Flower garden in Colonial Williamsburg.
endured by the 144 settlers who dared to cross the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. “Crowded, cramped, boring, and relatively miserable— definitely not the Caribbean cruise you’re looking for in the modern world,” says Lara Templin, the museum’s assistant interpretive site manager. “You’re eating pickles, salt pork, salt fish, dry bread, hard biscuits. And the water turned green and smelled so foul that no man could abide it. So, they drank beer because that’s what would last.” Jamestown Settlement is my first stop through Virginia’s Historic Triangle—a trip where I’ll walk in the footsteps of Capt. John Smith on the original settlement site. I’ll follow the pathways taken by Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army in 1781 as it surrounded Gen. Charles Cornwallis’ British troops on the Yorktown Battlefield. And in Colonial Williamsburg, I’ll cross the same streets as Washington and Thomas Jefferson when Williamsburg was Virginia’s capital during the 18th century. All three areas can be easily reached along the scenic, tree-lined Colonial Parkway, stretching 23 miles from Jamestown to Yorktown. Jamestown Settlement and the recently openedAmerican Revolution Museum at Yorktown, both operated by the
Replica of the Susan Constant along the James River.
COLONIAL LIVING HISTORY Story and most photos by Richard Varr
I can feel the undulations of the choppy James River aboard Discovery —one of her sails only slightly unfurled, but catching the blustery winds howling across the open waters. “It’s not the real ship, but it’s very similar to it. You can touch it and feel the ship moving,” explains Carol Wiers, a historic interpreter at Jamestown Settlement, a living history museum detailing England’s first permanent settlement in North America. “It gets you that step closer to knowing what it was like being on a ship for four and a half months coming to Virginia.” Berthed in a cove along the river, Discovery with its roped masts and creaking wooden deck is the smallest of the three recreated ships that brought colonists here in 1607. Alongside Discovery , the three-masted Godspeed and flagship Susan Constant —all fully operational, actual-size replicas—offer a glimpse of the hardships
COLONIAL LIVING HISTORY
COAST TO COAST FALL MAGAZINE 2018
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