Day 7: Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

Today we had a continental breakfast and then walked back to Williamsburg. Our first stop was a tour of the Governor’s gardens, then we continued on to see the Wheelwright’s shop and the livery stable. Our next stop landed us at the Governor’s Mansion and we joined a tour of the inside. We saw the parlor, kitchen, the entrance hall and several rooms on the second floor. The thing I noticed the most was how bright and colorful all the rooms and the décor were. I had always thought they only had drab colors. These rooms could grace the cover of any Architect’s Digest. Back downstairs were entertained by a gentleman playing a viola in the ballroom where we learned about the importance of dancing the Minuet correctly. The tour proceeded in to the dining room where the feasts of the day were described to us.
Afterwards we were led out into the rear gardens where there was an actor portraying Patrick Henry and he was in the process of giving a speech. He was riveting and kept our rapt attention for over an hour. We were so impressed that we immediately walked over to the “Lumber House” to get tickets for the 2:00pm showing to hear him and Thomas Jefferson debate but the show was sold out. We also tried to get tickets for the evening performance of the re-enactment of “Cry Witch” about the trial of a Virginia witch, but it was sold out as well and so was that evenings “Ghosts & Legends” tour. However, we were able to get a couple of tickets to see Dean Shostak play Benjamin Franklins glass armonica.

Before the performance we stopped at the Season’s Restaurant and ate lunch in an elegant garden room surrounded by beautiful and exotic plants. I had a breaded chicken breast sandwich with jack cheese and bacon served with southern slaw and ranch dipping sauce. Eric had a thinly sliced roast beef sandwich with jack cheese and shoelace onion rings, which were very tasty. After dining we decided to let our food digest and so we walked to the “market district” where we peeped in at the Toy Shop and the Christmas Store. Finally we made our way back to the Kimball Theater to see the musical presentation unaware of what we would find. We were so impressed with the music that we bought all four of Dean Shostak's CD’s.

After the performance Eric and I walked over to the Birkenstock shoe store and we paid an obscene amount of money ($150) for a great pair of shoes because my feet still hadn’t healed from our New York adventures. Our next stop was Whythe’s Candy (pronounced "With") where I purchased some chocolate covered espresso beans and Eric bought some horehound candy. After the candy store we headed back up Duke of Gloucester Street and stopped into the Saddle maker’s shop, the shoemaker, the millinery, the Courthouse and Bruton Parish Church. At 5:15pm we watched the Drum and Fife Corps again and followed the parade down to the Capitol building. We joined the tour again at the King’s Arms Tavern where we ate dinner.

The exteriors of the houses, and the town thankfully had remained the same since my last visit eight years ago, only the activities had changed.Our last stop before our trek home was to the Human Resources building, on Nicholson Street, to check out if there were any openings for a musician. As we took our stroll back to the hotel the sun was fading in the colorful cloud-dotted sky.

The lanterns lining the streets were lit as weary horses pulling carriages headed back to their pastures,,and the sheep reclined in soft meadows of clover and a serene peacefulness, unknown in our time settled over the land. As we passed the pond and the brook that feeds it we could see American robins and starlings hoping to catch an early evening snack in the lawn. The path led us under a lighted brick overpass where the brook flowed lazily alongside the path. As we came out the other side we were surrounded by lush green woodlands on the left and a lane on the right. The path began to lazily wind ist way upward towards the hotel, which was still not visible through the dense vegetation. As we passed Hope Plantation for the last time were greeted by three cottontail rabbits who emerged from the criss-cross fence to pounce and play in the clover dotted lawn. One even escorted us back to the “Bridge of Time” and said his farewell as we went back to the future and our room and he remained in the past.>