Colonial Williamsburg - Day 3

Our third day in Williamsburg our first stop was the courthouse. When we'd been there the day before, the girls found out that they would be "holding court" the next morning so they were anxious to see that. It was still pretty chilly so Little Bit is snuggled in the stroller under my wrap (she rode in it on my back some this week, and actually nursed to sleep and napped in it one day, most we've used the wrap with her in a long time LOL) being entertained by the fact that she's wearing mittens LOL. I snapped the picture to show a friend that we're still getting good use out of the hand-me-down stroller she gave us when the twins were probably younger than Little Bit is now, but it's a cute picture, and proof that Little Bit WAS with us that day so I'll include it LOL.

Another stop that day was the printing office. It's only open in the mornings so we made a point of going there right after court. The girls spent quite awhile asking questions and listening to the printer. There was a nice fire burning in the fireplace so I was pretty content to let them stay in there as long as they wanted LOL.

We also talked to an employee who said they used to do a "Felicity Tour" where they pointed out buildings similar to the fictitious ones in Felicity. She pointed out that a house similar to a merchant's house, and also mentioned that the pictures of "Merriman's store" in the book are patterned after the Prentice Store. So of COURSE the girls wanted to go to Prentice Store but when we got there, the store was closed that day, so we went to Tarpley's store instead. The lady there pointed out that the picture in the book is kind of a "melding" of Prentice Store and Tarpley's store because in the picture, the building is Prentice Store but there's a porch like the one on Tarpley's. She also told us that to get a better idea of what it would have been like INSIDE a store, we should go to Greenhow's store. So we added Greenhow's store to our "to go to" list.

We made sure to visit the Governor's Palace this day, because it was the day that they were demonstrating chocolate making in the Palace Kitchen. The girls each got a turn at using the huge mortar and pestle to grind the cocoa beans into cocoa nibs. And then when we stopped back by the kitchen after our tour of the Palace, they actually got to help melt the chocolate (but those pictures are on my dad's, and I think Rodney's, cameras, I was keeping Little Bit entertained at that point). Apparently, they don't normally let the kids do that part, but the chef made the mistake of telling MiniMe that she wasn't strong enough to do it, so of course she had to prove them wrong. And did, quite well LOL. And of course, if MiniMe gets to do something, Sassy's not going to be left out.

The girls had alot of fun touring the Governor's Palace too. The tour guide was "in character" and wouldn't admit it wasn't 1770 or whatever year he said it was (quite afew places there are doing that now, but each building is a different year so I didn't bother to even pretend to try to keep track of which ones were which) so when MiniMe expressed "concern" about the governor having so many weapons in his entry hall, that he could use against the colonists, and the tour guide pretend he couldn't fathom why anyone wouldn't be loyal to the governor. So MiniMe told him she was "from the future" and that soon the colonies would be at war with England and France would be their allies. I wasn't sure how he felt about her taking over his tour like that (there were quite a few other people on the same tour), but as we walked to the next room he made a point of telling one of the "servants" in the house about "this young lady who claims we'll soon be allies with France, can you imagine?" So I figured he must be ok with it if he was going to encourage it LOL. At the end of the tour, once we were outside and he would admit it was 2012 LOL, I stopped to ask him what HAD happened to all those weapons when the war started (the governor had fled by then, so the colonists used them, if you wondered) and he told us how much he'd enjoyed having the girls on the tour.

Another stop that day was the colonial gardens. There wasn't a whole lot going on there since it's still pretty much winter but there were some plants growing in "greenhouses" (with windowpane lids to let in the sun and trap the warmth) and the girls got to water the plants.

We also went to the shoe maker, but he didn't seem especially interested in answering our questions, so we didn't stay long. And finally, we made another stop by the bindery in hopes that they would be ready to tool the leather on the book they were working on earlier in the week. But no such luck, sigh. The guy there seemed pretty impressed that the girls were interested enough to come back to check though :)

And that was Day 3.