A Taste of the Past From Williamsburg

I had the chance to make the two and a half hour trip down to Williamsburg, Virginia. We spent the day in colonial Williamsburg, which I was told was America's very first theme park, as it tries to recreate the feeling of being in the town during the time of the American Revolution. It is quite well put together, and they're still improving it, trying to make sure the clothing, tools, and architecture is as accurate as possible. The presence of trained and costumed actors and actresses really makes the park. We had plans to see more of the area, but we already didn't have enough time to see all there was to see in colonial Williamsburg!
Jessie (see below) and felt it reminded us a bit of "Austenland," except that we didn't get to play dress-up with the clothes. We did wear our charming purple scarves though, which marked us as 1) participants for one of the activities within Williamsburg and 2) the history nerds we truly are.

 This was actually at the nearby museum that evening.

 The obligatory photo from the stocks, which is next to the courthouse where we participated in reenacting an actual court case about religious freedom.

 This is the palace green. In the back you can see the Governor's palace, which was raided by angry colonists, and where Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson lived.

 One artisan demonstrated book-binding.

 We went to the coffeehouse for old-fashioned hot chocolate - a thick, bitter substance that included cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper!

 A local musician serenaded us on the violin over lunch.

 I have always, upon reading Harry Potter, wondered what a beef pasty was. Now I know!

 They even had cats to set in the apothecary's window in colonial times!

 The governor's palace and gardens

 The harpsichord in the ballroom at the governor's palace

 This was at a plantation. Tobacco is being grown in the background.

 This is the kitchen, but the woman is dressed in working class garb. We had an interesting conversation  with the milliner about old-fashioned underwear. She told us that she loves wearing her stays (like a corset, but they're not designed to suck in, just smooth out), shift, gown, and skirts, because it is nearly impossible to look bad in 1760's clothing. They are also flattering, supportive, and force her to stand up properly. She said with a sigh that although we do many things better now than they did then, clothes for both men and women were far superior in those days.

 This is the pipe organ in the ballroom.

This was the entryway into the governor's palace, decorated with functional weapons on all sides, plus our tour guide, Scott.