The American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, Virginia

A replica of a Continental Army encampment during the Revolutionary War

In my last blog post--click here to read--I showed the first part of an excursion my husband and I took while on an East Coast Princess Cruise, It's third stop was in Norfork, Virginia, where we first visited historic Jamestown--the first British settlement in America. The second part of the 7-hour excursion was a visit to The American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, Virginia. The siege of Yorktown, in 1781, was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America and led to General Cornwallis's surrender and his army's capture. The Continental Army's victory at Yorktown prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the war.

The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is a historic attraction that tells the history of America's founding in Colonial Williamsburg. Their website states: "...this interactive museum is the perfect place to start your adventure of the United States' Historic Triangle. You will learn about the twilight of the colonial period, to George Washington and the Revolutionary War, to the dawn of the writing of the Constitution. Visit art gallery exhibits, participate in live reenactments, view amazing exhibit displays featuring period artifacts, learn about General Washington."

We did meet George Washington! 

We were able to go inside his tent and saw how the General ate and slept on the battlefield.

A revolution-era Farm was on display with re-enactors demonstrating the life of a farm family during the 18th century.

I also admired all the flowers blooming on the property, especially the large magnolias in the trees

We saw a demonstration of how a cannon was fired back in the 18th century--it required three people to load and fire it!

There were informational placards all around the outside museum grounds.....

Click on each photo below to enlarge it for easier viewing.

After touring the outside exhibits we went inside the museum building.

The museum displayed an expansive American Revolution timeline, hundreds of period artifacts such as weapons, paintings, maps, and furniture, and had immersive films while learning about the history of North America.

We first watched a short film about the Siege of Yorktown displayed on a 180-degree surround screen.

Please click on the photos to enlarge it

We then strolled through the galleries to read as much as possible in the time we had left.

A copy of a statue of George Washington located in the Virginia State Capital, and information about the General who was to become America's first President. 

Please click on the photo to enlarge it. 

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting both historic Jamestown and Yorktown. If you are interested in learning more about the early formation of our country, these sites offer wonderful immersive experiences.

We had one more stop to shore to make while on our ten-day cruise--next stop is Charleston, South Carolina--on my next post!

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Norfolk, Virginia, and Historic Jamestown Rediscovery

Thank you to all who read my prior blog post about the wildfire that was in our community and expressed concern for the residents and firefighters. Thankfully, due to the extraordinary diligence and heroism of many local firefighter units, Specialty Wildfire"Hot Shot" crews, aerial support with helicopter and tanker planes dumping water, and our sheriff's department maintaining security in evacuated areas and keeping us informed with daily press conferences, the wildfire was brought under full containment by August 7th.  No loss of life or loss of structures occurred. We were all extremely grateful and relieved for all the efforts to keep us safe!

I'm continuing today on my blog to show another stop at our June Princess Cruise when we traveled from New York along the East Coast and back to New York.  We visited Peggy's Cove in Halifax, Nova Scotia, The John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, and our third stop was Norfolk, Virginia!

Norfolk, Virginia is home to the Naval Station Norfolk-- the world’s largest naval base!  There are many sites and museums dedicated to honoring the US military in the Norfork area, including the Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin. The USS Wisconsin is a battleship that participated in WWII, the Korean War, and the Gulf War.

We were fortunate to see many naval ships at the docks of the Naval Station Norfork as our cruise ship sailed toward the city port. 

 We chose to take a day excursion to visit historic Jamestown, the first colonial site of British America. 

On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company settlers landed on Jamestown Island to establish an English colony 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Discovery of the exact location of the first fort indicates its site was in a secure place, where Spanish ships could not fire point blank into the fort.

Please click on the photo to enlarge it to read the informational placard.

Our tour guide told us a brief history of Jamestown and encouraged us to first visit the Native Powhatan village re-enactment area. My husband and I visited Jamestown many decades ago and we were amazed by how much has been done in the later years to tell its story! Over 25 years of exploration have established the location of the fort and principal buildings and recovered more than three million artifacts. The archaeological site of the actual settlement is located one mile from the Jamestown Rediscovery Visitors Center.

