inter (Nat)alia: Summer Part 3

Well, ask and ye shall receive. I wanted a little more adventure for the summer; my friend Jennifer needed to use some vacation time; put those together and viola! One more week of fun before the school year starts.

The best parts of the week – laughing, talking, laying aside the stress of normal life – can’t be easily documented. But, at the risk of sounding like a travelogue, here are some of the highlights of our weeklong venture:

The Governor's Palace

We spent a very hot day at Colonial Williamsburg. While checking the weather on my phone, I inadvertently stumbled across a good illustration of the difference between the Virginia climate and the Utah climate. As displayed on my weather widget:

Temperature in Salt Lake City = 86, feels like 84.

Temperature in Williamsburg = 96; feels like 105.

And that’s why I don’t plan on living any farther south than I already do.

The newest building in Williamsburg:
the Market House.

Printing the Declaration of Independence
at the colonial printshop.

Happily, it wasn’t too hot to keep us from enjoying the day. We went to the military encampment and were immediately taken up as new recruits, whereupon we were drilled in the proper methods of lining up, marching, and firing rifles. (For future reference, rifles go “BOOM!” They do not go “bang” or “pow.” And they never go “pew! pew! pew!”) We were also shown how to fire a cannon and instructed on how to tighten the snares on a drum. Afterward, our commanding officer told us to report at 7 am the next morning for further training. We were told we wouldn’t get breakfast until our training improved, so we blatantly disobeyed that order and went AWOL.

This cannon goes off periodically throughout
the day as a demonstration for new recruits.

Jennifer putting her new military
skills to use in the guardhouse.

We also went to the cabinet-making shop, where you can find everything from a cradle to a coffin, but mostly chairs and desks and cabinets. The best item is, perhaps, a handmade harpsichord, which you can play if you ask nicely (we did).

Jennifer's harpsichord playing earned
a round of applause.

Another highlight of that day was the brick yard. The colonists dig up the clay and mix in water by stomping through it over and over again. After getting the rocks out, they move it to a second pit and let the visitors join in. Result: many muddy feet and a lot of happy children. (They let adults in too. I was tempted, but I was wearing white pants and thought getting in a pit of clay might not end well. Hopefully I’ll get back there another time when I’m more appropriately attired.)

The professionals are very kind to find
all the rocks before they put the
tourists to work stomping in the
clay pits.

Following the stomping, the bricks are formed in wooden molds, left to dry, and fired (which is done by building a kiln over the stacks of bricks, then burning fires between them for about a week). The fire changes the bricks’ colors. They start out a light tan. They end up anywhere from a pale red (if they’re far from the heat) to a deep red (the best variety, not too close to the heat, but not too far away) to black (if they’re right by the flames).

The bricks have to dry out for several weeks
before they can be fired. There are thousands
waiting for the fiery furnace.

This is a dry, but as yet unfired brick.

The brickmakers gave us another good east coast climate explanation. We were told that out west, bricks can just be left to dry, then go straight into a building. But here in the humidity, they’ll crumble if they aren’t fired to get all the moisture out. The Williamsburg brick yard is the only fully operating fired brickmaker (if I remember correctly), so they get large orders for their wares from many places.

The magazine houses a very big gun
(over 5 feet long, I think) . . .

. . . and a very small cannon.

After a few more stops and traversing DOG Street several times, we ended the day with some cinder toffee, which is fabulous not only because it’s tasty, but also because it looks wacky.

And this is cinder toffee.
Yes, that is only one piece.

She's smiling a little too much
considering she's in the gaol.

And this is me cheerfully trying to escape.

The fife and drum corps is more colorful
in the summer than in the winter when
they wear their red coats.

General Washington giving the
locals an encouraging speech.

The Colonial Capitol.

Our next adventure was at Mt. Vernon, the erstwhile home of George Washington. The plantation is pleasant, the garden is beautiful, the house is interesting, and the museum is excellent. It is well worth a trip to the northern confines of Virginia.

Mt. Vernon (and scaffolding because they were re-shingling
the roof). The building looks like it's covered in stone, but
it's really wood with a paint and sand covering deliberately
trying to look like stone.

One of the stained glass windows in the museum.

Out in Washington's garden . . .

. . . where there are some
very tall plants.

Washington's innovative 16-sided treading barn.

Doing a little work on the plantation.

Washington's pier out on the Potomac.

After our day at Mt. Vernon, we spent the night with my aunt and uncle, who kindly loaned us some beds to save us some driving time. Even better, my aunt gave us a dulcimer lesson, we had a few rousing games of Sjoelbak (Dutch shuffleboard), and we were fed a delicious Dutch breakfast of “mousies” (or “vruchten hagel”)the next morning. The half of me that is Dutch was in heaven. And the other half of me was heartily enjoying it.

(I’m happy to brag that my first shot of Sjoelbak went straight in the four-point slot, no doubt thanks to many hours playing in Grandma and Grandpa’s basement.)

Dulcimer lesson.

This is Sjoelbak.

And this is my game face.

After our delicious Dutch breakfast, we headed to Shenandoah National Park, where we spent a good portion of the day in fog. It was beautiful fog, of course. The sun eventually came out and we were able to see the rolling green mountains. The Blue Ridge Mountains aren’t rocky and stark or red and sculpted like mountains in the west; they’re softened lumps tamed by endless trees. But still worth a visit.

Did I mention it was foggy?

Shenandoah also has black bears; and we saw several (one meandering across the way and a few cubs up in a tree – way up; they were high enough to bend the branches they were sitting on). The bears became, in fact, the main attraction for the hikers we passed along the Dark Hollow Falls trail. (I’m sure the hikers appreciated the waterfalls as well.)

There are bears in this picture.
I promise.

The first part of Dark Hollow Falls.

Tree roots made some nice steps along the trail.

Everything is bigger out west . . . except the bugs.

I love rocks.

Dark Hollow Falls

Feeling our Shenandoah hiking was insufficient, we opted to spend another day on some local trails near the shore. We first went to see the Yorktown Monument (which Jennifer had only seen at dusk before; it’s a little easier to appreciate in the daylight). Then we spent a few hours wandering York River State Park and the trails around Taskinas Creek. We ended our shoreline day with a tasty fish dinner at the Bone Fish Grill.

There is a random stand of bamboo
close to the Yorktown Monument.
It makes me happy.

Taskenas Creek, in York River State Park.

We had to hike down to all the "overlooks" on the trail.
It is a weird concept for my brain.

Fossil beach.
(I don't know if there are any fossils,
but there are lots of broken shells,
sticks to throw in the water, and
tree trunks to climb on.)

The donuts from this place
are scrumptious.

Our Sunday was spent at church, riding the ferry from Jamestown to Scotland (no, not that Scotland), and feeding turtles. We intended to feed some birds, but we didn’t think to pull out my stale Honey-Nut Cheerios for the seabirds that were following the ferry; then when we stopped at the lake, the ducks and the geese were no-shows. So the turtles got all the treats instead.

The little bit of Old Jamestown that is
visible from the ferry.

Mine?

Our last big adventure was Appomattox Court House. It was a good time to visit, as they have some special items on display due to the Civil War sesquicentennial. My impression coming out of Appomattox is that it is a miracle the nation survived; and the Lord put specific leaders in place so it would. What a forgiving, humble, generous, unconventional way for a civil war to end.