Where Are We Now? (Photo Overload)

After leaving North Carolina, we headed to the eastern part of Virginia, where we still had rain for two days. Fortunately, our last day in this area was sunny; unfortunately, it warmed up just in time for our departure to head to cooler climates with more chances for rain. If you ever want to cure a drought, plan a road trip.

As we stated before, we love historical sites, and that’s pretty much the focus of our road trips. For three days we’ve been wandering around Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg, Virginia, to see where the first permanent English settlers in the Americas settled. They settled Jamestown around 1607. Of the three sites that make up the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, Jamestown was our favorite; it's right on the James River. There are still archaeological digs going on in the area. A good share of the old settlement has been found and mapped out. Several burial sites of European people were also found and marked with crosses. The museum has a couple of the skeletons encased in glass for visitors to see. There are also tons of artifacts that were found underneath the ground from the original Jamestown. The following pictures are from Jamestown:

Williamsburg, Virginia, is where the Governor’s Palace was located. The original palace is gone but through the use of journals (thank goodness for people who kept journals) and town records, the palace was reconstructed and tours are conducted through the palace. Many of the items inside the palace are originals. The rest of Williamsburg is a mix of originals and reconstructions. Each structure has a plaque on it stating whether it’s a replica or original.

The Governor's Palace and Grounds

Random Pictures of Williamsburg

Yorktown is a quaint town. Some of the old homes from the 1600’s and 1700’s that are on the tour are private residences and are still lived in today. Turns out that the owners don’t really like you wandering through their home while you’re sightseeing. Who knew?

Yorktown was a site for both Revolutionary War and Civil War battles. General Cornwallis from the British Army surrendered in Yorktown so a lot of history happened in that area. When King George found out that General Cornwallis had to surrender, he wasn’t overly concerned because the British still held New York at that time. We’re thinking that King George should have been a little more upset about it considering how things turned out. But we're really glad things turned out the way they did.

Random Pictures of Yorktown

Grace Episcopal Church

(Originally built in the 1600's, a fire destroyed the portions of it in the 1800's so much of it is from the rebuild in the 1800's -- the grounds are also a cemetery)

Lastly, Williamsburg is the home of the College of William and Mary, the second oldest institution of higher education in the United States, after Harvard University. So we had to drive by and see it since we were in town.

As we visit historical sites on our road trips, we find that we want to read books and learn even more about the history surrounding these sites. We're sure our teachers in school tried to share the history of these important places, but we probably weren't interested and/or paying attention at the time. We are definitely interested now.