Home again!

We're back home! The last two days of the week were spent at Fort Pocahontas all day. I do hope to get a post up here about those days as well - after we get a little unpacking done! Today we'll be doing lots of laundry and unpacking - as well as cooking and repacking, as tomorrow us kids head out again for the CHEO convention in Ohio this weekend... Oh, and hopefully we'll get a few minutes out in the garden before we leave as resembles a wild prairie more than a garden right about now! :-)

Thursday

In the morning Dr. Jehle led us on a mini-tour of Historic Jamestowne Island that was wonderful! You all need to listen to the audio of that one... In the afternoon we drove over to Jamestown Settlement - the more "touristy" area that has been recreated to look like the old town. Here are a few pics, and then I need to hit the pillow! Tomorrow and Saturday will be big days! Good night!


The old church - on the other side of the building is the original 1647 church tower. AND, just this week, archaeologists think they have found the foundation of the original wooden church that was one of the first structures built by the Jamestown colonists.

The ruins of an old foundation.


The Rev. Hunt monument.

The Princess Pocahontas who later became Lady Rebecca Rowlfe

John Smith looks out over the James River

Over in Jamestown Settlement - a reproduction of a church like the early colonists worshiped in.

Evin, Josiah, and Stuart try on some 17th Century armor!

The Susan Constant

Winston tried on the armor, too. I think it was a bit too heavy for him yet....

Wednesday

Today we spent the day entirely in Colonial Williamsburg. There is so much to see and do there, that one day just isn't quite enough! We had group admission tickets, but then spent the day scattered all over the town (it's a couple of blocks deep about 1 mile long). Here are some pictures of what some of us saw and did:

Bruton Parish Church


The Powder Magazine (where they kept all the military supplies). [Above & below pics]




The Capitol Building




The Governor's Palace & Gardens





Many shops....








And look who welcomed us back home: The Patriot Lamp!

A piece of art in the Hill's hotel room window!

Tuesday - Part Two

Well, it is after the session... about 24 hours afterwards, but hey - here we are!

Like I said, we spent yesterday morning at the home Patrick Henry lived in from 1771-1778, Scotchtown. It is called Scotchtown, because it was originally a sort of "manor house" for a settlement of Scotch immigrants. The settlement never really came to fruition as many of them died of disease and some other issues came up (if I remember correctly...) Anyhow, eventually the house had to be sold to pay some debts, and Mr. Henry picked it up at an incredible deal.

We had to divide into 4 groups to tour the home, and some had better tour guides than others, but overall they were very good. Our tour guide was excellent and very excited about Henry, his character as a man, and his family, the Great Awakening and more! We could have spent lots of time with her, but we had to get on our way to Monticello.



After a gorgeous drive through the Virginia countryside, we made it to Monticello with just moments to spare.

We got our group tickets and then headed over to the shuttle that would take us up the Little Mountain to the Monticello house.

Monticello is just a very fascinating and lovely residence built by a very brilliant and unique man. And the grounds, the gardens and the view are just absolutely incredible!

While we were there, the weather was absolutely beautiful, but as we made our way back down the mountain to our vehicles, the clouds began to roll in and the thunder started rumbling and raindrops started falling... We're so grateful that the Lord held them back until as we left.

The walking path down the mountain back to the parking lot takes visitors past the Jefferson family graveyard - where is buried Thomas Jefferson himself. It is a lovely path and if you ever visit Monticello, if you have the time, take the walk!

Tuesday - preview!

I'm sitting here in the Williamsburg Lodge listening to Mr. Phillips and Dr. Foster, but wanted to take advantage of the internet connection to post up a few pictures from today. So, here are a quick couple from the Carlson's camera... I don't have our camera with me so I don't have those pictures, more later!

Our first stop of the day was Patrick Henry's home - Scotchtown.


The afternoon was spent at Monticello.

More after the session....

Monday

Our morning started on the banks of the James River - just outside of Jamestown, at "Archer's Hope" where the Jamestown settlers first landed. Although the men who landed there recommended it as a place to settle, it wasn't conducive for the larger vessels, so they choose Jamestown, instead. As we stood/sat there along the beach with several hundreds of others, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Potter, Dr. Jehle, Col. Eidsmoe and Dr. Foster welcomed us to the quadricentennial celebration.

During Mr. Phillips introductory comments, he began describing to us that day and the events of the first landing. While we listened, three boats came around a bend in the river and we saw for ourselves what that historic moment may well have looked like and heard the words that were spoken. How inspiring it is to hear of men who brought with them such a vision for Christ's kingdom and dominion.

Jeremy, Sara, and family, on the banks of the James River.

Ah, yes. Nothing like a nap...

We brought our morning to a close "tailgating" lunch on site at Archer's Hope.

Our afternoon saw us in old Colonial Williamsburg for a mini-tour. In two hours we were only able to touch on a couple of people and places of significance in the town, but what we heard was very good - and our guides were kind enough to seek out shady areas for us to sit as we listened to them! :-)

Yes, we are in Virginia in mid-June. The heat has not been too bad - though the sun is very hot and many have some fairly rosy skin... and there is definitely a humidity factor. But today at least we had a pleasant breeze and overall it wasn't too bad. Thank the Lord!!

As during the morning presentations, some got more out of it than others... :-)

Much of our time was spent sitting on the "green" in front of the Goveror's Palace. We hope to explore the house and gardens more on Wednesday when we have a full day to spend in Williamsburg.

A few familiar faces.

One of our tour guides - Mr. Dan Ford - showed us numerous original documents significant to early America. And Grant Strand was the Resounding Voice representative to record this particular tour.

After Williamsburg, we ended our afternoon on the Yorktown battlefield. We briefly visited the visitor's center, and then visited the field itself upon which the decisive blow was struck by Washington against Cornwallis.


Others took many more pictures than I was able to catch today, so tomorrow - perhaps on our drive out to Patrick Henry's home at Scotchtown - I'll see if I can get some of those really good ones over on this computer and post them later!