Travels in History

Day Six: Issues Facing a New Nation

After our last buffet breakfast at the Williamsburg Lodge (tomorrow we go someplace else) we set out by bus down the Colonial Parkway to Yorktown.

Our first stop was the National Park Service visitor center, where we looked around outside a bit and then went in and watched their video (good but a bit outdated) and spent time in the museum and the shop.

Paige talks about the battle.

The bus took us over to Redoubts 9 and 10.

It is certainly cooler today, but still hot enough to want to talk in the shade. That is Redoubt #10 in the background.

We walked over Redoubt #9 too before getting back on the bus.

Our next stop was Surrender Field.

Normally there is an excellent audio recording here, telling the story of the dramatic surrender, with sound effects and everything, but it is broken, so Paige had to read the text to us. Still very good, but not so dramatic.

I did tape most of the narration (I missed the first few words) last summer, and I am putting it up on youtube. I'll post the link when it is done uploading.

Since we started the week with ideas about what it means to be an American, the surrender at Yorktown, which effectively marks the end of the American Revolution, seemed an appropriate moment to stop and reflect on what we had learned, and what the victory means. We wrote our reflections after we heard about the surrender. I wrote a poem, but I don't like it. I like the one from 2008 better. But that post reminds me how much better the wifi is this year!

We took the bus through the town of Yorktown, stopping to look at a few sites, and then we went back to Williamsburg for lunch at Sheild's Tavern.

 After lunch we were back at Bruton Heights for lessons on the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. This is a new section of the week, last year we ended at Yorktown.

Then each of the value tensions groups had a chance to present their projects. Everyone did a good job, some with humor, some with more serious approaches, but all with thought. Each of the groups demonstrated the ways their particular value tension came up during the week, and how different events show attempts to bring these tensions into balance. 

The tensions are:

Equality vs. Freedom

Unity vs. Diversity

Common Wealth vs. Private Wealth

Law vs. Ethics.

We had a little time after that to walk around, or do whatever before returning to Shield's Tavern for dinner. The menu was different than lunch, but we ate in the same room!

Now we are all packing up. We check out first thing tomorrow, although we still have half a day of program left before we all leave the 18th century behind and return to our regularly scheduled 21st century summers.

Day Five: Colonial Economy and Events Leading to Revolution

After another wonderful buffet breakfast at the Williamsburg Lodge, we were back in the basement of the Brick House Tavern to work on the Global Economy, 17th and 18th century style.

We did an activity outside where the street served as the Atlantic Ocean and we played the parts of traders, merchants, and even pirates and the British Navy.

The white papers on the ground are the names of places. This might be a good one to do with my classes next year.

Our next activity was a discussion with "A Person of the Past" as it says on our schedule, in this case merchant John Greenhow, who owns a shop on Duke of Gloucester Street here in Williamsburg. He reminded us about the importance of the credit system, tobacco notes, and the scarce nature of "ready money," that is currency. He also instructed us about the importance of reputation and good bookkeeping for merchants in the 18th century.

We then ventured out into the town to visit the trade shops. I went to the Printing Office, Milliner and Tailor, the Silversmith, and the Apothecary.

Others went to the Brickyard, the Carpenter and Joiner, the Wigmaker, and of course got a little shopping in at Tarpley's or Greenhow's too.

We had boxed lunches of fried chicken from Chowning's and then we were back to finish up our discussion of the economy.

Our next stop was Charleton's Coffeehouse for a bit of political discussion, and of course no gossip, but just a bit of "spreading the news."

The coffeehouse is one of the newest buildings in town, I remember brining students just a few years ago to look at the archaeology going on here, and now the building is finished. At the CW website about the coffeehouse there are links to videos of the reconstruction of the building.

And of course we were offered tea, coffee, or chocolate. I had chocolate.

After enjoying our conversation and our drinks, we went back to Brick House for time to work on the Value Tensions Projects. 

