Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Basketball

Friday Morning after Thanksgiving, William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia hosted a 3 day basketball tournament which included Gardner-Webb, Mercer and Western Carolina. We were fortunate that Wofford had a bye for the FCS football playoffs so we headed north to Williamsburg for basketball and sightseeing. History is one of my passions and especially the history of the American Experiment. I had always wanted to visit the area and Thanksgiving was a great time to be there. The first thing we did upon arrival at the beautiful, wide James River in Virginia was to drive our car onto a ferry named Pocahontas. Pocahontas took us to Jamestown, Virginia, where in 1607 John Smith and others arrived after 6 months on 3 ships from England. Pocahontas wasn't a ship back then, but a 10 year old Powhatan Indian girl who helped the settlers stay alive by bringing them food and protecting them in other ways.

When we checked into our hotel, I saw a newspaper ad recommending an outdoor exhibit that was going on in Jamestown called "Foods and Feasts of Colonial Virginia". Yep, this was a very good place for us to visit at Thanksgiving. Basketball, cooking and history.

The basketball games were fun each day and GWU played some great games over the weekend. They lost one game by one point in the last few seconds and won the other 2 games. The defense and the intensity of this team makes for some really exciting basketball. It was good to see the guys play three games over three days and it gave us an opportunity to meet some of their families who had come in from North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.

Over the three days there was plenty of time for sightseeing and there was plenty to see. Matt and Heather came in from Richmond to show us around Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg and the William and Mary campus.

Matt said our tour would be a little like time travel because we started out visitng the campus of William and Mary. Walking through buildings and grounds where Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers studied was inspiring and truly awesome. Then we moved back in time to 1607 and the Jamestown settlement where we saw replicas of the 3 ships and an outdoor cooking demonstration. These ships were pretty darn small and it is mind boggling when you trace the six months route they took from England and realize they really weren't sure where they were going or what they would find when they got there. There is a wonderful indoor museum in Jamestown with realistic displays and artifacts that cover not only the Jamestown settlers, but the European, Indian and African cultures of the 1600s. And good descriptions of how they converged together in Colonial Virginia.

The cultures were each described in terms of dress, housing, food, economics and there was mention in all of them in terms of family structure. At one display regarding the Virginia Indians, a colonial writer was quoted as saying "They love their children." Well don't we all.

The food and cooking demonstrations were amazing and familiar and David enjoyed talking with a settler about slow smoking meat. The basics really haven't changed in that regard and neither had the basics in vegetable and herb gardens, sausage making or bread making. Throughout the tour, I was sending pictures to facebook of these exhibits when my friend Mary from Florida commented "you sure do have a lot in common with these folks". Well do tell.

Leaving Jamestown, we did realize how isolated it must have felt and how difficult it would have been to have survived the hard work and the dangers of the 17th Century settlement.

Matt drove us on the scenic parkway back to Colonial Williamsburg where we had lunch at the Blue Talon. Ironically, David and I had stopped there the day before because we liked the atmosphere and had a really good bowl of French Onion soup. So eating there for the second time, David had a great hamburger while Heather and I chose the Blackened Fish Reuben that was amazing. Matt had pot roast in a cast iron pan that looked a lot like Mama's Pot Roast (recipe on April 26, 2010 blogpost).

We walked through the Colonial part of Williamsburg past stockades and horses and churches and homes from the 18th Century and eventually stopped at a Colonial Tavern before walking back to get ready for the late afternoon ballgame.

GWU won the game and Jay had enough time to go with us to dinner. He wanted a hamburger and we knew where to get a good one. I am sure there are plenty of wonderful places to eat out in Williamsburg, but we knew where we were going. We laughed when we realized that for the third time in 24 hours we were heading back to the Blue Talon. The hostess, waiter and others recognized us and waved as we came in and for someone who had never been to Williamsburg, it felt a lot like home.

It really is and always has been about food, family, and friends.