2018 Vacation Day 6: Jamestown

First stop was Jamestown Museum.  With the thread of rain looming over us, we decided to view all of the outside exhibits first.

I wish I'd been able to get a bird's eye view because Jamestown wasn't very big. It was an acre? Maybe two? Really not much room. Most of the gardening had to be done outside of the walls which was a hazard.

[caption id="attachment_4424" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A recreation of the type of cottage that would have been in Jamestown.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4413" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Interior[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4414" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Blacksmith[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4415" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Inside the fort walls.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4417" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Raised gardens outside the fort.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4422" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Suited up.[/caption]

Next, we moved onto the ships. Three ships were docked and we were allowed to explore each one. I can now say with confidence that I wouldn't be able to stand such tight, smelly, dark quarters for 3-4 months at a time.

[caption id="attachment_4416" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Gabe resting on a sailor's bunk. Big enough for Gabe, not hardly big enough for a grown man![/caption]

It started to drizzle and then rain in earnest. We visited the Native American village and took refuge in one of the wigwams. It was primitive, yes, but honestly not much more so than the settler's housing.

We made our way indoors. The museum is really well done. It leads you through the various time periods of the area. You learn what the land was like before the settlers, early settlement, late settlement, etc. It's interesting to see the transformation of the area.

The museum also does a good job of tracking the changes through the eyes of Native Americans and African Americans so you get a well-rounded sense of history instead of it all being centered on the settlers.

The guys all got bored quickly, but I soaked it all up. If you love the history of this area, you could easily spend an entire day here.

We ate lunch in the cafe and then headed next door to the actual landing and site of Jamestown.

[caption id="attachment_4419" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Old church[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4420" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Statue of Captain John Smith[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4421" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Recreation of the fort walls and barracks.[/caption]

I was afraid the guys would be bored by this, as well, but they all claimed they liked this better than the museum. We walked around to the various sites. There were markers showing where buildings once stood. There were a few tombstones. A nearby museum hosted all kinds of artifacts that have been recovered from the site and told the story of the settlers.

We could have spent more time here, but unfortunately it closed at 5. We saw the highlights and then headed out.

Since it was so early, we hit up a local Trader Joe's to replenish our snack supply. The boys swam in the hotel pool and we did a load of laundry.

We knew we'd have a full day in D.C. so we made sure to get to bed at a good time!17

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