RAIN, SUN, BATTLES AND CHARM

Day Four: What can you do in a  hotel in a strange city when it's raining hard outside? Well, these are the things I've come up with.

1: Go to the lobby and watch people.
2: Go to the lobby and on into the bar and drink yourself silly.
3: No bar? Empty the mini-bar in your room to the tune of $1,000.
4: Watch soap operas and Dr. Phil over and over again.

What can you do in an RV park when you are in a strange city and it's raining hard outside?

1: Laundry at the handy laundromat on site.
2: Give yourself a pedicure in anticipation of sandals weather pretty soon.
3: If you are Erik you get on the computer and do some consulting work that brings in a few dollars.
4: Watch the dogs sleep.
5: Write a blog.

Now, aren't those some better and more exciting options?

Laundry on a rainy day.

Day four on the road, our first full day in Williamsburg, started off kind of cloudy, giving me a chance to get Kaede and Freddy out for their walks. Then the heavens opened and down came the torrential rains. Not so good in a hotel as we have already acknowledged. The great thing about an RV is you have access to everything you would have in your own home only on a smaller scale and in a different place. Feel like a snack without paying $10.00 for a small bag of peanuts? Just open your fully stocked fridge and voila you have snacks. Healthier ones too. When it's raining there's also plenty of time to think about things that are puzzling. For instance, why in the States (excuse me my American friends) do they still have pennies? They are annoying, take up a lot of room and, as we have discovered in Canada, completely unnecessary. Round up or round down, it all works out in the wash. Secondly, why no dollar coin? Costs $2.50 to do a load of laundry and $2.50 to run a load in the dryer. Having two loads costs $10.00 which means 40 quarters. That's a lot of coins. Now compare to one toonie and two quarters per load, bringing the total number of coins needed for the same two loads to 12. No one has 40 quarters laying around but we all have toonies and quarters in our wallets. Makes sense, right?

Oh the ramblings of a blogger while she waits to get the clothes from the dryer on a very rainy day in Williamsburg, Va. Did I mention, it's raining but it's still 64F/18c.

Day Five and it's sunny sunny sunny today. The rain has stopped and we are up and out by 10:00 am and headed straight for Historic Jamestown, "as it existed 400 years ago. The place has become a national icon whose meaning is entangled with the legend of Pocohontas and John Smith."  Jamestown was the beginning and the end of colonization of America; being the first permanent English settlement in America and the scene of the final battle in the American Revolution when America gained its independence from Great Britain. The original town is no longer standing but archeologists have tried to recreate the footprint of Jamestown via placement of bricks to depict where houses and other buildings once stood. The preservation of Jamestown has been on-going since 1893 and is still continuing today.

Pocohontas was captured by the English and held for ransom. She converted to Christianity, became Rebecca, and when she was released chose to stay with the English. She married John Rolfe in 1614 and had one son, Thomas, in 1615. She was portrayed as a 'civilized' savage and paraded around London in hopes that people would see fit to finance the new colony of Jamestown. She died of undisclosed causes in England and is buried in Gravesend in an unknown grave.

From Jamestown we ventured over to Colonial Williamsburg via the very beautiful Colonial Parkway. We found it interesting that the Parkway and other roads in that part of Virginia are made of concrete rather than asphalt. I could find no explanation for this via Google.  The Colonial Parkway is a twenty-three mile/38 kilometer scenic roadway stretching from the York River at Yorktown to the James River at Jamestown. It connects Virginia's historic triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Several million travelers a year use this route to enjoy the natural and cultural beauty of Virginia. Williamsburg is the home of the College of William & Mary, which was established in 1693, and is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States; its alumni include three U.S. presidents as well as many other important figures in the nation's early history.

The word that springs to my mind when describing Williamsburg is 'charming'. It conjures up images of the old south, genteel living, gracious lawns, well kept boulevards and well kept homes. Of course, we only saw that side of Williamsburg due to a wrong turn that found us going around and around a neighbourhood that seemingly had no exit.  We had lunch in one of the many many many very cool cafes, pubs, diners, coffee shops that are scattered about the district that I would describe as touristy, trendy, and lovely. We also noted that Williamsburg is very dog friendly; they are allowed to be at most of the restaurants that had outdoor seating, much to our delight.

After lunch we drove again along the Colonial Parkway (did I mention it's a wonderful drive) to the Yorktown Battlefieled.. At Yorktown, in the fall of 1781, General George Washington, with allied American and French forces, besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis’s British army. On October 19, Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the war and ensuring independence. There is a display of cannons that I forgot to take photos of. From the battlefield you can walk to Yorktown, the MOST charming place in the world, so far. Honestly, it's an enclave of stunning period homes, a post office, a museum of photographs from the civil war, antique and art shops, and all beautifully manicured with the York River as the perfect backdrop. I visited the Nelson House, which was the home to the commander of the Virginia Milita and was given a private tour by the curator who, I suspect, was having a slow day. She laughed when I entered and jokingly told me, "No redcoats in here." At first I wasn't sure what she meant then realized I had on a red jacket (see picture above) so I laughed back and said, "Actually, I am one." The house is pretty impressive with some of the original wood flooring still intact. The curator directed my attention to a door way to the left that she said 'went up to the third floor where the servant children all slept' and it suddenly struck me what a dichotomy it was; people fighting for their independence from their oppressor while finding no fault with owning human beings who had no rights. I said this to the curator and she said the tobacco industry was to blame as there were so many bodies needed to do all the work that everyone kind of just turned a blind eye. A visit toYorktown was the perfect way to end a beautiful sunny day in Virginia.

Alas the next morning we awoke to frost on the pumpkin; time to pull up stakes and head south once more. Wilmington, North Carolina is where we shall wake up tomorrow morning and then Charleston, South Carolina followed by St. Augustine, Florida after that. Stay tuned, there will be more. There will be beaches and sand and cocktails.