6
Jul
2009
Williamsburg, Virginia
I visited Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2006, the year before the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. I definitely do want to go back at some point. They were building a huge new museum at Jamestown that was to be opened in time for the anniversary. A lot of people forget, the pilgrims weren’t first. The first permanent English Settlement was at Jamestown, and a lot of colonial and revolutionary history is to be found in that stretch of land from Jamestown to Williamsburg and Yorktown.
Founded in 1607, by the early 1700’s the emphasis had shifted to Williamsburg, which had become the new colonial capital of Virginia. And Jamestown slowly vanished from the map, its exact location actually being lost for many years. Williamsburg eventually became something of a backwater too, but the small town including some colonial buildings survived into the 20th century. In the early 1900’s, a reverend, Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin became became Rector of the local Parish church, parts of which dated into the 18th century. He lead a successful effort to restore and preserve the church. He was transferred to upper New York state where he lived for a number of years before returning to Williamsburg in the 1920’s. Seeing the number of deteriorating colonial buildings and fearing that there would soon be nothing left of them, he began a movement to save the historic core of Williamsburg. He managed to get the interest and financial support of John D Rockefeller, JR. Much of the town was bought up and everything was restored to its colonial appearance. Buildings that were original were restored and other buildings that had been lost were rebuilt in what was believed to be their colonial appearance. Colonial Williamsburg became a large living history museum that attracts visitors by the droves each year.
To the untrained eye, Colonial Williamsburg is a remarkable recreation of Colonial life in America complete with performances of key events in the colonial period by actors, etc.
During my brief visit in 2006, I came away with several photos that are, to me, reflective of the timelessness of the place.
Williamsburg - Picket Fences
I could not find anything specific about this little home other than it’s part of the property of Benjamin Waller, onetime notable of Williamsburg. The actual home is adjacent to this. I’m not sure if this little building was a cottage or a shop or what, but I love the look of it. It is the epitome of Americana to me. This little house with it’s picket fence and little dormers would once have been the American dream, before people decided they wanted to live in McMansions that filled their tiny lots. I hope we may boomerang back to this dream. I’ve been looking at lot at small homes. If I ever buy somewhere permanent again, I’d love a little house like this, the once upon a time American dream.
Williamsburg Courthouse
The courthouse at Williamsburg is actually one of the surviving structures from the Colonial era. Completed in 1771, it was the courthouse for the community for over a century and a half before being restored and becoming part of the living history exhibit at Colonial Williamsburg. The Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War was announced here.
Old Grandeur - Governor's Palace
The Governor’s Palace for the Governor of Virginia during Colonial days was long gone when the current living history museum was established, but this was built on the original site and used the original plans, methods and traditional fired bricks to recreate what to most of us would appear to be a spot on re-creation of the original.
Little Pink Houses
When I first saw this little pink house on Waller Street in Williamsburg, I love how tiny it was and the color of it! So charming! It’s actually one of the original colonial houses in Williamsburg, rather than a reproduction. Apparently the first records of it are when it was purchased in 1778 by Isham Goddin, so it’s now known as the Isham Goddin Shop, even though it was sold by him only a few years later when he left Williamsburg.
There are more photos from Williamsburg which can be found in my Rural America and Americana prints.
21
Feb
2009
Granada And Masaya Photos
Have been delayed in my photo editing by various things of late, but managed to get up the rest of day 1 and a little of day 2 in Nicaragua’s colonial city of Granada. As I’ve stated before, Granada was a place I already wanted to come back to before I had even left. If you’re traveling on your own, in my opinion, you should plan for several days here to really take it all in.
Pulperia Guadalupe!
Granada Cathedral
Granada Crosses
On the morning of day 2, we took a drive out to Masaya Volcano Park. I had been holding out for this chance to see a volcano. It was an included (i.e. pre-paid) activity and best of all, it was a drive-in Volcano! Putting it in perspective, most of the volcano’s we’d seen previously either involved hours of walking, slogging through mud, or both. Masaya Volcano hasn’t been particularly active since an eruption over 300 years ago. So, there’s a road leading to the edge of the main crater and you can walk a few trails near it to get varous views of the active crater and nearby extinct craters. A very nice activity for someone who’s interested in seeing a volcano but doesn’t want to, say, walk for 8 hours.
Masaya Volcano Crater
Contemplating - Masaya
Masaya - Ants Marching
There are more photos of both Granada and Masaya Volcano in my album of photos from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Hope you’ll check them all out!
