Yes, Colonial Williamsburg has lots of history. You can stand where the Stamp Act revolt started, on the recreated steps of R. Charlton's Coffeehouse (and we did - while I discussed the outrage of women not being allowed to go to the coffeeshop, one of Helen's and my Friday rituals), you can walk down the street and see the Capitol of the colonies (we saw it from afar), and you can talk to as many historians as you like - since they dot the town.
But as you might suspect, those weren't the highlights for my 3 and 5 year old companions. The clear highlight in Colonial Williamsburg was the brickyard. Here, we learned that clay was excavated, mixed with water, and then people would mix it by squishing it with their feet. I could not even believe this, but when offered the chance to participate, Connor initially declined saying it was "too messy". After I recovered from falling over backwards in disbelief, I noticed Helen jumping at the chance, and Connor soon followed.
As you can see, Ed was in charge of supervising the little people because, um, it was too messy. Thankfully, no Helens or Connors ended up taking a bath in the mud pit.
So on we went to see the cabinet maker, who had a harpsichord which people could actually play. A teen was playing, encouraged by her parents to keep playing. I still can't believe I walked out of there without testing it out. What was I thinking? My sister - a piano teacher - is going to kick me for this one.
We also saw a man making barrels (and learned that all the bourbon barrels around town for trash collection were not manufactured during Colonial times - they're not the right size).
Artisans were happy to talk shop, happy to continue working, and happy to answer whatever random questions your 3 year old daughter throws at them. Like "what's your name" and "how old are you", Helen's questions d'jour.
We saw all of these places on our way to visit the jail of Colonial Williamsburg, which held endless fascination for Connor. This building has an official tour guide who walks you through the joint. The tour there was a bit more graphic than I usually like for Connor and Helen, but perhaps it will serve as a good deterrent to future crime. I received only a few follow-up questions about the 8 people a year who tended to die there, most of which I answered with "we don't think that's a very good idea now". And by we, of course I mean "I", but they'll figure that out soon enough.
While visiting each of the artisans, I took some time to point out that the stores didn't carry pre-fabricated merchandise, but rather, each piece was made to order - exactly how the person ordering it wanted it. The artisans would often tell us how long it took to make particular pieces. I was hoping to make the point that each item was made with care and very different than mass produced goods today. Connor wasn't impressed with the inefficiency of it all, and I think the point will need to be made another day.
As we walked the streets, Connor noticed the unevenness of bricks, the roofs that had sunlight coming through, and the corners that weren't quite square. His conclusion? "That's not a very good [insert noun of choice]". I guess the kids likes his corners square!
Elaine
My family and I were guests of Greater Williamsburg on this vacation. They facilitated mosts of our activities. My family received passes to Colonial Williamsburg. We stayed at the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel (we had a suite, which meant Ed and I didn't have to relive our trip to Key West where we sat on the curb outside our motel after Connor and Helen went to sleep, watching DVDs - not a highlight of our lives as parents). The hotel comped us one night, Greater Williamsburg comped one night, and we paid for one night.
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