Day 54 – Colonial History is So Classy, Mystery Rash, Williamsburg is for the Dogs

This morning we tried out our new toaster oven. We were inspired by George and Roxanne’s set up in their Aliner, and we picked up a light duty oven at Walmart. We can only use it when we’re camped somewhere with electrical hookups. The fried eggs and toast breakfast was a great start to the day. On the way out to the road, Karen stopped for a morning session of corn surfing.

We took highway 60 south past the Toana Gun Shop, the Alpaca Wool Store, and the Williamsburg outlet mall to the Colonial Parkway. This led us to Jamestowne Island Colonial National Historical Park.

This is the site of the original English colony started in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, whose sole purpose was to add to the wealth of the crown. Other stated purposes of the company were to establish a defense against Spanish colonial efforts, and to bring ‘civilization’ to the indigenous people. Their trials and tribulations (the colonist’s as well as the native Americans’) are well documented in the exhibits here. I don’t know how anyone survived at all on this swampy, insect-ridden, and overgrown island.

We had a very entertaining introductory ranger tour, and then we walked around the several active archeological digs on the grounds. The Voorhees Archaearium displays many interesting artifacts recovered at the Jamestowne Fort and adjacent grounds.

Karen got up close and personal with Pocahontas. We also learned that John Smith may have exaggerated a bit when he told the story of being rescued by the resourceful Pocahontas - one of the exhibits pointed out that Smith had, on several previous occasions, spoken of being saved by fair maidens in other, unrelated, adventures. Hey, maybe he was just one of those totally irresistible guys!

The site of the old glassblowing kilns now hosts daily glassblowing demonstrations using the techniques common to that era. There's nothing like standing around a blast furnace on a hot spring afternoon.

Spending the past couple of months hiking through humid rainforests and woodlands, Karen started to develop a rash on her feet. It seemed to be expanding over the last few days, so we made a visit to an urgent care center in Williamsburg to have it checked out. After a thorough examination, the medical opinion was: “Jeez, I don’t really know what that is…”.

Since we were already in Williamsburg, we thought we’d check out the old town section and see some colonial re-enactors. Somewhat sadly, visions of Tombstone, AZ (and the cheesy theme park vibe attendant to it) came to mind, especially in comparison to what we’d seen at Jamestowne.

Nevertheless, we found a local watering hole that caters to the nearby College of William and Mary students, and which was recommended by the people at the Two Drummers Smokehouse (dinner last night). We found their brand of ‘cheese’ (see dog art on every vertical surface) more preferable, particularly when combined with local beer and homemade pasta. When Karen finished her second cosmopolitan martini, the rash on her feet began to clear up. Just what the doctor ordered?

Tonight, we both feel ready for anything the road has to offer us…

 

Next: Fredricksburg