The George Wythe House, the Capitol, and more in Colonial Williamsburg

This is the fourth post of a new travel series.  In this series, we are headed east starting in Wisconsin and going all the way to Virginia to see the home of George Washington and Colonial Williamsburg.  To start at the beginning, go HERE where  we stop in Indiana to celebrate Easter with my daughter, son-in-law, and our grandchildren.

After touring the Governor's Palace we walked down the Palace Green street heading towards Williamsburg next must-see attraction:  The Capitol.  However, we made a few stops along the way. 😀. We were told that any building that had an American Flag displayed outside was open to go inside.  If the building did not have a flag, it wasn't open that day.  The first building we saw that had a flag was a bakery/coffee shop, and they had the most delicious looking scones I ever saw in my life for only $4.00.  I would have purchased one but it was so early in the morning I wasn't hungry and I didn't want to have to carry a scone all day.  Boy, was that a mistake, because we didn't see anything worthwhile to eat for a long time after I saw that scone and I wished I would have purchased it and just carried it till I got hungry.  I believe that building was called the "McKenzie Apothecary" so my advice, if you see that building, BUY THE SCONE! 😄

Continuing on down the Palace Green, the next open building we saw was the George Wythe House.  The picture above shows the beautiful backyard.

Only a small amount of people are let in at a time.  A tour guide takes you to the backyard to tell you all about George Wythe, and then you're allowed to tour the house and gardens at your leisure.   

Here is the hallway where a character dressed tour guide is available to answer any questions.

George Wythe was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and the first law professor in the United States. He lived in the home with his wife Elizabeth.  He taught law students in his home, including Thomas Jefferson who he later became life long friends.  George Washington used his home as his headquarters and likely planned the battle of Yorktown at the house.  So this house has quite the history indeed!

This is the original home and it was built in 1755.  Below is the dining room.

In the front parlor we were entertained by a singing trio that also played musical instruments.  I've included a short video of them singing below the photograph.

Pictured below is George Wythe's office where he likely taught his law students.

Me standing at the staircase landing.

George and Elizabeth only had one child, who died in infancy, but they often took in college students, like Jefferson, who was orphaned at 16.

I couldn't believe how wide the upstairs hallway was;  so different from today's narrow hallways.  This hallway could have been a room in and of itself. 

Back outside after our tour, we visited the Wythe's gorgeous gardens.  They also had outdoor cabins which we explored.  The Wythes did have 14-17 slaves which either lived at their home or on their plantation. George did free most of his slaves after his wife’s death.

This was probably their outdoor kitchen which most homes had back in the day for cooling and safety reasons.

So many of the homes had beautiful gardens and the George Wythe house was one of them.  I loved this unique tree and the vine covered pathway.

Once we finished touring the gardens and outer buildings of the Wythe home, we continued on our walk of the enchanting streets of Colonial Williamsburg and caught another view of a horse and carriage riding by.

Even if you can’t go inside every single building, they sure are pretty to look at from the outside too!

Next we came upon a building where they were demonstrating how they made the iron rings to go around wooden barrels and butter churns.

The wheelwright was a fun stop. We couldn’t believe how large the wheels were!

More cute colonial homes!

I loved this blue carriage!

The Colonial Williamsburg “characters” frequently walk about town engaging with guests and they are always willing to stop for a photo if you ask them.  I loved this costume! Doesn’t it just scream Colonial times? So fun.

Our next stop was carpentry shop. The building that housed the carpenters was as interesting as the carpenters themselves for the house was built right over a creek!

We were told by our shuttle driver to be sure and stop by the Raleigh Tavern Bakery to buy a cookie, but by the time we got there at NOON they were all sold out.  We thought that was kinda crazy to be sold out so early in the day. I was sure wishing I bought that scone I saw earlier in the morning for I was getting pretty hungry by now.  The bakery also sells lots of other things like sandwiches and other baked goods but the pickings were pretty slim by the time we arrived.

I did enjoy peeking at the backyard colonial garden next door.

Our next stop was the Public Gaol or jail. This was a fun stop seeing how they kept prisoners back in the day.

A cell.

Old cell door.

Finally it was time to see the next big attraction in Colonial Williamsburg:  The Capitol!

The Williamsburg Capitol was the center of British authority.   Here, they debated who was entitled to justice, representation, and liberty.

This is a reconstruction built on the old foundation of the original capital building that stood from 1705 to 1747.

It never ceased to amaze me all the care and detail that went into these reconstructed buildings.

A costumed tour guide takes you through the buildings and explains the significance of each room.  The photo below is the General Court.

