{JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT}
Billed as a living-history of 17th-century Virginia, the Settlement has English ships, colonial forts, Powhatan Village, and some discovery areas by the riverfront.To be expected, the whole experience started with a short, 24-minute film, that told of the story of how and why the first Englishmen sailed to the New World, specifically James Town, named after King James I of England. These short introductory films are a great way to start the tour, in my opinion. They set the stage and transport you all those years ago as to how people lived.
This particular film, Witness 1607: A Nation Takes Root, tells of the colony's first 2 decades. It stresses the convergence of different cultures in Virginia, namely those of the English, the Powhatan Indians, and the Congo Africans, brought in as slaves/captives.
We had a glimpse of the daily life of the Powhatan Indians in a recreated village. There were lots of Indian tents/tepees...huge structures made of dried, woven straw. In Filipino, banig, hehehe. There were fox skins, even an intact bear skin! We saw this lady making rope out of raffia; she had soaked them and was just rolling them until they became rope for weaving baskets. Pretty cool.
There were replicas of the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, the ships of the first English men and boys to arrive at Jamestown. Never knew how tiny the bunk spaces were, or, for that matter, how cramped the spaces the men had to live in!
Some fun things we saw included a canoe being made from the huge trunk of a tree. Before being carved though, hot coals were put on top to soften the hardened wood. Then, using oyster shells, the Indians would proceed to carve out the wood painstakingly. As for the bottom of the canoe, they did the exact same thing, but they flattened the bottom for better balance out on the water.
There was also a full-scale replica of James Fort, a colonial palisade. Copying from the brochure (so I can refer to my blog for scrapping purposes, obviously, hehehe): With 3 bulwarks at the corners for defense, a triangular-shaped palisade was home to Jamestown's earliest colonists, and included wattle-and-daub houses with thatched roofs, a storehouse, a court of guard and a church.
Japa even tried on some early armor and helmet just for fun :)
{HISTORIC JAMESTOWN}
This is the original settlement site and home to the newly constructed Archaearium (ar-KEE-air-ee-um), and archaeological museum. There were ongoing excavations while we were there, and the Archaearium housed items from the time of the first settlement and even beyond, proof that the Indians were a progressive people.The rediscovery of James Fort and the remains of the town show of the English struggle for survival during the settlement's ear;y years. African-inspired ceramics and tobacco hoes used by 17th centure servants and slaves serve as a reminder of the silent African presence in the area.
Perhaps the MOST famous faces of Historic Jamestown are those of the legendary Pocahontas and John Smith. And no, don't believe the romance between the 2 as what Disney shows in their films :). Pocahontas was waaaaay too young for John Smith, and she ended up marrying John Rolfe. And contrary to Disney's Pocahontas II film, she never went back to her people. She died while in England.
The driving tour was pathetic compared to Yorktown's driving tour. We just saw "a glimpse of the natural environment that the settlers first encountered". Hehehe. Basically, trees, trees and more trees. Beautiful trees, don't get me wrong, but 5 miles of all-trees was too much trees for me :). In fact, I asked Japa to drive the last few miles since I was really very sleepy and ended up taking a catnap on the way back to the Visitors Center.
{DINNER}
O.M.G!!! What a dinner we just had! Holy Cow!!! It was barbecue buffet night at Golden Corral right on Richmond Road. Every night, they have a differently-themed buffet (also for lunch, btw!), and we sure picked a GOOD night to drop by! There were chicken, pork, steak, and all sorts of barbecued meats. There were the usual salad bar, the fixin's bar and the dessert bar! And all for $10 per person! This is dinner, folks!!! Hehehehe. What a time we had! Japa had 3-4 humongous steaks and he enjoyed every single bite of it!Oh and if you have kids, you can't beat $1.99 and $2.99 per kid, depending on the age range. So the next time we're in town, this is definitely going to be a stop for us! :)
Ok, time to check my email, pack, and go to bed. We leave for Hershey, Pennsylvania tomorrow....driving almost 5 hours! :)
TTFN!
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