6
Jan
2009
Back To Nowhere
Ah, about to head off to another anonymous island in Lake Nicaragua. After Ometepe, I think I´m over the middle of nowhere now, but maybe this stop will surprise me and be stellar. But after getting into Granada and getting to be in an actual city a few days, I am really not itching to go back. Apparently the next place, Selentiname (sp?) is pretty remote and unvisited and this is the last GAP tour going there, so maybe it´s pretty cool to get to go.
I spent a good chunk of my day exploring the small town of Altagracia on the isle of Ometepe on my own as reported part way in last time. I took a local bus out and got in some net time during the rain and wandering around the small town. I eventually found a local cemetery, which is on my list of cool things – seeing the different burial practices and all. Similar to Yucatan but not as colorful. There were horses and a bull grazing in this one. I didn´t realize about the bull until I was quite close but he seemed content to eat and really didn´t care.
Afterwards, I got a ¨quick¨ lunch in a little restaurant. It was the slowest meal yet – over an hour to get food after ordering. It really is slow time down here. I missed several buses back to the hotel while waiting on lunch. Finally got it and woofed it down and made a run for the central square to find a bus back. Lucky me, the bus that should have left 15 minutes earlier was still sitting in the square, jam packed with people and boarding more and more. I´ve been on a couple of ¨chicken buses¨in Mexico, but this was much more crowded. Lots of kids, so maybe school was out. Not sure, but crowded. Standing room didn´t even really exist. I was one step up from the exit on the stairs. Oh, and it was an old Bluebird school bus made in Fort Valley, Georgia! Surprise, right up the road from home!
The bus finally shoved off, and then stopped several more times to take on more passengers, never dropping any off. I have no idea how they kept squeezing them in. One mother got on the bus, handed her baby to the ticket collector, climbed over everybody and then had her baby passed back to her. It was really a neat experience ONCE!
After getting back, the group re-gathered and most of us went to a rodeo. I won´t go again. Seeing them get the bull riled up once was quite enough. Several of us left early and waited outside for the rest. I´ll try to be neutral and accept it as not my culture, but it was not fun.
Next morning, we made our way up to Granada! Granada is a lot like Merida, Mexico. And in January, it´s as hot as Merida was in May! Whoa! It´s a colonial spanish city like Merida, so that´s where a lot of the similarities come from. In two days, I´ve wandered a lot of the streets and gotten some (I hope) great photos of old spanish architecture, peeling paint, and all.
Yesterday was a tour of Massaya Volcano. There have been several chances but all involved hours and hours of hiking. This is a park and you can literally drive to the crater. Perfect! It was quite a site. No lava visible in the day, but you could see and smell sulfur smoke rising from the crater. Apparently no eruptions since 1772, but still active. We walked around there a bit and then visited a nearby town market and a pottery shop/school. There were some great bargains to be had, and now I just have to hope they can make it home in one piece! Think good thoughts!
After we got back, I walked to the edge of the old city to a giant old cemetery I´d seen on the way in. Fantastic! A half hour walk, but totally worth it as I got there in the best afternoon light. There´s really no way to describe it. I think it may be similar to New Orleans. Tons of mausoleums. Crosses and statuary dotting the cemetery´s skyline. I really could have spent a day there but it was late and I wanted to get back to the centro historico before dark. There were tons of guards in the ecemetery but there were also people sleeping amongst the graves! Not a full fledged city living in the cemetery like we saw in Egypt, but none the less they were there.
This morning, got up early and tried to re-pack everything. We have a charter cessna to ride from Managua to Selentiname island this afternoon. There are weight restrictions for both checked in bags and carry-on. I´m worried about hitting the weight limit on my carry-on since that´s all my camera stuff. So, I tried to re-distribute to the pack anything I wasn´t worried would break. I may have to pay for overage in the checked bag… oh well.
Anyway, that´s it from Granada. I could easily stay here a few more days. Nice city, nice people, but just a taste of it on this trip. Maybe back one day, maybe not. You never know.
20
Aug
2007
Weekend In Boston
Thursday I flew up to Boston for a Friday meeting for work. Seeing as the airfare was the same Friday afternoon or Monday morning, I was lucky to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to stay through the weekend on my own dime and take a half day off work today.
Accommodations
It should surprise few that once I was spending my money, I was booking a Hostel. There weren’t many options in that category in Boston, but one of the handful had some of the best ratings I’ve seen. The HI Boston Hostel is located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Fairly typical hostel fare but easily accessible by Subway (or the T as it’s known in Bean Town) or by foot for the ambitious walker. Not the most social place I’ve stayed, but then I was hardly there so maybe I don’t know from where I speak.
