Blog-Day 4
The Old Capitol – Richmond, Virginia
This is Maggie telling you all about our visit to the Old Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. We got a tour around the Capitol and learned many interesting facts about it. We saw the original parts of the Capitol which Thomas Jefferson designed himself and the new extension that was recently added in 2007. We had the opportunity to sit in the chairs that many people in history once sat in. Our tour guide filled our minds with a lot of brand new information about the history of the Old Capitol and our country. One thing that we learned was that eight of the U.S. Presidents came from Virginia. Speaking of Presidents, we visited President Hall in the Old Capitol where there was an outstanding statue of George Washington that was incredibly accurate and detailed. We saw many amazing paintings and statues of important people in the history of our superb country. The Old Capitol was a magnificent experience for all of us and we are all having a great time on the Virginia Trip so far :)
Pamplin Park
In most peoples opinion Pamplin Park was the best place we have been to so far on the trip. When we first got there we were treated to a delicious southern styled barbeque. Next we went outside to an old plantation that was used during a battle by a confederate general as headquarters. We went inside the different houses on the plantation and learned about slave life, we also went inside the ‘Big House” and how the master and his family lived. We then were able to see one example of a civil war earthwork. We had amazing guide, who was different, but musically gifted and passionate about his work. Then the entire eighth grade got to do an amazing short version of a drill on using muskets (we used fake ones) and walking through a battle. We were lastly; treaed to a nice gift shop with many fun and fascinating things.
Michael W and Asa G
Williamsburg
Hear ye, Hear ye, this is Joe and Shruthi filling you in about Williamsburg. Williamsburg is a colonial town that was the 2nd capitol of America moved from the first capitol, Jamestown. As you enter Williamsburg, your zapped back into colonial times and you also experience colonial life. Along the streets there were many shops with people who are dressed up as colonial people. There were also many proprietors (like the brick maker, the silversmith, the blacksmith, etc.) we got to visit. Many of them were very experienced at their trades and they answered any questions we had for them. In the morning all of us split up into groups of fours to tour the town. Then in the afternoon, we went on a tour with the whole group. The tour was very interesting! We went to look at many old buildings, like the prison cell, the governor’s palace, the courtroom, and where some of the first general assembly’s were held. It was very interesting and the most favorite part the tour was when our tour guide showed us hedge mazes and how to draw water from the well! At night we saw a very interesting and eerie play about a witch trial. The room was candle lit as we were all introduced to Grace Sherwood. Her neighbors are trying her to be a witch. As the evident played out, the audience was to be the jury. We would vote if the witch was guilty or not guilty. But, we had to think as though we were in the 18th century. The witch was voted guilty. The actors were amazing and they portrayed perfectly how a witch trial would have gone. Altogether Williamsburg was a great experience. The whole 8th grade enjoyed it very much.
Blog-Day 6
Jamestown
Today we visited Jamestown. As you may or may not know Jamestown is the birth place of America. This is the spot that 3 ships, the Discovery, the Susan Constant and the Godspeed landed right here in America. When we got to Jamestown we went to the first church that was supposedly built on American land, but since it has been a while of course the church was rebuilt. Inside of the church you could look under these glass panels and see the original ruins of the first church. Also inside of the church they had a knight buried and you could see his gravestone. After we left the church we went up to a spot where they had a huge statue and met a lady from the 1600’s that would give us a mini tour. Te first thing she did was tell us about herself and how she got here, and then she told us about the triangle fort. Next we switch tour guides to a man. He took us back into the church and told us a little more about it. Jamestown right now is being excavated so we got to go to a museum and see some of the thousands of artifacts they had found so far. One of the artifacts they had was a full skeleton body that they dug up. In all Jamestown was a fantastic place to be even though we were not able to see the boats.
Clara