Coloinial Williamsburg, VA, revisited ... In spite of the horrible signage leading to Williamsburg, we found out way back this time.
Okay, so, yeah, if you don't visit Colonial Williamsburg (intimately, too), then you've missed all there is to know about American History. I thought, as Connie and I visited the various sites, if we didn't 'know' what we had just 'experienced', then the U.S., as it exists today, is on a very short leash. In other words, if we don't strive to preserve and persevere in our own founding, the democratic republic (yeah, that is almost a double standard), then it's our fault. Please, though, don't forget all the lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. to ensure our fleeting freedoms.
I won't spoil anyone's eventual discovery of Colonial Williamsburg by regurgitating what I heard and saw. What I heard and saw can't compare to another's view of such regurgitation. See it for yourself and, I hope, you all realize what I mean from this writing about what CW 'really' means to you.
I can tell anyone who wishes to visit CW that they best 'study' ahead of time and plan to study some after their visit to realize how such a small piece of real estate had such a profound influence in our current lives, as pitiful as some of depict. Yet, those dire surroundings and turn of events were some of the grandest days around (of our lives, if you can imagine it). Perspective, was it? Yes, indeed, it was. Keep your focus!
End note:
Colonial Williamsburg
Needless to say, Connie and my two days at CW were well spent. We did not cover every tour or every event, as hard as we tried. We did allow a 3rd day to visit, but we were mentally exhausted as well as physically, after two days of end-to-end traversing CW. The period street and even re-enactors were awesome. The tour guides were most well-informed to the point of informal, accurate interaction after tours. Connie and I both, often, stated that we'd love to be able to work at CW and keep history as alive as CW and the tour guides and re-enactors did their best to make sure it happened. It's only too bad all kids in the U.S. can't make a two-three day visit to Williamsburg (and nearby Jamestown) to understand where our country began and how far it has come in just a short time, relatively speaking. As Benjamin Franklin stated just after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when asked about what kind of government we have, he state, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
I'd like to list all our favorite sites, but I'll limit myself to a couple so as to not spoil the surprise and splendor that is CW. Connie sat where her Daddy did at the Capitol, when they visited CW in her childhood, in the very seat that Patrick Henry proclaimed, "...give me liberty, or give me death!" My favorite visit at CW turned out to be the Randolph House. The tour guide there, as plain as she was, yet most intelligent and assuring, letting us know that all wasn't peaches and roses in CW. The rancor in CW stirred more than a few, the laws decided thereof, and their intended and unintended consequences were profound in many ways.
Connie and I both were reluctant to leave CW, but knowing that we'd stomped many a mile in the small terrain it covers and visiting all but one of the visiting spots there, we knew we were done.
Okay, so, yeah, if you don't visit Colonial Williamsburg (intimately, too), then you've missed all there is to know about American History. I thought, as Connie and I visited the various sites, if we didn't 'know' what we had just 'experienced', then the U.S., as it exists today, is on a very short leash. In other words, if we don't strive to preserve and persevere in our own founding, the democratic republic (yeah, that is almost a double standard), then it's our fault. Please, though, don't forget all the lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. to ensure our fleeting freedoms.
I won't spoil anyone's eventual discovery of Colonial Williamsburg by regurgitating what I heard and saw. What I heard and saw can't compare to another's view of such regurgitation. See it for yourself and, I hope, you all realize what I mean from this writing about what CW 'really' means to you.
I can tell anyone who wishes to visit CW that they best 'study' ahead of time and plan to study some after their visit to realize how such a small piece of real estate had such a profound influence in our current lives, as pitiful as some of depict. Yet, those dire surroundings and turn of events were some of the grandest days around (of our lives, if you can imagine it). Perspective, was it? Yes, indeed, it was. Keep your focus!
End note:
Colonial Williamsburg
Needless to say, Connie and my two days at CW were well spent. We did not cover every tour or every event, as hard as we tried. We did allow a 3rd day to visit, but we were mentally exhausted as well as physically, after two days of end-to-end traversing CW. The period street and even re-enactors were awesome. The tour guides were most well-informed to the point of informal, accurate interaction after tours. Connie and I both, often, stated that we'd love to be able to work at CW and keep history as alive as CW and the tour guides and re-enactors did their best to make sure it happened. It's only too bad all kids in the U.S. can't make a two-three day visit to Williamsburg (and nearby Jamestown) to understand where our country began and how far it has come in just a short time, relatively speaking. As Benjamin Franklin stated just after the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when asked about what kind of government we have, he state, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
I'd like to list all our favorite sites, but I'll limit myself to a couple so as to not spoil the surprise and splendor that is CW. Connie sat where her Daddy did at the Capitol, when they visited CW in her childhood, in the very seat that Patrick Henry proclaimed, "...give me liberty, or give me death!" My favorite visit at CW turned out to be the Randolph House. The tour guide there, as plain as she was, yet most intelligent and assuring, letting us know that all wasn't peaches and roses in CW. The rancor in CW stirred more than a few, the laws decided thereof, and their intended and unintended consequences were profound in many ways.
Connie and I both were reluctant to leave CW, but knowing that we'd stomped many a mile in the small terrain it covers and visiting all but one of the visiting spots there, we knew we were done.
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