a dig site. It was fascinating to talk with them and to learn about what they do. The man that we talked with said that, “you can’t stick your shovel in the ground here and not turn up something from the 18th century.” How cool is that?

We then headed over the Post Office, Printing Office, and Book Bindery. The bindery was closed, but we were able to peruse the Post Office where Rosemary got to try her hand at quill pen writing before heading down the Printing Office.

We were the only ones there and got a nice little tour. This also tied in with the Johnny Tremain story. Since we were the only ones there, the man there gave Rosemary and Ben small pieces of paper and taught them how to make paper boats. We then went out and floated them down the stream.

Watching the boats

We collected our boats then laid them out in the stroller to dry off.

From there we started to head back to the Palace Green so we could go through the Wythe House. We stopped to get some family photos on the green before we headed inside.

The best we got of the five of us.

And all seven of us.

During our tour of the Wythe House, Ben decided that he had had enough house tours. He whimpered throughout the house then asked at the end if we could be done going through houses where “people talk at us.” I assured him that he didn’t have to go through anymore. He had done quite well with the ones he’d been through in the earlier days.

From here, we grabbed some lunch. Again at The Cheese Shop. But this time we packed the kids’ lunches so it was a bit easier.

After lunch we made our way through more of the trade shops including the weaver, the wheelwright, and the cooper. Charlotte was asleep and spent the afternoon with my parents snoozing in the stroller.

Outside the cooper’s shop.

Ben and Rosemary were very intrigued with the barrel full of goldfish. They found out that the fish were there to help cut down on the mosquitoes.

We also stopped by the military encampment. There we watched a musket and artillery demonstration. The cannon was loud!

Watching all the steps necessary to fire a cannon.

We wrapped up our full day on the grounds behind the courthouse to see the troops and the fife and drum corps.

We headed back to the Visitor’s Center and did a little shopping. The kids picked out some souvenirs. Ben got a Revolutionary War army men set, Rosemary got another dress for Margaret, and Charlotte got a little soft doll named Sarah. Jonathan and I picked out our ornament.

On the way back to the condo, we stopped at Mykonos for some Greek food. After eating, it was dark and we were pretty wiped out. It was a very full day, but by then we had managed to see most of the sites in the area.

Colonial Williamsburg-Days 4 and 5

Day 4

On Wednesday, we headed over the historic area fairly early. We got off the bus at the Capitol and headed over to the Raleigh Bakery to get some hot chocolate and cookies. Jonathan, Rosemary, and I were planning on going to a dance lesson at the Raleigh Tavern that morning so after our snack, we headed there.

I have always thoroughly enjoyed the dance programs in Colonial Williamsburg. I went to one with my dad when I was 17 and Jonathan and I have gone to one as well. I was looking forward to taking Rosemary, but she seemed really overwhelmed by the lesson so we actually didn’t get to dance.

We did learn how to do our courtesies. Here’s Jonathan putting his best leg forward.

The ladies basically just do a plié.

From there we went through quite a few of the trade shops including the silversmith, wigmaker, and milliner.

Next, Rosemary, Ben, my mom and dad, and I went through the Capitol. The exterior was being renovated and was ensconced in scaffolding so I didn’t get any outside shots this trip.

In the Capitol.

Next, we visited the Public Gaol.

Here we learned that jail time was never a punishment for a particular crime. The gaol was used primarily to hold people until their trial.

We ate lunch once again at The Cheese Shop that day then headed back to the condo early. The younger kids napped (and so did I). After dinner that night, my dad and Jonathan took the older kids swimming while my mom, Charlotte, and I went out to the Williamsburg Pottery Outlet. We were disappointed in our shopping trip that night and ended up back at the condo before the guys came back from swimming.

Day 5

Thursday morning we went to breakfast at Mama Steve’s before heading to the outlet malls. The entire crew went, which makes for an interesting shopping day, but we found some good deals for Jonathan and the kids.

Once again we were back at the condo for naps and dinner. Following dinner, Jonathan and I got ready to head back to the historic area for a chamber concert at Bruton Parish Church.

We sat up in the back balcony for the concert. It was about an hour long and featured a harpsichord, organ, and flute.

After the concert, we walked down to The Trellis Restaurant for death by chocolate. We were the last people to be seated so the restaurant was practically empty. It was so decadent and absolutely delicious.