DJ and Nowell's
Excellent Williamsburg Adventure

October, 2007

We took a few days off after work to explore the Historic Triangle... Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. We also took a day off and went to Busch Gardens, VA and bought flowers (a story in itself). Here are the photos of the trip.

(As usual, click on the little picture to see the BIG picture.)

Jamestown Settlement and Historic Site
The place where it all started. in 1607, before the Mayflower Pilgrims were even a thought, 3 ships with 104 men and boys landed at Jamestown. (Of course it wasn't Jamestown back then. It was a future parking lot for an Indian 7/11) The Settlement is a museum and recreation center devoted to telling the truth about the landing and why the English were coming over here.

The three ships that took the trip.

This fellow is teaching how speedometers worked aboard sailing ships.

This fellow was the most entertaining and informative guy we met in the entire trip. He really made the period understandable.

("Do the Math... Who was first? 1607 or 1620?)


The Susan Constant. The biggest of the three ships.

The Union Jack is a combination of the English Flag which is the white one with the red cross and the Scottish flag which is the blue one with the white x.

The Discovery. A little ship.

John Smith.
(If you read the accounts of all the English landings, almost all of them were led by guys named John.)

What an archeological site looks like at Jamestown.

A little QuickTime movie that gives you an idea of how these fellows teach. Everybody is really good.

The tag on the bucket.

A clipboard with notes about the find.

From the 300th Anniversary memorial.
 
The view down river. They picked the spot because of the ability to defend it from the Spaniards.
 
The 1 acre settlement.
 
The Virginia Living Museum
DJ will not be eclipsed by Bruce. She found this place and it was quite cool. Play the movie and listen to the coyotes and other critters act up after the fire truck went by with the siren wailing.

Something I would never do is pet a crab. (Heck... I wouldn't even pet a penguin.)

The "Lion in Winter".

The "Coyotes Gone Wild!" movie.

She really liked the weird fish.

A little later he craned his neck all the way to the other side.

Not sure what she is about to do to him.

Keep your hands to yourself.

She is watching a beaver try and eat a post.

What things like feathers and fish scales look like under a microscope.
Williamsburg
Is there anyone our age who doesn't have a Williamsburg Trip story to tell about a family vacation gone terribly wrong? I have one and DJ does, too. This trip went fine. If we had been able to shove the flutes up the little kids backsides then it would have been better. Alas, we were outnumbered by families making their own awful memories. We took solace in the fact that the kids were being as emotionally scarred as we were. 

An Ashley sized Pipe Organ.

For those decorating times when a chamber sized pipe organ is simply too overwhelming.

Ummmm. oyster Jell-O!

Ok, Nowell made the album.
 
A little George Washington goes a long way in Williamsburg.

A little QuickTime movie for you harpsichord fans.
 
Abigail Rockefeller Museum of Ordinary Things
This place is really cool. You have to enter through a restored mental hospital, leave all your worldly possessions in a locker, walk through a tunnel and then find yourself in a museum where it is OK to take photos!

You've just gotta love this place!


Hey Barry... the bagpipe player is on the right... Blow Me!

The Joe Huston Family
You didn't know that the Huston family has its roots in the South.
Here they are: Jen,  Joe and Seren, and Todd in drag.

 

Yorktown
The town is unspectacular. Sorry, Yorktown, but that's the way it is. The battlefield is equally unspectacular for something as important as it is. The best thing about the place and the reason for going is to try the ham biscuits at the Carrot Restaurant. Oh, eat the coconut pie, too. Out of this world good.
   
The Yorktown Battle Field
   
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
A public "Thanks!" to August Busch and his company. You do a great job! Thanks for letting us use our yearly passes to go to all of your parks. We dropped a couple of hundred dollars which you wouldn't have received otherwise. And, we had a really nice time. The shows were outstanding. The Halloween theme was very entertaining. All in all, a great day at "Boo-sch Gardens"!

This guy play (DJ caught the typo. I said it was because the guy is from the South and he talked funny.) a Taylor and taught me I could finger style and use a pick, too.

(By the way, do you know what the plural of y'all is?

It is: all y'all.)


Antonio gets his own page. Click the photo to see him in action.

These folks did a lot of different shows.

Singing and dancing their way into our hearts.

He has made my website and my email signature.

I still don't know how sax players do it in smoke.
Berkeley Plantation
This is a "working" plantation. It is also the site of the first "Official" Thanksgiving Celebration in the New World. (I've never really trusted Pilgrims. Come to think of it, I've never really trusted too many things that originated in Massachusetts either.)  The Pilgrims weren't even close to the first settlers in America and the Indians saved (much to their chagrin) many other settlements way before the Mayflower even laid keel. (The best that can be said of the Pilgrims is that they had thee better PR department)
 
Not to mention that you've gotta love a place that is the birthplace of bourbon whisky in America.
 

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