Actors portraying colonials in Williamsburg, VA
When Ed and Rachel Barnhart retired in 2004, the intrepid RVers hooked up their Alfa Gold fifth wheel on a mission to see all that God created and man constructed…and find the best pizza in the USA. From the beaches of Seattle, Ed and Rachel set their sights on Maine. From there they would turn south toward the sunshine, only to be greeted by the worst Mother Nature had unleashed in decades. Undaunted, the Barnharts headed off into the sunset, through the southwest and across the Rio Grande to the shores of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. From sea to shining sea and back again, all in their first year exploring the country they dubbed the “Land of Awes.” In Chapter 24 Ed and Rachel explore colonial Williamsburg, visit the Jamestown settlement and learn why winemaking was once the law of the land in Virginia.

Bent and Susan Van Reenen, friends from back in Wenatchee, had flown into Virginia to visit family in Norfolk. When we learned they were in town, we invited them to join us as we continued our tour of Colonial Virginia – next stop, Williamsburg!

Williamsburg was a thriving community long before the United States was even a nation. The nearby college of William and Mary is second only to Harvard in age, having been founded by Royal Charter in 1693. It is the alma mater of four Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Tyler. In 1776, William and Mary founded the first academic honor society in the country, Phi Beta Kappa, and, three years later, established the first collegiate law school.

A Williamsburg cobbler working with period tools and techniques.
The “Colonial” aspect of Williamsburg, is kept alive today by its many authentic artisans, plying trades common in 17th-century America. Visitors can see cabinet makers, coopers, printers, goldsmiths, book binders and others hard at work using period tools and equipment. One thing that strikes us as we tour these places is the relatively low level of light by which people worked. The interior of each shop was lit only by candle and sunlight, very dark by modern standards.

After a full and captivating day at Williamsburg, we all returned to the RV Park for some of Rachel’s homemade pesto pasta. The next morning Brent and Susan met up with us to tour Nauticus, an outstanding maritime museum. We enjoyed several interactive exhibits, including petting and feeding live sharks – thankfully not at the same time! We perused the many exquisite model ships and toured a very real battleship, the Wisconsin. To learn more about Nauticus or to plan your own visit, check out www.natuicus.org.

For dinner that evening we decided to recruit the Van Reenens’ help in our quest to discover the best pizza in the USA. They joined us in Norfolk at Fellini’s. A famous local hangout, Fellini’s specializes in gourmet, New York style thin crust. We ordered three pies to share and each one was better than the last. Nearly tying Pegasus Greek on Alki Point in Seattle for top of the list, Fellini’s is yet another pizza joint making it nigh impossible to pick the best – but what a delicious problem to have!

Revolutionary War Memorial at Yorktown
On Wednesday we drove down the Colonial Parkway to Yorktown. The Parkway connects the Yorktown Battlefield with Jamestown, the first English settlement in North America. It passes through – well, in fact, under – Colonial Williamsburg. Yorktown is amazing. We drove the entire 16-mile route retracing what was a pitched and running battle, stopping at each significant site. We visited the Moore House, where Washington formally negotiated the British surrender as well as the Surrender Field, where the redcoats lay down their arms. Surrendered cannon and mortars are displayed here.

On the way back to the park after Yorktown we engaged in vital research, which turned into vibrant debate. As we neared the park, we finally agreed that there were, in fact, 189 “nahs” in the Beatles song, “Hey Jude.” Though we would welcome a ruling from Sir Paul on this vital matter. But, the debate settled amicably, we sat down to a scrumptious meal of grilled steak, baked potatoes – with Rachel’s magic Gorgonzola butter – garlic bread, salad and wine.

Winemaking was the law of the land in 1623 Virginia.
The next day, in part to replenish our dwindling vino cache, we toured Williamsburg Winery. Here we learned that, for some time, winemaking was actually the law of the land in Virginia. In 1623 the House of Burgesses decreed that, for every male in the family over the age of 20, the landowner must cultivate 20 vines. This was an addendum to an earlier law mandating vineyard cultivation for land ownership. As it turned out, tobacco, not grapes, was a more adaptable crop in Virginia. Most farmers turned to this as their cash crop while only a handful of diehards kept nurturing the vine. Then, in the 1960’s there was a renewed general interest in winemaking in Virginia. Today, according to our Williamsburg guide, there are nearly 100 wineries in Virginia. Having already sampled the fruit of the Shenandoah Valley, we were eager to test Williamsburg’s vintages.

After a relaxing lunch on the lawn at Williamsburg Winery we headed over to Jamestown. The settlement dates back to 1607, when an expeditionary force of 104 men and boys established a colony, which

The settlement site of the original Jamestown
became the toehold of English settlements in America. The men built James Fort then set about toiling to improve the land. These pioneers struggled mightily with disease, starvation and a hot and cold relationship with the nearby Powhatan Indians. By the 1620’s, James Fort had evolved into Jamestown. For the remainder of the century, Jamestown was the capital city of Virginia. In 1699, the capital was moved to Williamsburg and Jamestown became a plantation. The historic ruins are in a continued state of excavation and study. Visitors may see the remains of the plantation house as well as the fort extremities.

After our visit to Jamestown it was time to bid the Van Reenens goodbye. We shared a late-evening snack of pasta and cheese sauce and a farewell treat courtesy of Ben and Jerrys before saying our goodbyes. As the remnants of Hurricane Jeanne pass through the area, we head back over to Charlottesville, relishing a very welcome fall feeling in the air.

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