Taking in the Colonial past ….
Our next stop is Williamsburg in Virginia where we have 2 nights at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. We left fairly early and made the short trip out to the eastern coast and the first section of our drive was along the Coastal Highway which is a narrow strip of land with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Rehoboth Bay, then Indian River Bay, on the other.
Rehoboth Bay itself is very “touristy” and has the obligatory boardwalk along the beach. A little further south though is a town called Bethany Beach which is split between the touristy bit near the beach and a much more refined, upmarket suburban feel with many lovely clapboard houses setout along canals and backing onto the “Bay side”. They may not have ocean outlooks but the location and feel was much more appealing !
We also passed 2 concrete towers along the beach which were relics of WWII – observation towers looking out into the Atlantic. These were built between 1939 and 1942 and there were 11 along the Delaware coastline at the time. Originally designed to last 20 years they have so far mostly survived. The threat was quite real, as German submarines sank U.S. ships along the East Coast and survivors often ended up on Delaware beaches. One German sub surrendered off nearby Fort Miles at the end of the war in 1945.
Further south, just past Fenwick Island, we left Delaware, crossing the Mason-Dixon Line into neighbouring Maryland. Originally surveyed in the 1760’s to settle a border dispute between Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania & what at the time was Virginia (now West Virginia), the Mason-Dixon Line came to be seen as the demarcating line between north and south in the US.
So now in “the south” we headed slightly inland. Before we knew it though, we were leaving Maryland and driving into Virginia – the states are so small in this part of the country ! We were now on a strip of land separating the Atlantic Ocean & Chesapeake Bay. At the tip of the peninsula we reached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel which would take us across to “mainland” Virginia.
The bridge opened in 1964 and has 19 km of bridges and two 1.6 km tunnels. The bridges were duplicated in 1999 and currently 1 of the tunnels is being duplicated. It is one of only 12 bridge–tunnel systems in the world but one of three locally. It carries US 13, which saves motorists roughly 153 km and 11⁄2 hours on trips around the peninsula if you were unable to cross the bay from this area.
After a slow trip through the next bridge-tunnel, we headed for Jamestown – the first permanent English settlement in the Americas in 1607. Although it nearly collapsed after losing nearly 80% of the population to disease and starvation in 1610, the arrival of a re-supply convoy saved the settlement – and it went on to be the colonial capital between 1616 and 1699. I am sure you have all heard the story of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas ? It’s that Jamestown.
These days it is mainly an ongoing archeological dig with many thousands of objects having been recovered over the years now displayed in the museum. Some areas have been re-constructed – mainly the area where the original fort had been built and other areas associated with subsequent habitation after the original Jamestown had been abandoned in the early 1700’s.
We wandered around the whole area for a while before driving on the short distance to Williamsburg and our hotel. The Embassy Suites often provide a “Manager’s Reception” during mid-week times. We have come across it on previous tours. It can vary in quality – from a couple of drinks and snacks to basically a full dinner. This one was certainly at the lower end of the scale and I suspect Covid has pushed it down a notch – and plastic beer and wine glasses !
Having done Jamestown, the next day we moved on to “Colonial Williamsburg” – the new capital after Jamestown.
Williamsburg took over from Jamestown as the capital of Virginia in 1699. As the seat of power it grew until, in about 1780 at the time of the American Revolution, it moved to Richmond – where it remains today. After this it too somewhat succumbed to loosing its status and whilst it was not abandoned to the extent of Jamestown, by the early 1920’s it was in need of come TLC and the deep pockets of John D Rockafeller got the ball rolling.
The site of Colonial Williamsburg is quite unique. It is pitched at approximately the period around 1770 to 1780. There are many original buildings which were restored to their appearance in the 18th century and those which were reconstructed were done to that period. It covers about 170 acres and there are various people who stroll the streets and man the exhibits in period costume and provide entertainment – we visited the courthouse to see how a session of court played out – and answer questions about the buildings or services provided in the buildings at the time – the blacksmith shop, apothecary, armoury etc.
It carries this “Disneyesque” theme into the adjoining hotels and guest houses where you can stay – at quite a price. But it is also just part of the Williamsburg of today where anyone can visit the “market square” which is really just a present day shopping centre . In fact you can wander the streets of “Colonial Williamsburg” without paying the fairly hefty entry ticket price but you can’t actually go into anything without a ticket.
With such a big area we walked and walked before stopping in the market town for lunch. We walked a few more streets and on our way back visited the church where one of the volunteer guides mentioned that his family had quite an attachement to the area – his 8th great grandfather was buried in the last surviving grave yard in Jamestown – there’s an ancestry chain for you !
With our legs weary we headed back to the car but on the way back we happened (ha ha) to find an outlet centre ! So a stop to “stretch the legs” and pick up a couple of bargains before heading back to the hotel for the Managers Reception !
Our 2 days in Williamsburg have been very educational but very interesting and the drive to Virginia very scenic along the way. But the petrol prices have skyrocketed since our last trip ! Where we often paid below $3.00 on previous trips I had to pay $4.40 when I filled up here for the firts time. However when we are talking about “per gallon” instead of “per litre” you realise how much we pay in Australia – $4.40 per gallon is less than $1.20 per litre !
We now leave for North Carolina – our first “new state” for this trip !