A Step Back in History

Last weekend, we were fortunate enough to meet Papa Don and Grandma Nancy in Williamsburg! Williamsburg is one of our very favorite places, and this time we were there in 1774, before the Revolution.

The first stop was of course the stocks:

 Pure trouble right there.

 Our whole trip was scheduled around this:

The noon cannon. Evan loves watching the cannon, and we learned a lot about the use of the cannon in non-war times--mostly as a lunch bell. Evan was a little sad there was no big mustering of the troops, but we were in 1774.

We loved wandering into each building a learning a little bit more about Colonial life. Thankfully my whole family appreciates my need to follow rabbits way down holes and indulged all of my question asking and sign reading. They only cut me off when I started reading archaeological dig reports aloud at lunch. (The tavern keeper really should not have told me about this treasure trove of historical tidbits.)

This was my favorite, though:

 We ate at three taverns in two days. I love these tavern meals because there is no rush. We got to talk and laugh. And there is just something about candlelight that changes everything. In fact, we have started a new ritual at our house where on the nights that we are not running somewhere after dinner: we turn off all the lights and eat by candlelight. We all slow down a little bit, and it just feels a little bit like magic in the air.

A super sweet gentleman offered to take our picture outside of the capital on the last day:

I will be forever grateful for this weekend. We are running at break-neck speed through November, so having a weekend away was such a gift. Spending it with people we don't get to see very often was just the icing on the cake.