WILLIAMSBURG MORNING
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2007
It had rained during the night Friday and as we headed out Saturday morning, the last of
the clouds were clearing away, leaving a day that exceeded the others in its clarity of
sky and perfect air temperature. My feet, however, had become lumps of raw hamburger
well before this time and I could not face the prospect of walking over a mile to get to
the Capitol building. So I asked, George, our kindly and knowledgeable innkeeper
what he suggested and he told us of a small parking lot just off the south side of Francis St.
across from the back entrance to the King's Arms Tavern. We parked and walked around
the tavern, coming out on DOG St. just east of the Raleigh.
We headed down to the Capitol for a tour of the interior.
Looking out over the Palace wall...I am convinced this particular man's job was to ride
his horse around all day giving folks like me photo ops. I have several pictures of him in
various locations taken during this morning. For some reason I began to call him Edwards
in my mind because I saw him so often I decided he needed a name.
The east end of the Palace yard with Edwards riding by just past that marker. The area is filled
with giant old oak trees like this one.
The lower floor of the west side of the "H" is this General Court room.
This Council Chamber is directly above the Court room. The Governor had the red velvet
chair at the far end of the table, with its seat several inches higher than the other chairs.
This portrait of King William hangs in the conference room that is above the walkway that
connects the two halves of the "H". The Colonists left it hanging even during the war because
William was held in such honor. George III's portrait, howsomever, was taken outside,
stomped on and burned.
This was our guide in the Capitol. He was very knowledgeable about it all and a pleasure
to have as a guide.
In the House of Burgesses on the ground floor of the east side of the "H", we saw the prayer
pillows under the benches. When the going got too tough, too confusing, they would kneel and
ask for Divine guidance.
This is the original chair that stood in the House of Burgesses.
My seat in this room was at the end of the bench on the left. Our guide stood with his back
to the large chair, in the spot where Patrick Henry made some of his impassioned speeches.
George Wythe sat on a small bench at the end of the central table where the books and quill
are. As I sat there listening to our guide speak of the times, of the men, of the events in this
room I found myself absolutely moved by it, by the enveloping awareness of the reality of
it, and I had to blink back tears. That moment along with looking at the Raleigh in the night
were my two most profound moments in Williamsburg. I was quite taken by surprise by
the one that came here. It meant a lot to me.
Outside again, a lovely breeze cooperated in spreading out the flag over the Capitol. I
cannot begin to convey just how fresh and light and wonderful the air was this day.
A secretary's building just to the west of the capitol.
Heading back up DOG St. Can you feel the air...just looking at the pictures...can you get
some sense of it?
Looking across the DOG from in front of the Raleigh. We ate supper Thursday night behind
the central building.
My view from a bench outside the Raleigh.
There goes Edwards.
She was supposed to be a daughter of the Randolph family and was our guide through
the front two stories of the Raleigh.
She was very animated (hence her blurry hands) and never once got out of
character no matter what anybody said to her.
This is the main front dining room of the Raleigh...and Carl's feet.
Over that room are guest bedrooms. There were three beds in this room and a man would rent
half a bed for the night. When the beds were taken, you could rent a spot on the floor.
This is a private, single room which cost a lot more to stay in.
And this is the view out that second dormer I mentioned in an earlier album.
This is the view directly across the room from that dormer, looking out the back side of the Raleigh
to the myrtles in the courtyard. That's the bake shop there.
The long back room was added at the same time as the ballroom/supper room was to the Palace.
This is the space above that with more guest rooms opening off to the left and the dormers that
look out over the courtyard.
These are the back stairs of the Raleigh
This is part of the room under that long one shown two pictures above and is where the main men
of the time met to discuss politics. This fellow is supposed to be a traveling actor talking about the
times and events to Mr. Randolph, who is seated just off to the left.
I think he was supposed to be the proprietor of the Raleigh, but he just rather walked through
the room a few times, looking intently at papers.
Here the actor is talking to Mr. Randolph, seated at one of the card tables.
I thought he looked very much the part and he stood there outside the side door of that room
in the picture above this one, posing nicely for me in the dappled sunlight. He asked where
we were from and when Carl replied, "Pittsburgh," he nodded and said, "Ah, Fort Pitt!" So I
spoke up and said that we had traveled down the National Pike and we spoke a bit more
about that, with him staying in character all the time.
The dormer on the back side of the front portion of the Raleigh.
The dormers in that long hallway from a picture several above.
Carl went into the bakery while I headed to the far back of the yard. This is the rear fence
of the Raleigh. Nicholson St. lies between it and the split-rail fence beyond.
Looking back down toward the rear buildings of the Raleigh.
The bakery areas are there on the left.
Crape myrtles fallen on the bricks of the Raleigh courtyard. The leaf shadows and the
petals and the bricks were just too much to resist. So I didn't.
In the bakery...Carl forking over money for the fresh-baked gingerbread and the cider.