The Governor's Council were appointed by the king or queen and served as the upper house of Virginia legislature. They considered legislation, managed several aspects of colonial affairs, and advised the governor.  This body was made up of the leading members of the colon's wealthiest and most powerful families. 

Along with the governor, the Council also acted as the highest civil and criminal court.  They had jurisdiction over all kinds of criminal, civil, and even religious cases.  Their most famous case  occurred in 1718 when the a group of Blackbeard pirates were sentenced to death!

Oh, just look at that magnificent door!

The Council Chamber 

This room served as a meeting place for the Governor's Council.

I loved this view of the streets of Colonial Williamsburg seen from a second story window.

The Conference Room

This room was used as a joint meeting place for joint committees of the House of Burgess and the Governor's Council.  It was considered "neutral ground" where members of both parties could come together and discuss issues.

The Committee Room

Another room for both parties to discuss and debate issue in a neutral spot in the Capitol.

House of Burgess

The House of Burgesses was the lower branch of colonial Virginia's General Assembly, elected by property-owners.

Looking back in the House of Burgess from the view of the Speaker's Chair.

The Capitol was a very educational and esthetically beautiful building where we learned all about the colony's judicial system and government.  It is a must-see attraction if you are ever in Colonial Williamsburg.

Next week I will cover Colonial Williamsburg's next big highlight:  The Courthouse, along with other fun attractions along the way.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

 See these posts for more information on Colonial Williamsburg:

The Governors Palace

Touring The Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg

This is the third post of a new travel series.  In this series, we are headed east starting in Wisconsin and going all the way to Virginia to see the home of George Washington and Colonial Williamsburg.  To start at the beginning, go HERE where  we stop in Indiana to celebrate Easter with my daughter, son-in-law, and our grandchildren.

I have wanted to see Colonial Williamsburg my entire life.  I know it isn't on everyone's bucket list, but as a lover of old homes and history, it was on mine.  I could not believe I was finally here and we had picture perfect weather to enjoy our day!

We only spent one day in Williamsburg because we did the "Historic Triangle" which required two extra days.  We may not have been able to walk up and down every single street in the Historic District  in one day, but we did see all its major attractions like the Palace, the Capitol, and the Courthouse.  To keep my post on Williamsburg from becoming too lengthy, I'm going to divide it into three posts, with one major attraction in each post.  This week's post will cover the  Governors Palace, which was my favorite part of Williamsburg and I am standing in front of in the photo below.

Colonial Williamsburg is the world's largest living history museum.  It encompasses 301 acres and 88 original 18th century structures.  There are hundreds of houses, shops, and public buildings reconstructed on the original foundations.   There are also museums, farms, gardens, and live characters re-enacting life in the 18th century in Williamsburg.  

It is free to walk around Colonial Williamsburg and see any outdoor demonstrations, but if you want to go inside any of the buildings, you need an admission ticket.  We first stopped in their beautiful Visitor Center to purchase a ticket where we got a "lovely" tag to wear all day long 😀. I actually recommend getting a physical ticket even though the tag ruins all your photos, because if you purchase them on line you have to constantly bring up your ticket on your phone to show to an employee anytime you want to enter any building, which seems to take time as then you have to stand in line.  Whereas with a physical ticket, you just walk right past the line.

There are many ticket options available, including a three day Historic Triangle pass which allows you to see Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown.  Even though we were doing all three towns, we chose a one day pass for $34.00 because we already had an America the Beautiful pass which got us into the national historic sites in Yorktown and Jamestown for free.

Colonial Williamsburg Visitors Center

Parking at the Visitors Center is plentiful and costs $10 for the day.  We stayed at a hotel in Williamsburg, not Colonial Williamsburg, which is much cheaper.  Once we purchased our tickets, we caught a free shuttle from the Visitor's Center to Colonial Williamsburg.  This shuttle runs all day and stops at various points in Colonial Williamsburg if walking gets to be too much for you.  However, it is a very busy and under-scheduled shuttle so we only used it once, and that was early in the morning.  After that, we could never get on the shuttle, and we ended up having to walk all the way back to our car at the end of the day.  The lack of shuttles would be my one and only complaint about Colonial Williamsburg, and we weren't the only ones there complaining about it.  Everyone was complaining about the shuttle service, or lack thereof.   Cars are not allowed in Colonial Williamsburg so it's either walk or take a shuttle.  There are scooters for rent, but we never checked into the price of that as we're both capable of walking.

We got off at the very first stop on the shuttle route:  The Governors Palace.  We were a little early for the very first tour of the day, so we decided to walk the grounds first.

I was awestruck of the Palace gardens.  I thought it was brilliant how they created a vegetable garden on a hillside.  My entire yard is a hill, so I'm always looking for new ways to get more use out of it.

