July 26, 2011 Jamestown and Yorktown

Today we are going to Jamestown, the first European settlement in the New World. There is supposed to be an active archaeological dig going on there.

When Gary, Don and Kirk came here there were just a handful of foundations to look at. But on this visit we found an extensive visitor center, some reconstructed buildings, and an archaeological Museum.

Ryan and GG went on a guided archaeological tour and grandpa and Isabella stayed in the nice air-conditioned visitor center.

Our tour was led by a real archaeologist and she gave us a lot of information about the first settlement and how the town changed over the years.

We got to see the archaeologists working the dig here the first church was built.

After the tour Ryan asked our guide about what kind of training and education an aspiring archaeologist should take. She said that history classes and anthropology courses were good. She also suggested checking out volunteer programs for kids during the summer. Ryan is very interested in archeology and thinks he would like to become an archaeologist.

We met with grandpa and Isabella after the tour and visited the archaeological Museum where we saw many items recovered in the digs.

That night there was a very violent storm, with lots of lightning and thunder. We were watching TV when a tornado alert came on. Ryan and Isabella were very concerned. Ryan came out into the living room with huge tears in his eyes, asking dramatically, if he could call his mom and dad and say farewell before he was blown away to Oz. We assured him that we would help keep him safe, but he still made the calls. His daddy reassured him and told him that he checked the computer weather forecast and we would be safe from any tornadoes.

Next we went to Yorktown where Cornwallis signed the surrender agreement to end the Revolutionary War.

The way George Washington beat the English was by trickery. Lafayette was near Yorktown with his troops, but he was outnumbered by the British and didn't have a chance against them. Washington sent a Courier with the intention that he'd be caught, with a dispatch saying Washington and his troops would be marching on New York. But, it was a trick, because Washington actually marched his troops to Yorktown and between Lafayette and Washington they prevented the English from leaving Yorktown.

Lafayette took his ships and blockaded the access to Yorktown by water, so the English ships could not rescue the English that way, and Washington's men were entrenched around the fortress walls. At night and they would move closer and dig new trenches until finally their cannons were so close they could get their cannonballs over the walls. Then Cornwallis gave up and the war was over.

We heard a ranger give a talk about the cannons and he chose Ryan to be the captain of the artillery brigade. Then we went out into the battleground and Ryan gave the orders.

ATTENTION!

ADVANCE SPONGE

TEND VENT

SPONGE PIECE

HANDLE CARTRIDGE

CARTRIDGE PIECE

RAM DOWN CARTRIDGE

PICK AND PRIME

TAKE AIM

FIRE!

That night we went to Williamsburg to have dinner at Shields Tavern. Everybody was dressed in colonial style clothing. Ryan had chicken. We were entertained by a fiddle player. And Isabella was asked to dance by a colonial gentlemen. They performed a traditional dance and she did a great job.