When my family and I were visiting Colonial Williamsburg this past weekend, there was no shortage of things to do. Though we had lots of fun wandering around town checking out stores and shops, my mom also made reservations for some pretty special tours and events.
One of the things we had tickets to was a "Public Audience With a Founding Father". So, we made our way to the capitol building one morning. As we waited outside the gate, we snagged our only family photo of the weekend.
They don't tell you which founding father you'll hear ahead of time, so we were pleasantly surprised when Patrick Henry made his was to the podium. He spoke cleverly and eloquently about current events (of his lifetime, of course), and local gossip (mostly about Lord and Lady Dunmore).
Our family also had tickets to a Crystal Carols performance. This was a concert featuring music all played on crystal instruments. It all started when Benjamin Franklin invented the
Glass Armonica in the 1760's. The musician started playing that at Williamsburg 30 years ago, and now he plays all sorts of crystal and glass instruments- including a set of glass hand bells!
This instrument was invented by the Bashets in Paris, and it was beautiful to listen to!! For the concert, they had set up cameras to project the instruments on the screen above the stage, so you could really see how the music was being made.
After the concert, we had a really yummy lunch at
Trellis Restaurant. Since there was a long wait to be seated inside, we opted to eat on the patio. We figured since we're hardy Michiganders, we could take it!
I think my dad was a little chilly in the beginning. My little brother had no problem with the temperature!
Nor did my mom!
But I definitely kept my coat on the whole meal! I know- what a wimp!
So we each ordered a pot of hot tea, and it warmed us all right up!
For lunch, we all chose something different. My dad tried the savory cheesecake (which was more like a quiche)...
My brother had half a tuna sandwich and cheese soup...
My mom had a burger with homemade fries...
And I had half a turkey sandwich with red cabbage and potato soup. I'm sorry that I forgot to take a picture of the sandwich, but the soup was out of this world! I've been looking for similar recipes online ever since I got back home... I can't wait to attempt this in my own kitchen!
But do you know what? Not all of the tours we attended took place during the day.
We attended several tours at night!
Including two which took place at the capitol: "Listen My Children" and "Cry Witch".
"Listen My Children" was all about the oral tradition of story telling, and "Cry Witch" was the reenactment of a real witch trial.
Both of the programs were really interesting...
Plus, it was really special to experience the capitol by candlelight!
We also had tickets to walking tours that took place after sunset, including "Christmastide in Williamsburg" and a Ghost Walk.
For these tours we would meet at a designated place, which was often this neat torch:
We loved the torches!
On our last day in Williamsburg, we attended "Breakfast with Citizens of the Revolution".
So we made our way to the Kings Arms Tavern.
While we waited for our table, my brother took our picture.
And because our bench was too short, he had to sit on the other side of the room... isn't that sad?
Eventually we were seated for our meal- here's our menu for the morning:
I loved the dishes, since they all had the Kings Arm shield on them.
After we ordered our food, my brother and mom posed for a picture.
As part of our breakfasts, we were all served a Cranberry Shrub. I'd never heard of it, but boy do I love it! We figure it's just cranberry juice with a dollop of raspberry sherbet, which is not only delicious but so festive to look at!
We also had mini blueberry muffins to snack on while we waited for our meals.
I also chose to drink some tea, which was very un-Colonial of me (considering the Boston Tea Party, etc.)... oops!
Eventually our meals arrived. We (my brother, mom, and I) got the Country Breakfast, which included fried potatoes, Virginia ham, scrambled eggs, and Southern friend chicken.
My dad when with the Eggs Benedict, which also came with an order of cheesy grits.
As you can tell, there were so many fun things to do in Williamsburg! I hope you're having a great Thursday- thanks for visiting my blog!
