Day 316 - Gloucester Point

Today is Thursday, February 2nd.  After being awakened yesterday morning very early by a loud noise on the dock, I discovered the noise was caused by a racoon trying to get cat food out of a small cooler.  We have been feeding a marina kitty and keep the food inside the cooler.  I looked outside and saw this huge racoon walking away and found the cooler upside down about 10-15 feet away.  He was unable to get it open and you can tell he was frustrated because it had been banged around quite a bit.

Anyway, since we were awake, we got an early start to our day.  We had planned to go to Colonial Williamsburg and went early which was a good thing because there's so much to see.  As it turned out, we bought an annual pass and intend to go back a few more times before leaving the area.  Every day they offer different things to see.  The first thing we watched was "Order in the Court" which was a reenactment of an 18th century trial.  The audience participated and Mike was up on the side of the judge voting whether the defendant was guilty or innocent.  Very interesting.

Next we went to one of the homes there and the audience engaged in conversation with a black man dressed in period clothes speaking in the first person about what he endured as a slave.  That was one of the best presentations we saw.  After lunch we went into the Bruton Parish Church which was actually formed in 1674 and is now an active Episcopal Church.  There was an extremely interesting volunteer there and listening to him was amazing.  I actually sat in the seat where Patrick Henry always sat.  George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were regular attendees also.  The church was used as a hospital during the Revolutionary and Civil wars and there are numerous graves beneath it.

We went into  shops demonstrating wigmaking, basketmaking, a silversmith, etc.  Afterwards we walked to the shopping area which is on the fringes of the College of William and Mary (which was founded in 1693 and may be the oldest college in the U.S.) and walked around a bit and enjoyed some yogurt.  It was a very interesting day and I can't believe we waited this long to go there.

We have been contacted by a couple in the area who have been reading my blog and who recently bought a boat and plan to begin the Great Loop this spring.  We're having dinner with them tomorrow night to share some of our experiences.