Saturday, 22 October 2016

Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown tour with Raylene


One fine, balmy autumn morning in the city of Norfolk Virginia, Noah heard a knock on the door. Through the glass panel was the 
silhouette of a tall lady with a hat and matching sunglasses who turned out to be Raylene Ann Baumgart, a very close friend from the distant past - when the world was still young. Agaw Nennen came to welcome Noah to her state and to invite him out for a day of touring.

The first stop in her itinerary was Colonial Williamsburg - a town that was founded in 1632 and was about an hour"s drive from Norfolk. 



For present-day Noah, something was not right about the place. It was like he was teleported into a warp zone back by 4 centuries. Everyone except the tourists went about their business dressed and behaving like time stood still for them in the 17th century. The mandatory selfie at the start of the tour didn't help a bit, because of Noah's ancestral look sans the sunglasses.




Even the way they set their clothes out to dry had a weird twist in comparison to today's practice.

The bakery...

...Gunshop and armory...

...and even the fences remained unchanged through the centuries.

That's Noah trying out the "stocks" at the main street.
Lucky for him that this contraption for punishment
was restricted for photo-ops only.

That used to be the Govenor's residence. note the
 governess in the foreground. She governed over Noah's
activities for a day.

Lunch was at the Dog Street Pub and there was a long queue of 
patrons who were notified of a vacant table by... phone - a long shot from the 17th century ambiance of the town.

The next stop was Jamestown. A complex by the James river that was the site of the colony for the first English settlers who left London in 1606.

It housed a museum

an Indian village


A fort


even an English musketeer who demonstrated the use of the ancient musket.

 and of course the replicas of the three boats that brought the settlers across the Atlantic ocean: Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery

Noah immediately took to the task of comparing it to his ark and he noted that it was spic and span without a single animal on board.

The third and last - but not the least, stop for the day was a place that Noah had to visit... Raylene's AirBnB. With the internet and social networking sites abuzz with this Yorktown bed-and-breakfast joint, Noah had to see with his own eyes such a famous place.

 the facade of the 5 bedroom residence

 kitchen and dining room

and the room that was reserved for Noah if only
there were no time constraints. In place of Noah a 
bird managed to get in and we had fun shooing 
it out the window.

From Yorktown the trip went through the Chesapeake bridge-tunnel. A unique design to allow the huge aircraft carriers and other ships of war to get in and out of the largest naval facility in the world.



Noah rested that night with a heart full from such a generous and gracious gesture by a friend who apparently put a lot of love in showing him her side of the continent.

Thank you agaw Nennen, this day's activities and your awesome spirit will always stay in Noah's heart. Stay blessed always.

2 comments:

  1. It was a fun-filled one Fine Day indeed! And I would do it again and again. It was great seeing you Gaw after all these years. We may have changed physically since the late 60"s and 70"s but the love and respect will remain in our hearts forever. Love you too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was a fun-filled one Fine Day indeed! And I would do it again and again. It was great seeing you Gaw after all these years. We may have changed physically since the late 60"s and 70"s but the love and respect will remain in our hearts forever. Love you too.

    ReplyDelete

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