It was finally time for our tour to begin.  All the buildings that we went into were tours.  You couldn't just walk in by yourselves and look around, unless it was a carpentry shop or something like that, but even then there were always employees in period costumes giving demonstrations and answering questions.

The Palace is a reconstruction of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg.  The main residence burned down in 1791.  It was the official residence of the royal governors of the Colony of Virginia.  The reconstruction that we toured was built on the original site in 1930.

The first room the tour guide takes you in is the magnificent foyer or "Entrance Hall".  This was my favorite room in the house.  The walls of the foyer are adorned with weapons:  swords, knives, and muskets all arranged in an ornate fashion.  These arms were taken down and used during the French and Indian War and in the Revolution.

On one side of the Entrance Hall is the Parlor.  The parlor was used as a waiting room, a place of business, and a setting for "polite entertainment".

On the other side of the Entrance Hall is the Pantry.  This is a room that was used by the butler or housekeeper to provide a secure place to carry out their responsibilities.  Supervision and security of valuables were kept here.  The door was usually closed as the room was used as a base for the staff to coordinate their daily activities.

The First Floor Hallway.  There is a casual dining room on the right where visitors would often gather to meet with the governor after waiting in the parlor.   

The Dining Room

This gorgeous stairwell is across from the Dining Room.

The Second Floor Hallway

The Study/Dressing Room adjacent to His Lordship's Chamber may have been used by Lord Dunmore as both a library and a dressing room. 

His Lordship's Chamber

The bedchamber above the dining room was interpreted as the Daughter's Room, where two of the Dunmore daughters might have slept.

Her Ladyship's Chamber

The Upper Middle Chamber was originally intended as a State Room.  By the 1750's this room had been combined with the study and the chamber over the pantry to form a private suite of rooms. This room is referred as a "dressing room".  Lady Dunmore likely used this room to spend time with her daughters and lady friends. 

Our Tour Guide was wonderful.  He told such interesting stories of the history of the home and its occupants, and he spoke in character at all times.  Even his posture was in character! I should mention, he was our second tour guide.  My husband didn't care for our first tour guide at all and to my embarrassment asked an employee if we could switch tours.  They kindly let us do so, and I must admit, he was a 100% improvement.  The first tour guide was dressed in period costume but didn't act like a character from the past.  She also spoke so rapidly and didn't share interesting facts about the house, but seemed to talk about a lot of nonsense.  We weren't the only ones in her tour group that felt that way.  One man said to my husband "Geez, did she have to many cans of Red Bull this morning?" 😀

The Ballroom and Supper Room, the two grandest rooms in the house were added in the 1750's.  Musical instruments were housed here including three organs, a harpsichord, and a piano forte.

I found this old wood stove and the way it ventilated so interesting. 

A painting of Queen Charlotte graces one side of the doorway and a portrait of King Charles III is on the other. 

The Supper Room.  I loved the bright green paint on the walls.  Our tour guide shared that this color was hard to create and signaled wealth and that was why it was popular among the elite. 

Is he the coolest tour guide or what?  💖

After our tour of the Palace we decided to explore more of the grounds.  The gardens in Williamsburg are just beautiful.  I couldn't believe all the flowers they had in April!  Everything was still brown and mud in Wisconsin, so it was so nice to come here and not only experience warmth and sunshine, but beautiful flowers!  I am sitting in front of the Evergreen Maze.  You would need to see an aerial shot to get an appreciation for the maze.  There is one on their website HERE.

Flowers and vegetables grow right next to each other to create beautiful, harmonious, and practical outdoor spaces.

I loved this tree lined walk way.

The evergreen maze could be seen from the upper stories of the Palace.

I loved the white wrought iron in the garden.

Gorgeous paths and interesting brick architecture enhance the garden beautifully.

You can take a horse and carriage ride in Colonial Williamsburg.  It was always fun watching them go by and seeing all the different styles of carriages. 

Here is a far away shot of the Governor's Palace.  The center building is the main house, the one we toured.  The property is enormous, in addition to the main house and kitchen outbuildings there were stables, a coach house, laundry, pasture, dairy, farm, park, and extensive gardens. 

 A view from across The Palace Green.  The nice thing about getting to Colonial Williamsburg early and leaving late, is getting beautiful photos like this without people in them.  This was taken at the end of the day, after we had dinner at The Merchants Square when Colonial Williamsburg was officially closed.  The Historic Area is open from 10:00 to 5:00 but you can walk around the neighborhood anytime so after closing is the best time for photography.

 I hope you enjoyed my very first post of Colonial Williamsburg.  Next week I'll cover The Capitol along with some other fun highlights in the Historic Area.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!