While the hostel was typical enough, I had a little fun with room-mates. Nothing that approaches epic proportions, just funny. On day One, I checked in and they assigned not only room but bed as well. Okay, I’ve been to far more hostels that just assigned the room and it was a first come first served thing on which bed you got. Of course, I get up there and once I discern where the # is on the bed, realize that someone has actually already set up camp there… Oh well… one left, I don’t really care. If it had been a top bunk with the walking boot, I MIGHT have had more concern.
Day two, I was first out in the morning. When I meander back in around 9pm, there’s been a complete (save me) turn over of occupants in the room. In fact, at this point, it looks like there’s just two of us in there. I did think it was a little odd that ALL of the beds had been re-made including mine. Not sure what was up with that as typically you dump your linens on the way out and they just bring up fresh ones. Not sure about long term stays… Now, mine was also made up… decidedly not as I had left it. New linens and made up… Odd… The other roomie heads out for awhile and I read and eventually change for bed. Flash forward to 1 or 2am and someone is waking me up… huh.. wha… To inform me I’m in her bed… uhm… Half awake and totally unable to see, I explain that night one someone was in my bed so I had ended up there… She then complained she had “prepared that bed…” Okay… and I’ve slept in it for like 3 hours now… what sane person would want a bed after a complete stranger has slept in it for god knows how many hours?? I didn’t say that part, I just turned over… c’mon… there are four empty beds, tuck the top sheet in, pull up the comforter and go to bed… geezzz… Okay, so my karma points may be in danger… but I didn’t complain when I came in and had to adjust to a different location… goodness…
Never saw the mystery waker-upper after that. I was up bright and early on Sunday and there was a lump in another bed. When I got in at 11:30pm, that lump was gone and I had another new roomie who got maybe a grunt and a wave out of me as I set about to quickly getting my bags prepped, etc. as I had to be up at 4am and the more I did then the less everyone would hate me at 4am…
Of course, it turned out to be a full room the last night. What else would one expect? Probably 12:30am or so, I hear a small group come in and quickly prep for bed. I normally sleep through such things but my brain was preoccupied with listening for my cell phone alarm. So I jerked awake when they came in and, as is the ritual, they tried to imagine that every zipper and velcro sound is more silent if drawn out ten minutes longer by doing it slowly. No worries, I returned the favor a few hours later…
The City
This was a perfect time to visit. I left temperatures hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit… Friday it was around the mid 80’s, and everyone described it as hot… hah! As if to delight me even more, the next day, the highs fell into the 70’s and it was super windy! YES! It was like taking a vacation from the season back home. I swear, it was autumn!
On top of the weather (which I might not be so gleeful about, in say January, Boston is just a great place to visit. The core city is easily a walkable place. The first afternoon, I walked, aircast and all, from the Back Bay down into Boston Commons in around an hour or so. And it was a leisurely walk filled with beautiful architecture. I’m sure there are unsavory areas of the city to be found, but the ones that surround the typical out of towner seemed pretty tame.
The first night, I took the T out to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I had read that they were having a Hopper exhibition and I honestly had no clue who that was until I looked at some of his art and realized that I’d seen his stuff for years and just never connected a name to it. So, I was all set to see that exhibit and the MFA is open late on Fridays. Perfect! Or so I thought… In reality, the exhibit was sold out and the late on Friday thing is for a kind of hoitty toitty arts thing. There was a section of the museum closed off for us interlopers with rock music and people dressed to the nines. Of course, this would be the section with the words “Old world masters” over the top of the door… so I can’t report much on that section of the museum… All told, though, the museum is a credit to the US. The best museum I’ve been to in the states. Pales when compared to the might of the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum, of course, but what doesn’t?
And this comparison is appropriate because the MFA combines these. You can see Egyptian sarcophagi, Roman statues, and a flock of Monet’s all in the same building. The exhibits are really and truly that varied. That’s why it’s so impressive. All this under one roof. And even though I am miffed at missing the Hopper exhibit and seeing a section of the Museum, that they are making it an active and alive place is to the credit of MFA Boston. A must visit in my opinion.
