Colonial Williamsburg, Day 7

Most of our day Thursday was spent photographing Lily's clothing for her portfolio, so we don't have many details on the colonial side of things today. Lily was a real trooper making countless clothing changes in one day while directing us to backgrounds that she thought looked pretty. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, since if I tried to describe each garment I'm sure I'd get it wrong.

I'll interject here that this gazebo is one of our favorites around Colonial Williamsburg, so it had to be included in the photo shoot.

In the evening we took a short drive to Mechanicsville to the home of Karen's uncle and aunt, four cousins and spouses, and several children. Karen's parents happened to be visiting, so they were there for dinner and socializing also. I seem to have knack for catching people in awkward poses in candid shots, so please forgive me for catching Karen's dad in the middle of a yawn.

This time I caught Karen, but that's not hard since she's normally pretty animated.

Last shot of the stimulated conversants. Thanks for visiting!

Colonial Williamsburg, Day 6

Our last half day with the Madeiras included a delicious but leisurely breakfast followed by a guided tour of John D. Rockefeller Jr's Virginia "cottage," Bassett Hall. At over 7,000 square feet of living space, the modest home is larger than the homes of most of the doctors I know, but then the Rockefellers were very wealthy.

The frontmost section of the home dates back to the 18th century, with several additions providing the majority of the floor space. Since Mr. Rockefeller was very involved in the restoration of Williamsburg and the establishment of Colonial Williamsburg, he purchased this home and used it as his base of operations when he and his wife would visit Williamsburg for 3 or 4 weeks each spring and fall. Compared to the other homes of the Rockefellers, this is the smallest, but it gave them a place to entertain and get to know the citizens of Williamsburg.

Although the dining room was the largest room in the house, it was still only intended to serve no more than 12 people at a time. Something seemed strangely familiar to me when I looked over this room. Check here to see how familiar it really was....

They're not exactly identical, and the Rockefellers seem to need some help picking an attractive seat cushion fabric, but I think the resemblance to our dining chairs is striking.

How's this for a view across the backyard? Bassett Hall sits on 585 acres adjacent to the 301 acres of Colonial Williamsburg, and all but 17 acres of the Bassett Hall property is woodlands.

Here Tim is trying to get his family excited about leaving Williamsburg to head back to normal life in NE Pennsylvania. The negotiations to try to squeeze in a few more hours here were pretty entertaining. Notice the pavement is wet from all the tears shed at our parting.

The Madeiras hit the road with plenty of good memories (and food) from Colonial Williamsburg. After they were out of sight, we all looked at each other and said, "Now what do we do?"

While moping and wandering about town wondering what to do with ourselves, I came upon Thomas Jefferson hard at work writing something. Here I am peering over his shoulder to see what's on the paper.

Just as I thought: Tom has writer's block! I can imagine his earlier attempts: "Dear George...", naw maybe, "Four score and seven years ago...", hmmm, how about, "It was a dark and stormy night...", or perhaps, "When in the course of human events...."

Back to the palace grounds to get some more sewing project photographs. Here the girls are checking out a quiet little garden east of the palace.

This is the maze in the northwest corner of the garden. We were impressed to realize how far one could see from this vantage point on top of the ice house mount.

Here's a zoomed in view to show you what I mean. The arches and gates in the middle of the image indicate that we are looking through four separate garden sections to view the light-colored bench in the distance.

Finally, a couple of dresses from Lily's sewing project portfolio.

I'm afraid you'll have to ask Lily for details if you care to know more about these. Thanks for visiting!

Colonial Williamsburg, Day 5

Allow me to begin this post with two bits of advice to those that would visit Colonial Williamsburg in the future. First, buy a pass. Yes, I know you can walk about the streets of the city without a pass, but you are really only experiencing about 5% of what Colonial Williamsburg has to offer. Passes allow one to tour inside the buildings, talk to the re-enactors practicing various trades, and attend presentations. If you are going to spend more than a day here, seriously consider the annual pass which does not cost a lot more and allows you to come back and tour sometime in the next 365 days. Second, buy a mug like the one pictured below.


Sure, it's plastic, and offends your authentic 18th century sensibilities, but for $10 you can keep the whole family hydrated for a whole year. This mug is refillable with soft drinks, coffee, tea, and cider at several locations around CW, and the staff are happy to refill it even if you did just ask them to fill it 2 minutes before. All this is based on the assumption that you don't mind sharing a mug with others; if you are not given to sharing drinking vessels, the purchase will still make your drinking pretty cheap if you are here more than a day.

