Cities that Influenced our Nation

Between Williamsberg, Washington DC and Annapolis, Alex and I have been very occupied with places to see, history to learn, time spent with family and good places to eat. It's actually been a little overwhelming. I mean, there is only so much you can do in a day and I felt like time just flew by and we didn't get to see everything I would have liked to. It's been great, though. I think I will have to come back to these places again sometime time in my life.

In Williamsberg we were able to meet up with my brother Micah and his wife Rachelle. I was soooooo glad to see them and even better was that we got to stay with them in their hotel because their room had an extra bed. It's funny because I thought it would be so nice to sleep in a regular bed, but strangely I was rather uncomfortable. I guess I've just gotten used to sleeping in the van. Anyways, Williamsberg is a very old town, it was first settled sometime in the 1600s. It's about 8 miles north of Jamestown which was one of the first English settlements. It was originally the capital of Virginia, but it was later moved to Richmond after the Revolution. Williamsberg has been nicely preserved to it's Colonial era. There are all kinds of neat knick knack shops, boutiques and restaurants. Many buildings are museums of old shops that were around during the Colonial era like wig shops, tailors, silversmiths, blacksmiths, general stores, etc. The people who work in the museums are dressed in Colonial clothing and they pretend that it's the year 1775. It kind of felt like we had traveled back in time when we were there.

Colonial Root Beer, (Non-alcoholic)

Colonial Re-enactment in the Streets of Williamsberg

Martha Washington being greeted in front of the Capital Building in Williamsberg

Colonial Williamsberg

Old Grave at the Oldest Church in Williamsberg

I love that the Horse and Alex are both leaning into each other. How cute!

Rachelle giving the horse a kiss

Getting water from a well

This was a really good truffle at a candy shop in Williamsberg

We toured many of the buildings and watched a few Colonial re-enactments. We had a guided tour through the Governor's Mansion and the tour guide did a really good job pretending it was the year 1775. At one point I couldn't help myself from laughing uncontrollably . There were about 40 people in our tour group and when we walked through a room with a piano in it, the tour guide asks the crowd, "How many of you are learning to play the piano?" Only one person raises their hand and the tour guide then says, "That's okay. The piano is a rather new instrument, so it's understandable that not very many people are learning how to play it." Hahahahaha!!!! I thought that was so funny because she was addressing us as if we were from the 1700s as well., Ahh, so silly. The Governor's Mansion was beautiful, and the surrounding gardens were just as beautiful.  Williamsberg is a neat place. It can be entertaining for the young and old. I think if I have kids someday, then I will take them to Williamsberg.

The Governor's Mansion

The Labyrinth at the Governor's Mansion

Tulip Garden at the Governor's Mansion

The back entrance to the mansion

Micah doing some cleaning in the horse stable

This is an outdoor shower used by the Governor in the 1770s to cool off during the summer. Servants would throw buckets of water on the Governor while he was fully clothed

Oh, and a little side note; the term "Powder Room" was originally used by men and it was a room for the men to go to "powder" their wigs. The wigs that were worn by men weren't naturally white and they would powder flour on them to turn them white. During a social event with dancing and what not, the powder would fall off and they would have to go to the "Powder Room" to reapply flour to their wig. In other words, "Freshin up."

After spending two wonderful days in Williamsberg, we drove up to Washington D.C. Driving into the city was so surreal. I couldn't believe we were actually here. As soon as I saw the top of the Capital building excitement overwhelmed me. Wow! I was at our nations Capital. We parked right by all the monuments and there was so much to see I didn't know where to start. The Washington Monument is huge! The Lincoln Memorial is huge! The Capital is huge! Everything was so big! And beautiful! The work that was put into making these huge memorials is amazing. I was in awe.

The Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Korean War memorial

Washington D.C. Capital Building

Thomas Jefferson Memorial (This was taken on the last day we were in D.C. it was sunny)

It was really overcast and started raining, so our endeavors outside quickly ended for the day. Our friend Jami Holland lives in DC and I hadn't seen her for about 3 or 4 years. I called her and later we met up for bit. It was so good to see her. She is graduating from law school and will be a lawyer soon. I can't believe it! I mean I can't believe we are all growing up and are adults and have careers. It seems so weird. I still feel like I'm 20 and I'm 25! I know that isn't that old, but it feels old when all your friends are in careers, are married and have kids. Seeing familiar faces on the road is really comforting. I'm really glad that we were able to see Jami.

The next day in DC we had about the same weather. It was cold and there were a few sprinkles here and there, but it didn't stop us from venturing out. We met up with my brother Micah and his wife again and went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. There was so much stuff in there! We got to see Abraham Lincoln's hat, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz's shoes, First Lady's gowns, early electrical inventions and the list goes on. The museum was so big that we didn't even get to see everything, but it was still neat to see the things we saw. Personally, I think First Lady Grace Coolidge was more fashionable than the iconic Jacqueline Kennedy, but maybe it's because I really like the 1920s style.

Abraham Lincoln's hat

Grace Coolidge's Dress

Ruby Slippers

My brother and his wife had to leave after touring the History Museum, but Alex and I went on to  see the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. That was cool, too.  I had never seen real dinosaur bones before and let me tell ya, at that museum there were an abundance of them. My favorite exhibit at the Natural History Museum was the gem and precious stone display. I like things that sparkle. On display they had diamond earrings worn by Marie Antoinette and they were clip-ons. I guess her ears weren't pierced, but probably not very many women of that period had their ears pierced. The exhibit was really over crowded with mostly women, go figure:)

It's a dinosaur

Amythest

I was really tired after going to two of the Smithsonian buildings, they are really big! I think there are 4 other Smithsonian building we skipped out on. There is just too much to see. I guess that gives us an excuse to come back someday:)

Before leaving D.C. we went to the American Memorial Holocaust Museum. That museum probably had the biggest impact on me emotionally out of everything I saw in D.C. The exhibit was a "Holocaust Experience." The first floor exhibit tells you about things leading up to the persecution of the Jews and "inferior races" and the second floor is about the Jews being relocated to ghettos; the third floor is about the actual concentration camps and the last floor is about freedom from the Nazis. As I walked through each exhibit I felt sicker and sicker to my stomach. Then during the exhibit about the concentration camps I seriously had to hold back tears. It's hard to believe that the Germans were so cruel. Man is capable of doing horrendous things to one another.

Yesterday we arrived in Annapolis. It's a really cute town. Lots of old buildings and rich in history. Annapolis was settled in the late 1600s. It is where the treaty was signed to end the Revolutionary War and was our nations capital for less than a year. It is the capital of Maryland today. The city's design when it comes to roads is horrible. Driving can really be a nightmare. I don't think the designer of the town took into account how traffic would be effected with future automobiles, but how could he, right? The streets are very narrow and they don't come together in a square grid, lots of dead-ends.  Anyways, the city itself seems very quaint and beautiful. I would come back again even if it is really hard to navigate in a vehicle. The last thing we did before leaving Annapolis was enjoying a scoop of icecream at a local chocolate shop. I had the best scoop of icecream ever! Toasted coconut lightly coated in chocolate in a homemade waffle cone. Mmmmmmm, so good.

Some old buildings in Annapolis

Yummy icecream

Maryland State Capital

Well, Alex and I have had plenty to do during this past week. It was even hard finding time to even write this blog. I think it's just gong to get busier for a while here. Next on our list of places to go is Baltimore, Philadelphia, Gettysberg, New York City, Springfield, Providence and Boston, all before Easter. Sounds crazy:/