At 5:00 we were off to the Capitol for our Rights and Controversies Debate. The Fifth Virginia Convention voted to tell their delegates at the Continental Congress to propose independence. The vote was unanimous in the real event, probably because the loyalist members had stopped coming to the Convention.  Our debate went well, and the patriots did win, but it was close.

I was a patriot, but also the clerk, so I got to read the resolution.

Resolved, that the delegates appointed to represent this colony in General Congress be instructed to propose to the respectable body TO DECLARE THE UNITED COLONIES FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES absolved from all allegiance to or dependence upon the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain. Resolved, that a committee be appointed to prepare A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, and such a plan of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in this colony, and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people.

 

Day Four: Colonial Life in 18th Century Virginia

Today we looked at the ways people lived in 18th century Virginia, starting on a middling size plantation. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has created Great Hope Plantation to show modern visitors what such a place would have been like, but it is smaller than they would have been, and much to close to the Capitol city. Other than that, however, they do everything they can to represent the buildings, crops, livestock, and work of a middling plantation in the 18th century.

We learned about the slave trade, and the conditions for slaves on small plantations. 

Of course the big topic was tobacco, how to plant it, tend it, harvest it, and what a big pain it is to work on. We certainly got a quick taste of how hot it was working in the fields. We were there first thing in the morning, but it was still amazingly hot and uncomfortable, and there was no way to get cooler unless a light wind happened to reach you.

We got a mini-lesson on splitting the tobacco plant and getting it ready to dry in the barn.

More later, it is time to start Day 5.

Day Three: Government!

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.

Day Two: How Do We Create History

Friday was a primary source, classroom focused day. Which was good, since it meant we spent more time indoors as the news forecast record heat. I don't know if it broke records, but I do know it was hot! We started out at Wetherburn Tavern for a behind-the-scenes look at an 18th century tavern and the family and slaves who worked and lived there.

I love this desk in the private room for rent. Wetherburn impressed his upper class visitors with his fine things, and provided the very best in private rooms to rent. He was very busy when the government was in session.

As we left the main tavern building we looked in the out-buildings:

Preparations for dinner.

Huge spinning wheel.

We went from there to the Dewitt Wallace Museum where we did an excellent activity on how to be more effective using political cartoons in the classroom (I did not take photos).

Then we walked around the collection of paintings, furniture, and other 18th century collections examining the objects themselves, but also how to use 3-d objects to teach history.

My favorite object:

Recognize him? Clearly it is Ben Franklin. But the English potter got it wrong, look at the name on the base.

We traveld to Bruton Heights School where there are classrooms we can use, and did an activity with more primary sources and then enjoyed a fantastic interpreter doing Ann Ashby. I have done this one before, but I enjoy it every time.

We finished the afternoon with an exploration of the electronic resources available on various CW sites, an application session, and dinner brought in to us.  Most of us took a trip to the visitor center afterwards to start our shopping at the bookstore there.

 

Our First Full Day

The forecast was for hot humid weather, and that is what we got. But it did not stop us from our first full day.

We started out after breakfast at the Williamsburg Lodge driving down the Colonial Parkway to Jamestown.  The site is owned half by the National Park Service and half by Preservation Virginia (formerly APVA). Every time I go there is more of the original fort uncovered.

 Here is one of the major sites of excavation for this summer. You can read more about it here.

Bill Kelso, the man who thought it was really worth looking for the Jamestown landing site, was there working when we visited.

It was close to 100 degrees.

Our next stop was for lunch at the Jamestown Settlement. This is the site of a memorial to the Jamestown settlers and a reconstruction of the fort, a local Powhatan village, and the three ships, the Godspeed, the Susan Constant, and the Discovery. 

The Native American reconstructed village.

