Visiting the South - Williamsburg and Yorktown

So here we are at the last installment of my "Visiting the South" series re-capping our trip to the southeast this past spring. You can read about our other adventures on this trip here, here, here and here.

When last I posted, Diane and I had just visited the Wright Brothers monument in Kitty Hawk, NC and were heading north for the 2.5 hour drive across the border and into Virginia.

Navigating the highways around and through Norfolk, we arrived to Williamsburg mid-afternoon. Here are the highlights of our visit over the ensuing couple days:

Family

Our purpose in visiting Williamsburg was primarily to visit Diane's sister Jenny, her husband Eric and their young family - which expanded by one person just a few days before our arrival with the birth of their third daughter Ellah. Needless to say, it was really nice to visit, see the baby, joke around with our older nieces, catch up and just hang out a little bit. They live within a mile or so from the site of Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown so we were well within striking distance to see these two historic places.

Colonial Williamsburg

The day after we arrived the weather turned on us. Up to this point we had enjoyed a run of sunny, warm weather everywhere we went. But our luck ran out here. It's amazing how cold 62 degrees feels when you've gotten used to 85 every day. Anyway, we now contended with gray cloudy skies and some rain. The first place we visited was Colonial Williamsburg. (Below: A building in Colonial Williamsburg)

Colonial Williamsburg is situated right next to historic College of William & Mary, and while there are some actual historic buildings on the site (such as the one-time capital of the United States of America), for the most part the area is a re-creation of a Colonial American town circa the 1770s. So, when you go there, you have to understand what you're going to get. A bit of a touristy experience. On the other hand, if you have even a couple hours you can learn something about how it was to live in those times as there are working shops, foundries, stables, taverns and other places typical for the colonial era - each with people in colonial-era dress and persona who are happy to educate you on how things were back then. Sure, there's not a lot of talk about how, for example, women were treated or much detail on the fact that the country literally operated on backs of African slaves. But, you can learn here.

Stack up what you learn here against the uber-tech, always connected, luxury existence that most Americans enjoy today and you can appreciate where we've come from. And for that, I'd recommend seeing Colonial Williamsburg if you are in that area.

Yorktown

Not far from Colonial Williamsburg is another very historic site in American history - Yorktown. Here you have the old Colonial town of Yorktown (much smaller than Williamsburg) and also the battlefield where the forces of General George Washington decisively defeated the British army to effectively end the American Revolutionary War - creating our nation as an independent United States of America. (Below: a Colonial-ear home in Yorktown)

You can read a bit more about Yorktown from my post here from this most recent 4th of July, but to see a site where such a major and significant battle occurred is awe-inspiring and thought provoking.

How would our lives be different if things turned out different in that battle? What if the French were not willing to help us? Yes, people, the French really did us a solid in the Revolutionary War and the battle of Yorktown in particular.

At any rate, this is a site that I'd recommend anyone see if they are in this area. You could spend an hour or so looking around the antique shops and museums in the old town of Yorktown, see the highlights of the battlefield and get a bite to eat all within a couple-three hours. The poor weather cut our stay short. (Left: A Colonial cannon at the battlefield site at Yorktown)

So that's it. After a celebratory dinner at our relative's home on the last night of our trip, we flew home the next day out of Richmond, VA. Arriving back in Seattle knowing we'd made the right choice for a great trip in 2009.

For those of you who have been following this trip on the blog, you're up to date and it's almost like you went with us! Plus, I think you have some great tips on what to see and where to eat should you find yourself in the cities we visited.

For those of you who have not been following and want to know more about our stops in the South, visit the links at the top of this post - or, wait a couple days and I'll post up a consolidated report with links to all the adventures and pictures.