Back to visit the millinery where we were entertained by a couple of milliners and mantua makers. Karen wanted me to get a shot of the embroidery on this small bag (sorry about the flash on the glass).

Here's the rest of the display case on the counter featuring adult and child sized mitts, and cute little booties.

This tape loom was used by the staff to create decorative tapes. It works very similar to the large blanket loom we saw the other day, but the weaver calls it a "parlor toy."

All the tapes on this table were made on the loom in the previous picture. The turquoise cap in the middle is a "pudding cap" designed to protect toddler's noggins as they learn to navigate the house. Those that wore these caps were the original "puddin' heads."

On to the cabinetmaker's shop where you'll find wonderful furniture. Like the other shops in town, the workers use 18th century tools and techniques, and most of their products furnish the buildings around Colonial Williamsburg.

Some of the sketches the woodworkers use to get proportions and details correct.

One reason to return to this shop on each visit is that they usually have a harpsichord present that is available for anyone that wishes to play it. This instrument was constructed in 1994 in this shop, and spends most of its time in this building. Here's Lily trying to adapt to the short keys and light touch.

Laura takes it for a spin. Last year, we saw a harpsichord being constructed in the workshop and we learned this year that an individual from Chicago paid about $25,000 to purchase that one (was that you Mr. Yen?)

Finally, Rachel gets her turn.

In the palace kitchen, the two cooks were demonstrating how to make chocolate. For most of our visit, the cook seated at the table was simply nibbling cocoa beans while his partner did all the work!

The back room of the kitchen contained evidence of a previous day's labor.

Here's the interior of the Bruton Parish Church showing much of the seating arrangement arranged in a compartmentalized style. Consequently, many of the seats are a little awkward in one way or another. I was hoping to get a picture from the rear balcony because you get a much better view of the sanctuary from there, but I was told liability issues prevented the church from allowing people to climb the step stairs to the balcony. Hmmm... on Sunday there wasn't any liability issue preventing folks of all ages from using those stairs....

The magazine in the middle of town is a treat for people that enjoy weapons. A couple hundred firearms, swords, and pikes now decorate the walls of the second floor of the structure representing the thousands of weapons that were there at one time. Most the firearms displayed now are reproductions, although everything shown in the photo above is an antique.

Karen surprised me by showing some interest in camping, as long as the tent looked like the one pictured here. I'm wondering what she was expecting for accommodations inside the tent?

While shopping at Tarpley's Store, Karen was asked by another patron what pattern she had used for her gown. That question comes up often here, but this time the questioner was wearing a beautiful Colonial gown and she was not an employee of CW. Karen responded that she used a J.P. Ryan pattern. The questioner asked, "Would you like to meet J.P. Ryan?" Karen was a bit shocked until the woman pointed to another authentically attired woman across the store and added, "There she is!" The first woman was visiting CW with Mrs. Ryan that day, and Mrs. Ryan graciously favored us with a photograph with our family. We were pretty tickled to get to meet her in person since several of the garments we were wearing are made from her patterns.

Since we don't have a photo yet this year of our fifer friend David Baker playing with the Fife and Drum Corps, we'll settle for the moment with this huge poster hanging on the exterior of the CW Visitor Center. That's David in the front row on our left.

Back to the timeshare for the evening where our chef Tim and his able assistant Heather mixed up some tasty pasta.

After dinner we enjoyed Trader Joe's Chocolate Torte and pretended that we were eating Death by Chocolate again. Thanks for visiting!

Colonial Williamsburg, Day 4

With the weather forecast predicting intermittent rain all day, we hit the ground running with a 9:30 AM garden tour.

Many of the gardens in the city are based on right angles and diagonals, so this elliptical shape in the backyard of the Orlando Jones House is a bit unusual.

Part of our troop waiting for our turn to tour Wetherburn's Tavern.

The private lounge for wealthier patrons included silver service for rent, and the best beverages in the establishment.

The public sleeping quarters. Wetherburn's was considered one of the finer establishments since only two men were expected to share the beds shown (other taverns would sell four spots in a bed that size). The bed linens were shaken out every day and washed once a month. It was considered proper etiquette to wake the men already in bed so no one would be sleeping with a stranger!

The private dining room available for hire with real silver, crystal, and china. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many others key to Virginia's history were served in this room.

The kitchen behind the tavern included a "clock jack" spit with a pretty crude, but effective, worm gear.

The apothecary. One more reason I'm glad the Lord let me come into the world in the 20th century.

Some of our ladies strolling on Nicholson Street.

Karen calls this her favorite sweet little idyllic place in CW.

On the paths behind the Everard House.

Ending the day with the three final episodes of Cranford. Thanks for visiting!