Braving the Heat

Despite the incredibly hot, humid weather that we're having here in Williamsburg (heat index was above 100 yesterday), we got out this weekend and wandered around Colonial Williamsburg for awhile. It was very enjoyable - and I'm sure it will be even more so when it's not so hot! One of our first stops was Shields Tavern - a resurrection of an 18th century coffeehouse dating back to 1745. The tavern serves excellent coffee, bread and ice cream, as well as lunch food during the day. Ben tried the corn chowder - very delicious - and I had an equally delicious chicken salad wrap. While we were eating, several men dressed in 18th century-style clothing stood around "talking" - discussing issues and making jokes as though it were the 1700s again. It was very entertaining, and amazing how they always stay in character!

One of our other stops was the Capitol (Williamsburg was the capital city of the Colony of Virginia):

This plaque below tells us that the Capitol is where "Patrick Henry first kindled the flames of Revolution;" also, it is where resolutions were passed calling on "Congress to declare the colonies free and independent states;" and it is where in June 1776 the Convention of Virginia adopted the "first written constitution of a free and independent state ever framed."

The inside of the Capitol consists of two wings: one for the court, where 12 council members met to judge cases within the colony (left photo), and one for the House of Burgesses (right).

This is the Courthouse, below. It is where we saw an evening show on Friday night called Papa Said, Mama Said. This courthouse originally would have been one of over 60 in the colony that judged local misdemeanor cases:

The Magazine (the guns in the second photo are originals!):

The Apothecary, which is where colonists would have gone to see a doctor and/or get a prescription. In that day, you didn't need a prescription or doctor's note to get a medicine. However, the cost of the drugs (mostly made from imported substances) would have prevented people from going overboard with taking them.

The Bindery - where books were bound (duh):

These bulls reside on a field on the edge of the colonial town. We're not sure why they're there.

This bull seems to have found the one spot of shade in the field and parked himself there, flush against the gate, giving onlookers a most glorious view: