Monday, Feb. 21, 2011- Jamestown, VA
About two weeks or so ago, it began to dawn on us that the February break was coming soon. Julie was the one to suggest that we take a few days and go to Virginia Beach, where it was likely to be warm (or at least, warm-ER), and where we could probably get a cheap off-season hotel room. Pretty soon we were all interested in going.
We would have left sooner but Scott had “Rush the Growler” practice on Sunday. The guys were kind enough to move the practice to the afternoon, so we could actually get going in the evening. Carol, our semi-regular babysitter and one of Julie’s students, came to house sit for us and watch Schnitzel. Julie shoo-ed the band out the door, and we left shortly after four o’clock yesterday. We drove until a little after 10:00 and then stopped for what sleep we could get in Breezewood, PA. We were up again and on the road by 5:00 in the morning.
At the Virginia Welcome center, we saw that there was snow coming down in New York City. We hear we got a few inches at home, and drove through a little bit of snow last night, but thermometer on our car said 59 and rising. We don’t know how warm it got today, but it was easily in the sixties, though mostly overcast.
We got to Jamestown, Virginia, about 10:30, and started at the Jamestown Settlement. This site is not the National Park Service site, but the nearby state-run site. Scott went to it once ages ago when he worked for the Petersburg museums, but a lot has changed since then. Even though it was always impressive, the exhibits seemed to be new. We suspect they may have been updated when they were preparing for the Jamestown Quadricentennial back in 2007. We started with the movie in the visitor’s center. Emma said there must be a thousand Americas because the movie kept saying HERE was where America started, and HERE was where America started, and HERE was where America started….
One of the things that is nice about the Jamestown Settlement is that it recreates what the area looked like, and offers an enormous amount of touchy hands-on exhibits. After the movie and the museum, we went to the Powhatan village, where we saw what Pocahontas’s life was probably like. They didn’t live in longhouses, like New York Indians, but in houses that were made out of woven mats. The mats themselves look almost like the roll-up kind of window blinds. It was surprising how many furs and other items were laying around for the girls to pick up and touch.
Our next stop was the recreations of three ships that brought the settlers in 1607—the Susan Constant, The Godspeed, and the Discovery. We got to climb all through the first two. Then we went to the recreation of the James Fort where John Smith and the English settlers lived. We couldn’t help but be reminded of our trip to Plymouth Plantation back when Anna was about 1 ½ years old. Like there, we saw chickens, but she didn’t chance them through the holes in the fence this time. The interpreters here all spoke in third person, as modern people, instead of first person, like at Plymouth. That took away a little from the effect. We went through a number of the buildings, including the recreation of the church. Anna tried on some of the armor.
We had an overpriced lunch at the Jamestown Settlement, before we went next door to the NPS site, where Jamestowne actually stood. (They spell it with an “E” at the NPS site.) We started at the visitors’ center, where Emma fell asleep watching the film. Julie sat through it a second time with her while Anna and Scott looked at the museum artifacts and the gift shop.
Then, we headed out to the original site. We hadn’t been there since about 1994, and the ranger commented that they had found quite a bit of stuff since then. About the time that we were there, the archeologists had just uncovered the corner of what they believed to be the corner of the original fort. The excavation has continued since then. Today, for example, even though the tarps covered it, we could see the outline of the original church, where Pocahontas would have married John Rolfe. Much of the excavated area of the fort is now outlined with a palisade, whereas before, much simply had to be imagined. We went to the “Archaearium,” where many of the artifacts that have been uncovered are displayed, along with “J.R.”, a settler who apparently died of a gunshot wound to the leg. Scott showed a National Geographic special to his students that examined the artifacts found here and explored the question, “Who Shot J.R.?” so it was even more interesting to meet him face-to-face, as it were. Anna thought it was interesting, but Emma was a little freaked by the idea of seeing a real skeleton. We had to take turns seeing him.
We felt that we had a full day by this point, so we continued on to our Virginia Beach hotel. We’re staying right on Atlantic Ave., and our room has a little balcony that faces the beach. Even though it’s a little cool in the temperatures right now, it’s fun to be here across the street was surf themed pizza place that seemed convenient. Julie and Scott wanted Carolina style barbecue while we were here, so we had their pulled pork pizza, which was actually really good. Naturally, the girls went in the pool before they settled down by watching cable TV and going to sleep.