The sun came down hard by the docks, it was 1:00, and just about as hot as we could stand. I must admit, since this is a place we visit every year on the Castilleja 8th grade trip, I did not feel too guilty cutting my visit short and spending most of my time in the air conditioned museum. It really is a fantastic museum, renovated completely in 2007 for the 400th anniversary.

 I walked through the reconstructed fort, but I did not stay long. I did stop in the church, and thought about how men must have felt coming from England, and maybe having seen churches there, like King's College Chapel in Cambridge, and then to come to what they saw as wilderness and listen services in a rough wooden church like this one. In some ways the small global world seems to start with this kind of change. A small group of Europeans coming to the Americas, and settling in, changing the world, but not living long enough to see the results.

We took the bus back to Williamsburg and took a short break. I came back to the room and happened to catch the exciting finish of Stage 15 of the Tour de France. We met back up at 4:30 and Paige took us on a tour of some of the historic district.

We walked from Brick House Tavern, where I am staying, and many of the other teachers are too, down to the Governor's Palace.  We were hot.

I imagine this guy was even hotter.

We had a wonderful dinner at Christina Campbell's Tavern, and then finished the day reading and discussing documents in the basement of Brick House Tavern.

Our Last Day in Cambridge

We spent much of the day packing, and cleaning up the house. We have one more checked bag than we came with, which is not bad, I think. It is a giant cardboard box, just under the inches limit for checked luggage. Mostly it is filled with the giant wicker bike baskets we got, but of course the extra space around them came in handy for a few other things we bought over the three months. And we donated some items to Oxfam too, all part of the global flat world.

Off to the city centre.

So many of these bikes around Cambridge, such a sensible way to travel.

King's in more beautiful sunshine.

We saw this magpie on the way back to the house.

They raced up the street to the house, but have to wait for me with the key.

Flowers blooming out in the back yard.

We never sat outside, but I think if we had a few more days like today we would have!

The children are slightly addicted to my iPad. I think they are playing Angry Birds here, but it might be Harry Potter Scene It or Cut the Rope.

We are all packed, and we are optimistic that none of the bags are over the allowed 23 kg. The hire care will arrive at 4:45 am tomorrow to take us to Heathrow. Our adventures in Cambridge are coming to an end. But I can't imagine that we won't come back to England, somehow.

 

Back to London!

Daniel had suggested going to the Science Museum, and we did not want to rush on Tuesday, so we decided to go back on Wednesday, leaving a little later, and packing a lunch for the train.

The sun is out and look, there are green leaves on the trees!

In the taxi on the way to the station. I love there there are plenty of cabs with room for six in the back.

We took the Tube from King's Cross to South Kensington and walked to the museums. I liked this poster.

Linda went to the V&A, while the rest of us went to the Science Museum. We were more awake this time, and more able to enjoy it.

Visiting museums on weekdays means more school groups. They are hard to miss. Some of them have on matching hats, rather than vests. And most of them have school uniforms too.

Back to the cool globe with the changing satellite images.

I loved the exhibit on "The Secret Life of the Home" with technologies and systems for every part of the home, from these automatic tea machines to home security, ironing, games, etc.

I think this is the look Elizabeth gave me when I said something about listening to records when I was a kid.

First generation iPod at the museum. You can read about how it got there here.

Time for a rest near the pontoon plane.

Cool stuff.

And blue sky above!

We walked over to the V&A to meet Linda and have some tea. 

Alex and Daniel discuss the next move.

The V&A really does have the most amazing decorations in the cafe.

One stop on the tube to Knightsbridge and Harrods.

We looked around the food halls a bit. Crowded, expensive, and amazing!

Then up to toys, where there were many fun things to look at.

We do not need more soft toys!

We had dinner down the block at a pub, then headed back to King's Cross where we got the 7:45 train back to Cambridge.

Trip to London

Today we set out to London with two destinations in mind: the Transport Museum and the Eye. We set out from a very crowded Cambridge train station on the 10:26.

That hat is really easy to see in a crowd.

