Today was hot, no surprise, but we did not have long periods outside, and we drank water all the time, so we were all fine. On our way to the Palace around 1:30 in the afternoon I checked the weather channel app on the phone, and it said 104. And then there is the humidity.
Bunny, our guide for the day, calls this a magic room, and she has a good point. That big chair in the back is original, it was here in the 1760s. And we talked about the men who learned how to govern in this room: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, George Mason, Edmund Randolph, just to name a few. They were all here. Well, the building burned down several times, so this is a reconstruction, but they had all the plans. And the chair is the real thing.
We moved into the building next to the palace, the oldest government archives in North America, or so they claim, to do an elections activity. Then on to the courthouse for a trial.
We had good strong leadership from this fellow, who played the part of the chief justice himself.
He got some help from our teachers as the clerk and the other justices, as well as the plaintiff and the defendant, we are just to the right and left of this photo.
Then it was off to lunch, and then into Bruton Parish Church for a discussion of the third, and most local, form of government in the 18th century, the parish. On the way we stopped to enjoy the fife and drums.
Our next stop was the Palace, but we were really there first to take advantage of the AC, because our next program was also about religion. We heard from Moses, a "new light" minister. He was one of the two founders of the first Baptist church in Williamsburg, so he was a dissenter.
After our Great Awakening interpretation, including some excellent singing, we had a short break, and then a visit from Lady Dunmore. I have seen Darcy Tucker do Lady Dunmore on each of my previous visits, but as always she was impressive! Her command of the character is masterful!
She took us through the house, and briefly into the garden, and then back to Palace Advance East to answer more of our questions. At the end, she turned herself back into Darcy and answered questions about how she does the part.
She thought it was great that my photos of her from last year were in so many student projects.
We did some more work after she left, setting up a debate for a few days from now, and doing our application session, before it was time to head to Chowning's Tavern for dinner. As always too much fantastic food.
We had a little break to go back to our rooms, refresh, etc. before our 8:30 tickets to "Mama Said, Papa Said," a two person African story-telling show. It was fantastic again, and the story where the teachers are the four brothers had me laughing so hard I was crying.
I watched the end of the Tour de France time trial, and now am on my way to bed.
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