A Week in Williamsburg - Part 1

From the St Louis Edition
(or should I say, The Williamsburg Post)

We stayed at Historic Powhatan Resort.

We had the bottom floor which consisted of 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen and living room.

We spent the first day resting, getting our bearings, and making a plan for the week.  

This post will be about the Governor's Palace.  Warning: it will be slightly heavy with history, but hey, that's Williamsburg.

One of the re-enactments was "storming" Governor Lord Dunmore's palace.

As relations became strained between the king of England and the colonies, the king sent orders to the royal governor of Virginia to "secure" the gun powder.  Lord Dunmore took that to mean that he should move and hide it.  Now the powder happened to have been bought with Virginia tax payers money so when the townspeople found out that it was gone, they were not happy.  So the captain of the militia's answer was to lead an attack.  However, the president of the House of Burgess, (the people's representatives) Peyton Randolph came out and convinced the people that it was much better to send a peaceful petition.  The Governor rejected it.

Impersonation of Lord Dunmore in yellow.

The real Lord Dunmore.

Lord Dunmore later moved his family out to a ship in the harbor as he no longer felt safe in Williamsburg. He told the people to come out to him to talk and they in turn told him to come to them.  As neither side would budge, Virginians elected a new governor, Patrick Henry, who then moved into the Governor's Palace.

A couple facts about Lord Dunmore:

Lord Dunmore had at least 7 children the youngest of which was born here.  Her name was Lady Virginia.  

His family was quite popular. He...not so much.

It took almost 100 slaves and servants to run his establishment.

Here is a short tour of the Governor's Palace.  Thomas Jefferson also lived here when he was Virginia's Governor.

We stepped back into the 1700's on this tour.

Our tour guide.

Step into the entry and be greeted with his display of weapons.  This was not only to impress you but to display his power and put you in awe. 

The Ballroom.  All the colors and wallpaper are authentic to the era.

Harpsichord

Two daughters shared this room.  Back in England, their house had been big enough for them to have their own room.

The kitchen was in a separate building.

They left the head on the chicken because they didn't want to deprive you if you happened to want that delicacy.

One of the many rooms in the cellar.

The gardens

Vineyard

Yes, pomegranates.

Coming from the gardens to the back of the house, you are greeted with a sight of Lord Dunmore's coat of arms.

And that is The Governor's Palace.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:7

Brought to you by: Rebekah Benner

It's a Very Special Person's Birthday!!!

       Happy Birthday, Dearest Es!! We are so sad that we won't be able to celebrate with you in person, but are looking forward to seeing you in a couple months.

                              E - Encouraging

                              S - Steadfast

                              T - Trustworthy

                              H - Helpful

                              E - Enduring

                              R - Reliable

 ^"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

We love you SO much!
~All of Us

5 Weeks Away From Home Part 2

    The evening before we were going to leave Bekah's house, she came to me and asked if I wanted to stay with her as there were plans for Rach to come up a week later. So instead of going home I got to stay with Bekah. I had a great time with her!

 Some friends from church came over the first evening to play Settler's of Catan with us. We had a really nice time. One of their little girls and Danny playing.

                           Mommy helping Danny do his one chore - putting his diapers away in the drawer.

                                                                Chilling on the couch.

                                                             Helping Bekah and I pack.

                                                   "I've got a new toy! One that rings." :-)

                                                    This picture cracks me up! He's so silly.

     Talking to Es and Faith. We had a lot of fun with them and Steven one day. He called to talk to Bekah     and Bekah put the phone close to the computer speaker so that Faith could answer for her. He was quite confused at first!

Bekah gave Danny her old doll and was telling him that he was going to have a little sibling soon. He took the doll, held it by the arm, threw it on the floor and then poked its eyes. Oops. I guess he'll have to learn!

Danny Boy got a really bad cold while I was there. He was so tired one day while eating, that he was resting his head on his hand. 

                                                             We played lots of Catan.

A couple days before Mom and Rach arrived at Bekah's house, I found out that they were not coming for just a weekend visit, but for the week and that we would NOT be going home after that, but we would be going to North Carolina for a week. Had I known 3 weeks would be added to my original 2 week trip, I might have packed a little heavier, but everything worked out fine!

                        "Joe's Crab Shack right off the Ohio River." This is significant to my family!

                                                      North Carolina is a beautiful state!

A couple of days, Mom and my uncle had business matters to take care of that Rach and I were unable to help with, so we decided to spend our free time sight seeing and hiking. We had a great time!

The first park we went to was Hanging Rock State Park. We were so thrilled to discover that all the state parks are free!

     "I Love the View From Here" is a beautiful song written by Brian Doerksen and as this gorgeous view met my eyes I couldn't help but think of it.

                                                 You can see a storm coming in this picture.

 

We started hearing thunder so we hurried to the top of the mountain and right as we got there it began pouring rain. We both got soaking wet!

         About 15 minutes later the sun came out and it looked like it hadn't even rained. Watch out for deer!

                                       In the evening, we had some work to do-sort through papers.

                                                  Cleaning my grandmother's house up a bit.

Another evening we went to the Greensboro Arboretum. It was really nice there and after being around a lot of dust that day it felt so good to get some fresh air!  

                                                        These wind chimes were HUGE! 
 

                                                    Pilot Mountain State Park - The second park we went to.

                                                         There were a lot of steps to climb.

                                                At the top!...that is...the very top was off limits.

After circling around the top we took this trail back to the car. We got a really good workout on this one!

                                                               Eating our picnic lunch

                                                          Traveling home. I love downtown areas.

          When we got back into Texas it was just SO nice to see a Texas sunset. I didn't realize how much I    missed seeing them!

                  "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Proverbs 16:9

God is Faithful!
Lizzy