Home • USA the East • Virginia • '10 Oct: Colonial Virginia

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	October 25 I let Delta Airlines buy me off last night and slept over at the Orlando airport instead of making it into Norfolk very late and staying there. So far I've flown LA-Atlanta-Fort Myers-Atlanta-New Orleans-Atlanta-Orlando and am about to go Atlanta-Norfolk. And that's Delta Airlines. Now I have a $400 flight certificate so there is definitely more Delta in my future. On the morning of the 26th I arrived in Norfolk and Alex and Carol picked me up at the airport. We drove into town and took a little look-see, Norfolk being basically a Navy Town. But that's a Carnival Cruise ship in the background.
	A memorial.
	They had several of these around town all painted differently. It must be the town's symbol, or might it be part of the project that brought painted angels to LA and painted cows to Chicago?
	Then we drove to the marina on the York river where Nepenthe awaits our return. Nepenthe: a "drug of forgetfulness" that obliterates all sorrow. Alex and Carol have been live-aboard sailors for about six years having taken the plunge near the time I retired, sailing around as the wind takes them.
	Nepenthe is a 35.5 foot sailing boat and A&C have arranged their lives in a way that makes me gaga in their level of paring down and living small and at the same time living very large.
	Beautiful isn't she. A&C are pretty cute too.
	A view from the marina. Often A&C anchor off shore and take the dingy in but for feeling the luxury of modern amenities there's nothing like a good marina with full force showers, laundry, pool, and all you can use of water and electricity dockside. There's a storm a-brewin' and we probably won't get to go out sailing but there's still plenty of fun to be had!
	October 26 We left the marina this morning to drive around historic Yorktown and Jamestown VA. It's fall for sure.
	Classic brick.
	Yorktown and Jamestown are both communities along rivers and estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay. So gorgeous!
	The Colonial National Historical Park. "The park includes the Colonial Parkway, a scenic 23-mile parkway linking the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle: Jamestown and Yorktown and running through the historic district of Colonial Williamsburg." Run by the National Park Service, we are treated to Visitor's Centers, Guided Walks, great signs of interest - go there if you can! We all got in on my Lifetime Senior Citizen's Pass. Look, it's RoChamBeau. All three of us played rock-paper-sissors saying RoChamBeau but Ms Wiki wouldn't tell me why.
	There were so many open fields often with the trenches and protective battlements still in place.
	Here is a representative collection of the buildings in the park. Yorktown "is most famous as the site of the siege and subsequent surrender of General Cornwallis to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War on October 19, 1781. Although it would last for another year, this British defeat at Yorktown effectively ended the war." Jamestown "is located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607 and is the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States of America."
	This restored home was a restaurant where we ate a surprisingly delicious lunch.
	Quite fantastic open scenery.
	Check out the deer in the background. Lovely! al.
	And scenic waterways.
	From the Jamestown harbor looking out across the river...
	...and there's Nepenthe, where we will return for a delicious dinner and a quiet evening.
	The guests aboard The Royal Yacht Britannia would eat no better than we because Carol cooked several courses for every fabulous meal in that galley behind her head. Further behind Carol's head is the place where A&C sleep. There is a spot in there about one foot by two where short people can stand. Then behind where I'm standing is the other berth, a V shaped space where guests sleep and where I slept Like A Stone. The dinette can be made up into a bed too, which it has been many times in the past, allowing for quite the crowd and Par-Teee.
	October 27 Colonial Williamsburg. Expensive and dorky but also interesting and fun. Ms Wiki: "Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. It includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital...
	...The motto of Colonial Williamsburg is "The future may learn from the past". The Historic Area is an interpretation of a Colonial American city, with exhibits including dozens of authentic or recreated colonial houses. ...Rather than simply an effort to preserve antiquity, the combination of restoration and recreation of the entire colonial town attempts to recreate the atmosphere and the ideals of 18th century American revolutionary leaders. Interpreters work and dress as they did in the era, using colonial grammar and diction (although not colonial accents)."
	More. I thought it was especially interesting that all this has been going on since the 1930s. 'They' actually took down post-colonial buildings and 'relocated' residents to make it all happen.
	A couple of the 'historical interpretors' from the reenactments (their words). One thing we all agreed - they need some Hollywood out here. The need some actors and a decent script.
	Another reenactment. Hey, guy with the red coat, don't lean against that wall looking all hohum and bored. We don't believe you!
	More. We also went to a performance of a few scenes from plays of the times at the site of the first playhouse in America and ate at a recreated tavern. We skipped entirely the few streets of shops also all meant to be part of the historical experience but basically being a place with stuff for you to buy.
	My favorite part was visiting the crafts shops. The attempt is to use all materials and techniques as they would have been in the time. The blacksmith makes nails for the carpenters, the wheelwrights make wheels for the carriages, the bookbinder makes items for the gift shop...
	...the shoemakers make shoes for the 'historical interpretors'. The craftsmen spend most of their time talking to the visitors who of course have endless questions, endlessly repeated no doubt.
	Nice! Like a movie.
	October 28 It's our last day together and we decided to just hang loose, do some chores, take our time. Nothing like a nice breakfast of fresh delicious coffee, lox and bagels, tasty fruit, mimosas - ahhh.
	Then Alex put on his wetsuit and got out all the gear to clean the surfaces under the boat. We went to a bunch of stores to buy bits of this and that for various repairs, and Carol did the laundry and cooked us lunch.
	And then we took out the dingy for a nice tour along the York river.
	Not much to say about this next section - here comes some pictures of a dingy ride along the York river.
	More.
	Around the marina.
	Another one.
	And then back on Nepenthe we get this which evolves into...
	...such a sunset.
	Wow, and for real. What a last night. Tomorrow we're all off for Washington DC to hook up with Jon and Steven, and Paul and Gretchen, and Terry.