Last week our days consisted of relaxing at the campground in the mornings and hitting the road to see the sights in the afternoon. We drove the Colonial Parkway again which has fantastic views along the James River.
The Indians knew the James River as the Powhatan River, the colonists renamed it in honor of their sovereign, James I. It is one of Virginia's longest and broadest rivers. Rising in the Appalachians it flows eastward, often soil laden, 340 miles to the Chesapeake Bay. Its mouth is the world famous Hampton Roads.
The great Indian massacre of March 22, 1622, during which a quarter of the population of Virginia was slain came nearest to Jamestown here in a community known as Archer's Hope.
Along the way we stopped at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center. To experience all that the Revolutionary City has to offer - including live action, theatrical performances, vibrant gardens, guided tours of the original 18th-century buildings, and museums you need an admission ticket. A single day ticket is $39.95 each so we decided it was to rich for us. I have seen old buildings before and didn't want to spend that much to see these.
Here is a view just outside the visitor center.
Another day we headed back up the Colonial Parkway this time stopping at Historic Jamestown Visitor Center. Now this is a National Park, which we entered for free with our "Old Timers Pass".
In the visitor center there were exhibits and a informative video. The walking tour of the historic town site includes Old Towne and New Towne. Old Towne has the site of the 1607 James Fort, the remains of the 1600s Church Tower, and the 1907 Memorial Church.
Nearby is the Jamestown Settlement which we saved for another day. Hey, we're retired and we don't want to work hard touring everything in one day.
A day or so later we returned to the Jamestown Settlement which is administered by the Commonwealth of Virginia. (That means they charge a fee and our National Park Pass would not get us in.) This time the fee wasn't that bad and only cost us $13.50 with our senior discount. Although we have been to the settlement a few years ago we decided to enter.
In the visitor center we saw an introductory film describing how the settlers left from England, their route of travel, and their arrival up the James river to the settlement.
In the gift shop there was an extremely talented entertainer, Timothy Seaman, playing the Dulcimer. (A stringed instrument of trapezoidal shape played with light hammers held in the hands.) The music was so relaxing we could have stayed there all day just listening to him play. I believe he was there all day because when we returned to the gift shop after our tour he was still playing.
You can check out Timothy Seaman on his web site: www.timothyseaman.com.
Several times a day there is a 90-minute guided tour of the outdoor living-history areas, where costumed historical interpreters describe and demonstrate activities of early 1600s Virginia. We decided just to wander around by ourselves.
The first stop was the Powhatan Indian Village. This depicts culture of coastal Virginia's original inhabitants with re-creations of reed covered houses, ceremonial circle, and crop fields.
Next we walked to the riverfront area where a re-creation of the three ships that sailed to Virginia in 1607 were. We were able to board and tour the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.
Susan Constant
The Susan Constant was the flagship and largest of the three ships that brought the first permanent English settlers to America in 1607.
While anchored in the River Thames near Limehouse, it was involved in a minor collision with another vessel which led to a case in the High Court of Admiralty. The resulting court records were used to assist in determining the size of this re-creation. The original was probably built in 1605 and almost certainly built on the River Thames near London. Soon after the Jamestown colony was planted, the Susan Constant returned to England, continuing its career as an ordinary trading vessel.
We watched these two girls furling up the sails for the night on one of the ships. They did have on a protective harness, but the old time seamen didn't have that advantage.
This sign shows the route they sailed from England to America.
Continuing our walk we arrived at the James Fort. It represents 1610 -1614 time period with thatched-roof houses, storehouse, court of guard and church inside a triangular palisade.
Back at the visitor center we listened to Timothy Seaman again for a while before we headed back to the camper.
On one of our rides around the area we came upon the Presidential Park, very large busts of all the United States Presidents. It has been closed for quite a while, the busts are in disrepair and the area is overgrown.
We found one of the gates with a broken lock so we entered the park to check it out.
All the presidents were their from Washington to George W Bush. At each bust was a sign describing who they were, what they accomplished during their presidency, and famous quotes.
I was very interesting but I guess they didn't have enough activity to stay open.
On another one of our rides we headed to Newport News to check out the Shipbuilding. We crossed the James River Bridge and on the way back across Bev took these pictures from the car window.
We really enjoyed this area and will return on our way back to Connecticut in the spring. There is so much to see and do there is never a dull moment. We also like the fact that there are so many restaurants in the area. Did I mention that we like to eat out.
Just click on the photos to enlarge.
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