Since I last wrote, many cool things have happened. I'll try to give you the highlights.
We left Stratford Hall on Friday morning aboard a passenger bus and headed for Yorktown. Yorktown is the site of the last battle of the American Revolution. We visited the battlefield, charged the British position (OK, I was the only one who charged the position, but what fun screaming, "Death to the limies" as I ran full-tilt up the embankment), and learned a great deal about the battle.
From there we went to the site of Thomas Nelson's home. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Aside from the cannonball holes in the walls, the most interesting and entertaining moment came when a reenactor spoke with us. He was asking where I hailed from and was shocked to hear that I lived in the unsettled realm of Spanish California, very near the Mission at San Diego. The guy was a lot of fun, and all of us had a good laugh.
Now, I understand that I am not living in reality right now. Everywhere we go, we are met by tour guides and reenactors who give us the same lines they give everyone, but we are the ones who laugh riotously at every colonial joke. We are the ones who are egging on the reenactors and testing their knowledge of history. I am having the time of my life. PJ, I am sure, will have just as much fun.
Our next stop was the surrender field where Lord Cornwallis failed to show for the formal surrender of the British troops. All along the way, we had been forced to watch movies, all of which had Lorne Greene's low, booming voice doing the narration. At Pope's Creek we learned that "February is a nice month to be born." At the Yorktown visitor's center we had another movie, same voice. So, I was doing an impression of the voice (and remember that I never, ever overdo anything, especially jokes) as we pulled up to the surrender field. Lorne Greene greeted us with the unforgettable opening, "This is the place." I don't think any of us heard what he was saying. Our laughter drowned out everything.
The final stop on Friday was Jamestown. Throughout the trip, we have been meeting with many of the foremost scholars of the colonial period. The trend was surpassed when we were greeted by Bill Kelso, the leading archaeologist at Jamestown. See, they thought for the longest time that the original settlement had been lost to the James River, but Kelso went digging, against everyone's admonitions, and found the original walls! So this guy is probably the foremost archaeologist alive today, and he was the one showing us around. We saw a well, dating from about 1608 that still produces potable water. He showed us the bones from a recently discovered gravesite dating to 1608 or 1609. We were enthralled.
After being completely overwhelmed, we stopped at Williamsburg and checked into our hotel. We were on our own for dinner, so a few of us decided to hit one of the "authentic" colonial taverns in the area. The food was great, the music was great, the interpreters (that's what tour guides and reenactors at Williamsburg call themselves) were great. We ate some amazing food and were introduced to the rummer. A rummer was a popular colonial drink consisting of rum, apricot brandy, and peach schnapps on ice with a lime wedge and a cherry. Absolutely amazing.
After a few too many rummers, we decided to call it quits. Saturday was to be the biggest day of the trip, and it was already midnight. OK, they shut down the place and kicked us out. That's why we really left. I hit the bed and dreamed of what was to come.
I don't want to make this too long, so I'll save Saturday's escapades for the next email. Now that I'm at UVA, I'll have much better access to email.
Take care.
Paul
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