Stepping Back in Time...Williamsburg, Part II

And now we get to one of our favorite Williamsburg memories. During our second afternoon, we watched the reenactments of a woman spy situation, a militia gathering, and a slave wedding. And when they asked for audience participation during the “broom wedding”, guess who the lovely gal picked? Yep…Ethan! He did a great job decorating the broom for the ceremony and stood next to the groom and preacher for the duration of the wedding. He was thrilled to participate and to be the center of attention! 

     Since they weren’t able to have a legally recognized wedding ceremony, slaves would “jump the broom” in accordance with old west African tribal customs (they also did this in Scotland and Ireland) in a ceremony that was recognized by family, friends, and usually owners as well.

In addition to watching the reenactments, we enjoyed touring some of the historic buildings in Williamsburg; one such restored structure was the town "gaol", or jail.

Ye fair readers be deservin’ of a bit of explanation here. These be the self-same cells which held the crew of the infamous Blackbeard, notorious pirate of the seven seas (or at least the Atlantic) whilst they waited for their trial and hanging. Being the egregious persons we are, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to poke a bit of fun.

No, there were no mermaids.

Double iron bars...

...and a bed that looks like a coffin. That's downright macabre. 

And here's us partway through the first (very sticky) afternoon, taking a moment to pant in the shade...

It was so fun to see people dressed in period clothing, working at their various tasks around Williamsburg! This lady was shoveling and moving coal. The girls felt so bad for her...we very nearly went over and asked if we could help, but she finished before we could do so. We also felt bad for them in the heat, with layers of petticoats, dresses, and long-sleeved frock coats. We can't even imagine what they do mid-summer. Although the Governor's maid chided the ladies of our tour group for showing so much leg, we decided we were willing to put up with a bit of period "indecency" for the relative coolness. Good gracious!!!

To wrap it all up, we watched the militia gather on the village green every afternoon. Here is Washington inspecting his troops...

The militia would then demonstrate a firing exercise with their guns and then with the cannon. The sulfur smell and noise of just a few weapons was impressive; we couldn't imagine what it would have been like on a battlefield with thousands of soldiers, combined with the horrors of warfare. Our brave Revolutionary War soldiers went through so much for our country. 

 

All in all, Williamsburg was such a fun adventure, and we hope to return someday! Fare thee well, Virginia...we're off to Pennsylvania!