Boston is, as said, a walkable city, but given the walking boot thing, I figured if I was going to take it all in on a compressed schedule, I was going to have to check out alternatives. There are a number of trolley tour companies, but I ended up going with Old Town Trolleys. While fairly typical, it’s a tried and true business plan, which is why there are so many. The trolley has a tour guide. You can ride the loop and listen to one guide, or you can hop off at your convenience and take in a site and then hop on another trolley coming to pre-determined stops every 15 minutes. There were plenty of stops I skipped getting off as seeing them from the trolley was more than enough. My first actual stop was for my Harbor Cruise, which cost a whole $7 extra! And being on the first boat out meant that it was not at all crowded.
I also spent time touring the U.S.S. Constitution, oldest “active” military warship in the world. Also being early, I was able to get through the line and take the full tour pretty much as quickly as one could expect. Old Ironsides is free to the public and a true must see if you have any interest in history and/or sailing ships.
Also took in Paul Revere’s house… okay, it’s interesting as it’s the oldest wooden structure in Boston, built in the 1680’s . But honestly, I’m not sure the $3 was worth it… Granted that’s not much, but $3 seemed a lot to be mashed into such small quarters with throngs of tourists and what seemed more than anyone’s fair share of children who are at the age they’ve mastered speech but not the art of not speaking… I skipped the last room and just darted for the exit. I’d seen and been hemmed in enough!
Also sat in and listened to the history of Old North Church which was much like the old church at Colonial Williamsburg. I also saw Trinity Church, which I would scarcely have recognized as a church. The park in front of it was the only place I saw that reminded me of Atlanta as the benches all seemed to have been taken by the homeless. Interesting contrast in front of an ornate old church and the tallest building in New England… At least the homeless in Boston were not as aggressive as Atlanta’s on the panhandling. The second night ended in the market surrounding Faneuil Hall – very lively and touristy and just plain fun.
Having seen all the key points in Boston, I had to do my shtick where I find something more touristy and less history on a given trip. I got up bright and early to catch a Ferry out to the Boston Harbor Islands. I only ended up visiting two, Georges Island and Lovells Island. I had hoped to get out to another, but after a couple hours on each, I would have had to have waited two hours to get on a boat from Georges out to one of the smaller ones, plus travel time, plus time on the island, etc. Anyway, I was already sun burned and wind burned and just plain burned out. The Islands are beautiful, but I think I was expecting something a little more like Georgia’s barrier islands. Instead, I found, decaying old forts and rocky beaches. I think I had more fun just ferrying about on the boats part of the day, honestly. I suspect in the right season they are probably incredible places, or I was too tuckered out to enjoy it.
The rest of my last day, I spent wandering the harbor and the old North End. Boston’s north end has been one time home to most of the city’s ethnic minorities at one point or another. The last wave was the Italians, and it still has a decent sized Italian population. And, I happened to be visiting on feast weekend. Much fun! I had some great pizza (better than what I had in Sorrento!) and some gelato! YAYY!! Then I did my sunset and dusk photos of the city skyline that are probably nothing new or unique but they are my take on the city without having seen any skyline photos before.
The last thing on the agenda was a ghost tour. Not a serious ghost tour, a hokey fun filled horror fest. Black trolleys with tattered old curtains, music from horror and horror comedy movies, and the guides were dressed up as spooky characters. The one for my tour was a demon who was paying penance for writing a story about Unicorns by working with tourists. The tour was also from Old Town Trolleys and was a total riot. Macabre tales on the trolley were combined with more ghoulish tales while visiting the old city burying grounds in the dark. Part of the proceeds go towards the preservation of those sites.
I slept most of the flight to Atlanta. Not the norm for me, but combined with little sleep and a great weekend, it was no surprise. It was happenstance that I got to go, but it’s a trip I’d happily make again, and we all know my predilection is not towards seeing the U.S.
30
May
2006
Another Day in Virginia
Wow, it’s quiet tonight; I mean needle-hit-the-floor-and-echoes quiet. I didn’t realize the level of noise here until tonight. You see, the same day I arrived here, a bus load of high school students descended as well. Every room around me was filled with them. They were failry well-behaved, but it’s still a lot of kids, so the noise levels were there. Luckily, I’m someone who can sleep in a hostel with minimal disturbance, so it was never a factor.
Anyway, I woke up this morning to the sound of the diesel engine on their bus idling outside as they loaded up. So, having an early start, I decided to drive myself to Jamestowne. I’m actually quite glad I went that route, as the Colonial Parkway has all these little stops you can make and look at the James River, etc. There’s also a loop around the bottom of Jamestowne Island that I would have missed on the shuttle down there.
