Colonial Williamsburg-Courthouse

Important events announced at the courthouse:

Williamsburg's citizens assembled at their courthouse at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, May 1, 1783, to celebrate at last the end of the war with England – just as they had gathered seven years earlier to hear lawyer Benjamin Waller proclaim from its steps the Declaration of Independence.

Led by four standard bearers, a herald riding a gelding, and the mayor and his aldermen bearing the city charter, the throng marched down Duke of Gloucester Street toward the College of William and Mary. They carried a proclamation announcing the initialing of the Treaty of Paris and, nearly two years after Yorktown, the end of the Revolution.

The footsteps echoed off the brick facade of the Courthouse, the sound of the footfalls bouncing between the broad stone steps and the white portico. Ordered from England, the steps had arrived from a London merchant in 1772, but there were no columns – possibly none had ever been intended. Their absence jarred the eye a little at first.

This picture is taken from inside the courthouse where a mock trial is taking place. Three plaintiffs are chosen from the audience as well as a group of jurors, which Nick was picked as a juror. Fun to watch!

For more info on the courthouse, click HERE

Colonial Williamsburg-Peyton Randolph House

A couple of weeks ago, over the Memorial Day weekend, we went to Colonial Williamsburg. I loved it! This is a picture of the Peyton Randolph House:

The original structure of the Peyton Randolph House was built in 1715. Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1938 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.

While in Williamsburg we took a ghost tour through The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg Candlelight Tour.

We had so much fun on this tour, all of us! Nick does not believe in ghosts, Ashlyn hates to be scared and the boys and myself love ghost stories. This tour was perfect for all of us! Our tour guide Tom did a great job telling us "ghostly" stories of the city, based on the book "The Ghosts of Williamsburg" by L.B. Taylor.

We started our tour at The College of William and Mary and finished across town, stopping at many sites along the way for Tom to tell another story.

In this photo is the Peyton Randolph House which is rumored to be the most haunted house in Williamsburg, housing up to 23 ghosts. I tried to get photos on the tour but all my pictures turned out pitch black, so I had to take a quick pic the next day as we were walking past it. We had planned to tour the house on Sunday, but then on Sunday we noticed it was closed so we'll have to put that on our "to do" list for the next trip to Williamsburg.

I highly recommend the ghost tour we took. The stories Tom told us were a great addition to the stories we heard on the individual tours we took through Williamsburg. One thing I will mention is that if you are wanting to take pictures on the ghost tour, ask your tour guide ahead of time if they will allow a few minutes in front of each stop. I assumed that there would be plenty of time for taking pictures but at each stop we would gather in a close circle to hear Tom's story, and then quickly move on to the next location. If you wanted to hear the story, you could not move away from the the group for pictures and we didn't linger long enough to snap any after the story, plus, with it being so dark outside and several other tours going on, you needed to stay with your group as they moved on. I tried on a couple of occasions to take a few quick pictures as the group was leaving but found myself lost trying to find my group! so my advice is to just ask if there will be an opportunity to take pictures, I'm sure they will accommodate you as everyone was so nice and helpful, from getting tickets to the tour guide.

So all in all, a great time was had in Williamsburg and I'll have more pictures from our trip all week!

Some links to check out:
Colonial Williamsburg
Original Ghost Tours of Williamsburg
Peyton Randolph
Peyton Randolph House

Memorial Day

Roadside memorial in Williamsburg, Va

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.

SkyWatch Friday

This is the old Belmont Park wooden roller coaster in Mission Beach, San Diego, CA. The original Belmont Park was so much fun back in the day. I remember having a few birthday parties there and the rides were so much better than the new park. This coaster, The Giant Dipper, opened to the public on the 4th of July, 1925. It was a bit risky to ride back in the 70's, when I would go, as many would say that it would jump the track. I remember my first ride on it, so scared that it would jump the track as my neighbor told me it did, and I would be killed, but I still had to take the chance and ride it, over and over!

The rest of the park was eventually torn down but the coaster was saved and restored in 1989. I've ridden it since the restoration, but still prefer the old Belmont Park!

To see skies from all over the world, visit SKYLEY!

Snow-San Diego Style

While Nick was in San Diego a few weeks back, he took a short trek up to the mountains and was surprised to see snow on the ground still! Yes, contrary to what many believe, San Diego DOES get snow! When the Laguna Mountains get snow, everyone around San Diego County load up their chains and sleds and head up to the mountains to play. The roadsides are jam packed with cars. San Diego is one of the few places that you can go to the snow and play then head to the beach, all in one day!

Robertos Taco Shop

Ask any transplanted San Diegan what they miss most about San Diego and 9 times out of 10 the answer will be "taco shops". Nick was in San Diego a few weeks back and I won't lie, mostly he went for a carne asada burrito fix. This picture is of Robertos Taco Shop, one of the more popular taco shop chains around town.

With Warmer Weather...

The snakes come out. We spotted this Black Rat Snake at Craig Creek a couple of weeks ago. Nick was bothering him so he took off inside of a tree. Later, Nick found him dangling upside down from a vine hanging down inside the tree. That would have been a cool picture except for my batteries died and by the time I got over there anyway, the snake had already went back up inside the tree again.

I've featured many Black Rat Snakes on this blog in the past and you can catch up on them HERE