Back at the rear fence, who should ride by but...Edwards !
And there he goes....
I took this from my seat at the picnic table while I waited for Carl to come with the
gingerbread and cider.
Behind the Raleigh, a carriage on Nicholson St.
A little Raleigh pathway I liked.
Afterwards, we walked west on Nicholson and came upon this great, leaning tree.
We paused, looking down a side street from Nicholson toward DOG as two members of
the fife and drum corps passed by playing their instruments.
A bit further down Nicholson lay this marvelous view (looking toward DOG)
We went down into the garden to see it up closer...
...and take a couple of pictures, of course!
Still walking west on Nicholson
We came upon this couple on the south side of Nicholson.
On the north side I detoured down a hill to take a picture of this enfenced tree.
My constant detours added greatly to the total number of steps I took!
The end of the Peyton Randolph house. Not white for a change!
A guide outside the Randolph house. It was at this moment that the bell in Bruton Parrish
chimed noon.
The back side of the Courthouse as seen from the corner of the Peyton House on Nicholson St.
That's the market square it sits on. Across DOG from it you can make out a bit of the Magazine.
A worthy tree on Nicholson.
And not far past it, another. What a great climbing tree this would make for kids !
Walking across the Palace Green to tour the inside of the Wythe House, I made a quick pause
for another picture because the sky was just so blue.
We sat under an arbor in Wythe's herb garden while a guide talked about the house and
then turned us loose on our own.
And this was that very guide!
The Wythe House as seen from the back of the central garden.
This is the actual room where Wythe taught Jefferson law.
The living room
The dining room....Julian ate here! Not to mention Washington, of course.
Guest room above the dining room. I imagine Washington slept here.
George Wythe's room. He lived to be 80, but took two weeks to die from poison put in his
food by his great nephew who wanted his inheritance early.
An upstairs back room overlooking the gardens
Standing in the back door looking at the central garden.
In the Bruton Parrish churchyard looking toward the chimney of the Wythe House.
Crape myrtles and old brick.
Carl and I sat on a bench under this gloriously lit maple facing the side door of Bruton Parrish.
Then I tipped my camera straight up to the maple canopy above us.
And this is Carl on the bench...just to show he has more than a foot in photographs.
A carriage heading west on DOG past the Palace Green. The walls of Bruton Parrish are
on the left above the horses.
Looking up through an oak from another bench. My feet had died long ago.
Looking into a garden on the south side of DOG.
The Peyton Randolph house across Market Square again. Even though it was a beautiful
Saturday morning, there are still not all that many people out and about.
The small market near the Magazine where Colonial clothing is sold. I was quite taken by
the morning glories.
The back of the little market with morning glories on every post.
Looking past morning glories to the Magazine.
Of course I saw a neat tree and had to get all artsy-fartsy with my photographs of the Magazine!
The Magazine was built in 1715 by Governor Spotswood and stored supplies necessary for
protection against Indians, slave revolts, riots and pirates. In it were shot, powder, flints,
tents, tools, swords, pikes, canteens, cooking utensils and up to 3,000 Brown Bess flintlocks.
On the night of April 20, 1775 Governor Dunmore ordered a squad of royal marines
from the H.M.S. Magdalen to empty the arsenal and disable the muskets kept there.
Dunmore seemed to think nobody would...notice. But the drums began to beat and most of
Williamsburg's population gathered on Market Square. The marines made off with 15 half-
barrels of powder. Dunmore tried to weasel out of it by saying he was only trying to keep
the powder "safe" if there were a slave insurrection. Nobody believed him for a moment.
Seven days later word reached Williamsburg of what had happened at Lexington and Concord.
This is the Courthouse on the north side of DOG directly across from the Magazine. As there are
no benches close around, I sat on these steps more than once so my feet could bleed out into the
street. One Benjamin Waller read the Declaration of Independence from these steps, though,
admittedly, not while I sat there, alas. Seven years later the citizens of Williamsburg gathered here
to celebrate the end of the war. These steps arrived from England in 1772, but there were no
columns to hold up the portico. It sort of jars the eye at first that none are there. In 1911, after a
post-fire repair, columns were added, but in 1932 were removed to make it look as it had in
Colonial times.
The brilliant green of this young pine attracted my eye. The Courthouse is there again in
the distance.
The following are all gardens opening off Francis Street we explored on our way back to the
little parking lot to get our car.
If anybody knows what kind of tree this is, please tell me!
jo.anzalone@verizon.net
The whole of the unknown tree. We sat on that bench, too. Two of the
pictures further up were taken from there.
I'd gone halfway down a side street toward DOG to get the picture above this one when
I heard the fife and drum corps coming. We hadn't seen them yet and were just about to
leave when here they came! So we went down to the corner of DOG to watch them march
by.
Then back to Francis Street....
This is my last shot of Williamsburg and I took it standing directly in front of our car
in the little lot, looking through the poke berries.
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