Colonial Williamsburg - Part 1

Wow. What a fabulous two days we spent in Colonial Williamsburg! I highly recommend it! We had planned on renting costumes for the boys (daughter brought hers from home) but when we got there we learned that it was $20 per person per day for costume rental, so we just rented one boy's costume and had our boys share all day long (minus A who wasn't quite big enough for it). In fairness to all of them, here is 7 year old L and daughter G:

Here is 5 year old C:

And here is 8 year old G. They each had so much fun carrying around the wooden rifle, L especially really got into the role of being a recruit for the militia. There were lots of other children (and some adults!) in costume so it added a really fun element to the day.

The first thing we did after renting the costume was tour the Governor's Palace. It was a beautiful building inside and out, and was home to the British Governor appointed by the King. Did you know that the first elected governor of Virginia was Patrick Henry? He lived in the palace at 3 different times, and it was absolutely fascinating to learn more about this patriot. We had fun going through a hedge maze in the palace gardens.

Then it was on to the main street, where everyone had fun (?) pretending to be in the stocks and the leg irons.

I really enjoyed everything about Colonial Williamsburg, but if I had to pick a favorite spot it would be this colonial garden. I could have sat in there for the whole day, soaking up the colonial aura and asking questions of the gardener! It included a large working garden, where gardeners tend the garden using tools and methods from the 18th century, as well as a little shop tent where you could purchase books, plants, and gardening tools/knick knacks. It was so beautiful and peaceful!

When we rented the costume for the boys, we were given a list of special tasks for our militia recruits to accomplish throughout the day, and one of the listed tasks was to go to the colonial garden and plant some seeds. More recruits would mean more mouths to feed in the winter, so everyone was to chip in and do their share of planting. Here is the colonial gardener with our daughter G and sons L and G:

The 3 of them planting cabbage seeds.

Son G watering the row of newly planted seeds.

2 year old A trying on a straw gardening hat! I was soooo tempted to buy it, but I'm sure I can find one cheaper somewhere else!

After exploring many streets and building and shops, we ended our first day in Colonial Williamsburg by watching a fife and drum corps as they marched and played down the main street. They were very good!