We took the tube to Covent Garden and of course had a quick stop in the market. Then we had lunch at the Transport Museum Cafe. Not an amazing success with the kids! But they were good sports about the unfamiliar food.

Daniel followed the stamping map for kids. Elizabeth gave her's back, she is too cool for that sort of thing!

Mostly about public transport, bikes do make a few appearances at the museum.

   Great old London busses.

 Students on a field trip are easy to find in these vests!

Isn't that the truth.

Nice hat.

 Not sure why Elizabeth was giving me "the look" here in Covent Garden Market. We actually had a lovely time. The kids got leather bound journals. They are lovely, and Daniel has been writing a story in his!

Walking to the Tube.

Daniel was excited to go to Cleopatra's Needle, since it is so important in the Red Pyramid.

Daniel wanted everyone in the photo, Elizabeth was not so sure.

With the Sphinx.

Our next stop was the London Eye. We got very lucky, and had the entire flight to ourselves!

Daniel drawing in his new journal.

Elizabeth took this one of me.

You just can't beat the view from here! 

Plenty of room for us to spread out and relax. There were other people there, and even several large groups, but there was no line, and we just happened to walk up at a time when there were no others around.

Fantastic views, even with cloud cover.

Elizabeth took this one too.

 Almost back down, time to put on coats.

Next stop, a little refreshment.

We walked a little way along the Embankment to cross the river.

Elizabeth with Big Ben.

Working our way toward the bridge.

Maybe I should take a few more photos without the hat. But he wears it all the time.

The Eye dominates the skyline, but in a good way.

We took the Tube back to King's Cross, grabbed some quick dinner, and caught the 7:15 back to Cambridge.

 

 

Saturday in London

Since the children and grandma are arriving very early Sunday morning, we went into London on Saturday to stay overnight and make it to Heathrow in time for the flight. Of course we entertained ourselves in London first!

History does matter, especially when it is historic water mains! If you can't read it, one of the lines says that about 40% of the pipes are at least 100 years old. I hope someone is paying attention to this history.

Our first destination was Tate Britain, but of course we walked around a bit first. And Alex took photos.

We walked around Westminster, but we did not go in. The lines were long, and the price high. And we have been there before.

The sun came out a little on the Houses of Parliament.

We walked the long way around, but finally arrived at the Tate. And our first stop was the cafe for lunch, but then we went on to the Turners, at the moment displayed in the larger context of the Romantics.

We also enjoyed the gallery of the classics from the collection. 

And then for something completely different: Portobello Road. We had enjoyed the antiques market at Covent Garden on Mondays, and we figured why not see what the really big market was like.

The answer: full of people. But quite fun, and great for the people watching. We did not buy much, some coffee spoons. But we looked at lots of fun stuff, and watched crazy people.

It must be crazy to live near there on a Saturday. After that we headed back to the West End, where we had tickets to The Mousetrap. I say it in the early 1980s, but I did not remember it exactly, and Alex had not seen it. Since it has been playing continuously since 1952, we thought we should help them keep that record up.  So we located the theater and picked up our tickets at will-call before finding a place to have dinner.

It has been playing here since 1974. Before that it was at the Ambassador next door.

Most things don't get a blue plaque until they are dead and gone.

We ended up eating at a pub called The Cambridge. Good food, and not crazy expensive. And an appropriate name for our trip.

We had seats up near the top, but the view was great. We were not supposed to take photos, but I didn't think one before the show would hurt.

The play was great, and I am not going to tell you who did it. I did not remember too much of it at all, and I am never any good at figuring out mysteries.

We took the tube to Earl's Court where we were staying in an EasyHotel (from the same people who brought us EasyJet).

This is one of those minimalist places, just a bed and a shower room. But when we checked in they gave us the handicapped accessible room, so it did not feel that small. No frills (no chair, no desk, you pay extra for the TV), but we were there for about 8 hours, so it was just what we needed, and the price was right.