A replica of a Powhatan Village.

 

A view inside of what a Powhatan home would look like in the 17th century.

Many re-enactors demonstrated the life skills of the Powhatan natives of the 17th century.

In June of 1606, King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish an English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. In December of that year, 104 settlers sailed from London with Company instructions to build a secure settlement, find gold, and seek a water route to the Pacific. They sailed on three ships, replicas of which we were able to board during our tour.

A re-enactor described the Jamestown settlers' voyage west,

The Jamestown settlement has a stocked defense built around it for protection.

The replica Jamestown settlement had re-enactors that demonstrated everyday life during the early years.   To date, archaeologists have excavated approximately 80% of the original 1607 triangular fort and 50% of the expanded 5-sided 1608 fort, yielding some 3 million artifacts from the settlement’s early years, increasing knowledge about the site and the people that lived there.

We watched this re-enactor show us how a 17th-century musket was fired.  You can watch a YouTube of the process I filmed at this link.

After visiting the replica villages we entered the Jamestown Rediscovery Visitor's Center Museum to look at all the interesting exhibits.

There we learned fascinating facts about John Smith, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, Chief Powhatan, the first Africans, the First General Assembly, and the names of the First Settlers.

Please click on the photo to enlarge it and read the museum's informational placards.

Please click on the photo collage to read the information about the early starvation the settlers faced and the story of Captain John Smith.

Jamestown is managed by two separate organizations, Jamestown Rediscovery (Preservation Virginia) and Colonial National Historical Park (National Park Service). Each location requires a fee to enter, so visitors should expect to buy both tickets to see the full site.

We spent two hours exploring Jamestown Rediscovery and could have spent even more time there, but we had a part two visit to our excursion which was visiting nearby Yorktown--the last battle of the American Revolutionary War.  That will be on my next post!

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Home Again ... and a Wedding Story

I hope everyone had a safe, happy and reflective Memorial Day weekend. It was good to remember and honor the brave men and women in the military who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom throughout our country's history.

I am sorry that I have not been around for the last week to visit your blogs, but I flew out to Denver, Colorado, last weekend to help baby sit my grandson, as my daughter-in-law was preparing for her sister's wedding this weekend.

( All photos will enlarge when clicked on and then clicked on again.  Use your browser back arrow to return to the post)

I just love all the charming little cottages that I see in parts of Denver, and I can never resist taking photos of them, and I have many more photos of them from past visits on this link.

Of course my little grandson also kept my camera busy this week......

.......as he is a happy bundle of energy and is beginning to have a lot to say!

We played lots of "basketball games" -- his favorite activity of the moment.

Then at the end of the week we all flew from Denver to Alexandria, Virginia.

Old Town Alexandria is a wonderful colonial period town, full of beautiful and historical sights to see, but we were there for a very special reason....

....a wonderful country themed wedding in a Virginia garden for a couple who met and fell in love in college in Virginia Tech. 

Everything was absolutely perfect ......

....from the lush garden setting where the air was full of bird song.....

...to the accompaniment of classical melodies by a string quartet.

The beautiful bride and handsome groom exchanged their vows and now will begin a long life together. I wish the new couple much love and happiness always!

Little grandson was dressed up to be the wedding ring bearer in the ceremony.........

...but when the time came he could not be peacefully lured away from watching the string quartet play.  Luckily it was not totally unexpected, and the best man had the real rings!

Inside a wonderful wedding celebration was about to begin..........

....and I am happy to report that little grandson put on his dancing shoes and had a good time at his Aunt and Uncle's wedding!   All in all it was a wonderful week with my little one and I already miss him so much ... until next time.

I'm adding this beautiful garden wedding to the "Outdoor Wednesday" event over at Susan's blog A Southern Daydreamer. Please visit Susan and see her aways wonderful contribution, and to see links to other participating blogs and their many other outdoor events.