Category: Williamsburg

A Colonial Christmas

12/25/2020

Due to the Trump virus ravaging our country, we altered our Christmas plans this year. Our daughters were to visit (one from LA, and one from Chicago), but with the Trump Death Toll soaring and numbers of infections climbing out of control, we decided to spend time on Zoom instead.

My wife and I, though, did drive down to colonial Williamsburg -- about a three hour drive for us -- to spend Christmas Eve there.

We stayed at the Williamsburg Lodge, and for dinner we ate a DELICIOUS meal in our room with a to-go order from their restaurant, Sweet Tea and Barley.

In normal years, the hotel hosts a magnificent brunch on Christmas day; alas, the Trump virus has ruined that too. We brought the ingredients for a delectable in-room continental breakfast, and we even brought our crock pot to heat some mulled apple cider!

Below: Doors & windows of the colonial homes and shops in Williamsburg were adorned by beautiful Christmas wreaths and swags.

Below: Scenes from around colonial Williamsburg.

Below: More wreaths from around the colonial area:

On Christmas Eve, we also drove around the non-colonial areas of Williamsburg to check out some Christmas light displays. There had a been a local contest, and the house below won first place. The final two shots -- taken through our car window in the rain -- are of the 2nd place winner. Click the images to enlarge.

Below: The Williamsburg Inn.

We stayed next door in the Williamsburg Lodge. We had a wonderful room -- within steps of the colonial area -- and we ordered a Christmas Eve dinner to eat in our room. The entire meal was delicious -- but the dessert was FANTASTIC! : )

Below left: For dinner, we made ourselves a type of Mimosa -- but with cranberry juice. Below right: The Williamsburg Lodge's dessert called the "Mason Dixon" was a mix of New York cheesecake with Southern spice cake -- with cream cheese icing and walnuts. Mm, mm, good!!!

Below: Miscellaneous poets from around Williamsburg. NOTE: Slide shows don't always work on Androids, so these pictures are best viewed on a laptop, an iPhone, or an iPad.

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Making History

9/2/2018

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From our 19th century historian, Eudora Dickinson:

I was in Norfolk, Virginia, last week for a gathering of the Tidewater Chapter of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts, and on the way home, I stopped in Williamsburg. The restored colonial town called to mind Emily Dickinson's poem "Yesterday is History" (below on the left), lines she was inspired to write after reading her third cousin's poem "Tomorrow is Eternity" (below on the right).

By Emily Dickinson:

Yesterday is History,
'Tis so far away –
Yesterday is Poetry –
'Tis Philosophy –

Yesterday is mystery –
Where it is Today
While we shrewdly speculate
Flutter both away

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Tomorrow is Eternity,
‘Tis so far away –
Tomorrow is Puzzlement –
‘Tis Uncertainty –

Tomorrow is mystery –
Where we must Succumb
While we crudely contemplate
What we might become

Williamsburg itself was almost a mystery that fluttered away into history, but it has an interesting story of how the town was saved and restored that involved the rector of Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church and John D. Rockefeller. Information is HERE and HERE.

Pictured below: The reconstructed Governor's Palace.

Pictured below: Miscellaneous shots from around Colonial Williamsburg.

The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum

While in Williamsburg we visited the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, the first and the world's oldest continually-operated museum dedicated to the preservation, collection, and exhibition of American folk art.

The museum is open even though it is under construction. The museum is adding a new entrance as well as new exhibition space.

Below left: We loved the museum; however, it has to be one of the ugliest buildings we've ever seen in just about any city. It literally is nothing more than a huge monolith of brick and mortar. Below right: A model of the monolith with the roof removed -- so you can see that there are lots of galleries inside. It is just the exterior that is so severe and bleak. How did something like that gain the approval of the city's architectural board of review?

Below left: The current entrance to the museum is in the "Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds," the first building in North America devoted solely to the treatment of the mentally ill (the first patient was admitted October 12, 1773). Visitors climb down a long set of steps and follow a hallway underground to enter the galleries within the brick monolith behind the former hospital. Below right: Construction is currently underway to add a new entrance, a new cafe, and additional exhibition space.

The museum included MANY paintings of members of the Dickinson family.

Left: Emalee Incross Dickinson, mother of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request), reading a first edition of her son's poetry. Center: Zebulene Jean Dickinson, Emmett Lee Dickinson's sister. Right: Another of Emmett Lee Dickinson's sisters, Pythagoria Dickinson Portendorfer.

Left: Euclid Portendorfer, oldest son of Pythagoria Dickinson Portendorfer. Center: Hypatia Xenophen Dickinson, daughter of Muttley James Dickinson, a brother of Emmett Lee Dickinson -- and her cat Gato. Right: Windsor Clegg, oldest son of Ethelene Ehteline Dickinson Clegg. Windsor is shown reading a book of poetry by Emmett Lee Dickinson.

Left: A wood carving of Emmett Lee Dickinson's daughter, Qwerty Jean Dickinson. Center: Emmett Lee Dickinson's sister Polly Esther Dickinson. Right: Jefferson Dickinson's youngest daughter Eukaryote and her cat, Protozoa.

Left: Eleanor and Rigby, daughters of Peneleope Laine Dickinson McKenzie. Right: Azile Emdiella Dickinson of Lewis Clark Dickinson.

Below: Items from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum collection. The picture on the right is of a glass jar packed with colored sand.

Below left: The museum's cafe served Emmett Lee Dickinson's corn chowder as the soup of the day! Dickinson invented corn chowder. Below right: The museum's display of silver includes pieces from the Emmett Lee Dickinson family's silver collection.

Pictured below: Miscellaneous shots from inside the tailor's shop on Duke of Gloucester Street. Just FYI: the historical interpreter in the shop on the morning of September 2nd was excellent. His discussions on the industry and of the history of uniforms and clothing was fascinating.

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A Colonial Christmas

Making History

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