First a word to anyone thinking of visiting Jamestown right now. If you’re into history at all, it’s an excellent place to visit. But you might want to wait a year or so. Next May is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestowne colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America. As such, the place is one big “Pardon Our Progress” poster as they prepare the place for the big to-do next year. If you wait until either 2007 (or after if you want to avoid the major rush), you’ll get brand spanking new facilities and interpretations and such on your visit. I’m sure I’ll come back eventually just to see what results from it.
The interesting thing about Jamestowne turns out to be that even here there’s frightfully little original left. The church tower is later 17th century and maybe one other building. If you survey the scene at Historic Jamestowne (the acutal site of the original fort and town), you see lots of brick foundations and the like, but you soon discover that the archeaologists excavated what was there, recorded it, and then reburied it. Most of what’s above soil is a recreation of the ruins below! So, that’s kind of ironic! But it’s still really something to stand there and imagine being on a boat for 5 months before finally landing in a new world that you have no clue how to survive in. My ancestor who was there arrived in 1619, so still considered part of the original colony, but nonetheless, he and his wife, my 10 greats grandparents, at least had a small trial blaed for them by the time they arrived. But I digress…
The original settlement was on an what was then an isthmus. The site was abandoned at the close of the 1600’s when, according to one version I read, the water source went bad. The land slowly eroded into an island, and for many years, it was believed the original site itself had been lost to the James River currents. But in the 20th century, it was recognized that the majority of the site was intact and the government sat about preserving the site and began to dig. You can still today see Archealogists at work and talk with them. Today they were digging up an older well – they thought perhaps the first well in the Fort. From what they said, wells frequently went bad or dried up and new ones were dug. The old one would then become a convenient trash pit, which is what makes them appealing to archaelogists. Not only can they find the components of the well, but the bits and pieces of refuse from everyday life. There was a BBC film crew there today. Not, mind you, that I’ll be on TV, but if you see a science piece on a well at Jamestown, I was there!
Completing that tour, it was nearly 2pm, so I headed over to the Jamestowne settlement. I was a bit afraid it would be Disney meets history. And in some respects it is, but it’s still quite fun, and I think an excellent way to introduce kids to history. They have recreations of all three of the original ships that brought the Jamestowne Colony to Virginia. The Godspeed and Discovery aren’t that big but still fun. The susan Constant, however, is great fun to tour. They also have a recreation of the original fort and a Powhatan village. My one nit is that all the Indians are pale faces in buckskin, but I guess this is where I have to use my imagination. I will give them an unusual kudo in their committment to being accurate. They have a recreation of the first Anglican church in Jamestown within the fort. It turns out that recent digging at the original site shows that they have the location of this church wrong. Seems you could just point that out to people and leave it be? Nope, not here. The guide said they were rebuilding the whole thing… ouch… at this point, the foundation is on the correct site. Wasn’t sure if they were rebuilding it entirely or just moving it. Either way, that’s committment.
It was after 6pm when I got back in. I grabbed lunch/dinner and came back to the room for a bit before heading out for some photos of sunset on the Colonial highway. The sunset itself wasn’t all that spectacular, but the light was great and I think I got some nice ones. We’ll see. Then on to Williamsburg for tonight’s “tour.” I use the term loosely as it was the re-enactment of witch trial in 1705. There were only three of us in the group of 60ish people that weren’t part of a school group. It was still fun, though. As first there, I got to sit up by the Royal Governor during the trial. The lot of the actors were great. It really was at times almost as if you had landed in a court from pre-revolutionary Virginia. As it was, she was found not guilty, which surprised me. It was based on a real trial, but the original outcome is lost due to a fire in Richmond during the civil war. It’s presumed she was found innocent as her will is from 30+ years after the trial.
Tonight, I took the bus from the Visitors center into the historic area and back. So, a little rest on the tired feet. The funny part is I must have been the LAST tourist out of the town. I was the ONLY car in the HUGE parking lot when the bus rolled in, and I was the lone person on the bus aside from the driver. Not quite as good as getting chased out of Herculaneum, but close. I think I’ve closed another historic attraction!
Tomorrow is partially Yorktown battlefield and a wrap up on Williamsburg. Friday I check out and head south. I have to decide what I’m doing then. I had thought to go to Richmond to the museum there as a rifle that’s been in the family since Dr. Woodson in the early 1600’s is on display there. The thing is, I got a response from a curator that leads me to believe: A) There’s little left original on the weapon, and B) there’s some doubt that any of the gun truly dates from when family history says it did…. hmmm… The other option is a visit to Flowerdew Hundred, the land that they lived on after their arrival in Jamestowne. Not in the same direction, so I need to decide shortly… hmmm…
