Colonial Williamsburg ~ A Step Back in Time

March 18 and 19

When we were first asked to pay the $41 admission to the Revolutionary City of Williamsburg, we were a little shocked. But by the time we left, we felt it was well worth the cost. So much has been invested in the restoration and the ongoing presentation of this colonial era city. Many of the buildings still stand as they were in the 1700s, others have been rebuilt after several different fires destroyed them.

The thing that impressed us most was that the men and women who walk the streets and tend the shops are so authentic. They have so immersed themselves into the culture that they represent, that you could easily forget it is 2015. Ask them a question and they answer as if it really were in the mid 1700s.

When I was young, we had a neighbor who had one identity...a drunk*. And as a drunk, if he wasn't lying around at home, he was at the tavern. Thus, a tavern in my mind was BAD. But taverns back in the day were simply restaurants or inns. They were places where people stopped to eat or sleep if traveling, or just to catch up on a bit of news or gossip while getting a bite to eat. Sheild's Tavern was one of four in town and the only one with available seating on both days we were there for lunch.

Shield's Tavern

The first day we were there we were seated in the basement, in what would have been the wine cellar. It was quite cozy and snug, mostly just lit with candles.  The second day we were served upstairs near a big fireplace in what had previously been the kitchen.

At the weaver's shop, a woman was spinning flax. Behind her were two looms that were set up to create two different fabrics. It was our understanding that most, if not all, of the clothing worn in the city is woven on site and made at the nearby milliners. They spin wool, cotton and flax. Both the flax and wool are produced on site and dyed with naturally resourced dyes.
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An accomplished weaver spinning flax to be woven into linen cloth

Naturally dyed woolen yarn

One of the rare-breed ewes that provides wool for the weaver's shop

Lambs wool being carded

On Duke of Gloucester Street, we found the shoemaker hard at work resoling a pair of shoes. While some of the city reenactors wore modern, sturdy shoes, many wore shoes created right in his shop. An experienced shoemaker can produce a pair of fine dress shoes in ten to twelve hours but lower end ones take much less time.

The shoemaker re-heeling a pair of shoes

A small fire burned continually at the shoemakers to keep the leather and glue warm

Still under British rule, a Christian living in Williamsburg would have been required to attend only the Church of England. If they wanted to worship elsewhere, they would need to petition the courts. While at the courthouse, we observed a reenactment in which a group of Presbyterians petitioned for the right to build their own meeting house on the edge of town. A copy of the original document was read and the court's approval of it. The humble building still stands.

Presbyterian Meeting House

*Just to clarify...this is not a title that my parents gave our neighbor, it was just my childish impression of how things were.