Sorry we don’t have any pictures to upload this time. Scott forgot to pack the cord to get the pictures off of the camera. We’ll try to update later.
We would have left sooner but Scott had “Rush the Growler” practice on Sunday. The guys were kind enough to move the practice to the afternoon, so we could actually get going in the evening. Carol, our semi-regular babysitter and one of Julie’s students, came to house sit for us and watch Schnitzel. Julie shoo-ed the band out the door, and we left shortly after four o’clock yesterday. We drove until a little after 10:00 and then stopped for what sleep we could get in Breezewood, PA. We were up again and on the road by 5:00 in the morning.
At the Virginia Welcome center, we saw that there was snow coming down in New York City. We hear we got a few inches at home, and drove through a little bit of snow last night, but thermometer on our car said 59 and rising. We don’t know how warm it got today, but it was easily in the sixties, though mostly overcast.
We got to Jamestown, Virginia, about 10:30, and started at the Jamestown Settlement. This site is not the National Park Service site, but the nearby state-run site. Scott went to it once ages ago when he worked for the Petersburg museums, but a lot has changed since then. Even though it was always impressive, the exhibits seemed to be new. We suspect they may have been updated when they were preparing for the Jamestown Quadricentennial back in 2007. We started with the movie in the visitor’s center. Emma said there must be a thousand Americas because the movie kept saying HERE was where America started, and HERE was where America started, and HERE was where America started….
One of the things that is nice about the Jamestown Settlement is that it recreates what the area looked like, and offers an enormous amount of touchy hands-on exhibits. After the movie and the museum, we went to the Powhatan village, where we saw what Pocahontas’s life was probably like. They didn’t live in longhouses, like New York Indians, but in houses that were made out of woven mats. The mats themselves look almost like the roll-up kind of window blinds. It was surprising how many furs and other items were laying around for the girls to pick up and touch.
Our next stop was the recreations of three ships that brought the settlers in 1607—the Susan Constant, The Godspeed, and the Discovery. We got to climb all through the first two. Then we went to the recreation of the James Fort where John Smith and the English settlers lived. We couldn’t help but be reminded of our trip to Plymouth Plantation back when Anna was about 1 ½ years old. Like there, we saw chickens, but she didn’t chance them through the holes in the fence this time. The interpreters here all spoke in third person, as modern people, instead of first person, like at Plymouth. That took away a little from the effect. We went through a number of the buildings, including the recreation of the church. Anna tried on some of the armor.
We had an overpriced lunch at the Jamestown Settlement, before we went next door to the NPS site, where Jamestowne actually stood. (They spell it with an “E” at the NPS site.) We started at the visitors’ center, where Emma fell asleep watching the film. Julie sat through it a second time with her while Anna and Scott looked at the museum artifacts and the gift shop.
Then, we headed out to the original site. We hadn’t been there since about 1994, and the ranger commented that they had found quite a bit of stuff since then. About the time that we were there, the archeologists had just uncovered the corner of what they believed to be the corner of the original fort. The excavation has continued since then. Today, for example, even though the tarps covered it, we could see the outline of the original church, where Pocahontas would have married John Rolfe. Much of the excavated area of the fort is now outlined with a palisade, whereas before, much simply had to be imagined. We went to the “Archaearium,” where many of the artifacts that have been uncovered are displayed, along with “J.R.”, a settler who apparently died of a gunshot wound to the leg. Scott showed a National Geographic special to his students that examined the artifacts found here and explored the question, “Who Shot J.R.?” so it was even more interesting to meet him face-to-face, as it were. Anna thought it was interesting, but Emma was a little freaked by the idea of seeing a real skeleton. We had to take turns seeing him.
We felt that we had a full day by this point, so we continued on to our Virginia Beach hotel. We’re staying right on Atlantic Ave., and our room has a little balcony that faces the beach. Even though it’s a little cool in the temperatures right now, it’s fun to be here across the street was surf themed pizza place that seemed convenient. Julie and Scott wanted Carolina style barbecue while we were here, so we had their pulled pork pizza, which was actually really good. Naturally, the girls went in the pool before they settled down by watching cable TV and going to sleep.
Sorry we don’t have any pictures to upload this time. Scott forgot to pack the cord to get the pictures off of the camera. We’ll try to update later.
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9:06 PM
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