Norton travels, USA and beyond: Williamsburg, Virginia

The state of North Carolina has some very nice museums – art, history, and science, and all free! We went to these on Saturday and Monday, delaying our departure from Raleigh until Tuesday because of inclement weather. It was hard to leave anyway, my sister lives too far away for me to see her very often. But we said our goodbyes (my niece was especially sad to see Okie leave) and headed for Williamsburg, Virginia. We stopped along the way at the Petersburg National Battlefield, site of one of the large final battles of the Civil War.

Colonial Williamsburg is one of my favorite places (I’ve been before) because of all the history that is so well portrayed here. I think it is somewhere every American should visit in their lifetime. There are many historic buildings to visit, some original and others reconstructed, from the time of the Revolutionary War. All the workers are costumed in the 1700’s styles and play the parts of townspeople of the era. There are many trade shops with tradesmen to show how their craft is done. We also learned about the legal system and daily life of the colonial time period. We saw General Washington review the troops in anticipation of the looming battle against Cornwallis, and heard the fife and drum corps play. A couple of the highlights were listening to George Washington discuss the events taking place that were leading the colonies toward war, and Thomas Jefferson discussing his ideas about government. The actors did an excellent job conveying the concerns of their era as well as instilling a greater appreciation of what they accomplished. But some of their concerns such as debt, taxation, size of government, and liberty are some of the same issues we still face today. An important message of Williamsburg is to learn from history so that mistakes of the past are not repeated. This area is part of the Historic Triangle, with two more important historical sites to visit before we leave. If you don’t know what they are, tune in next week!