Tuesday, June 03, 2008

The historic triangle

Jamestown Settlement

Prior to flying back we had four nights in Newport News Virginia, which allowed us to explore the peninsula. This place is amazing! If you want to see living history, come here.

Jamestown is part of the 'historic triange' (along with Yorktown and Williamsburg)
Thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys made a four and a half month voyage to the banks of the James River to form this settlement. It had been their intention to make a profit from the resources of the New World for the Virginia Company's shareholders in London, however once they confronted the harsh realities of their new home, the focus shifted to survival.

The first place we visited was the Powhatan Indian village. Had it not been for these people and their willingness to pass on survival skills, the first settlers would most certainly have died.


From the Indian village, a short walk let us to a reconstruction of James Fort which was fun!



Our last stop was the riverfront discovery area where the kids got to walk through replicas of the three English ships that brought the settlers to the new world.




Now that we'd seen the start of Colonial America (1607) the following day we'd witness the end (1781) in Yorktown, a 30 minute drive to the other coast on the peninsula.

1 comment:

Andi Carter said...

I am SO envious. Look at that sky! The sun! The ship! We couldn't do the Triangle for reasons expressed in my other comment. You lucky ducks! Living out West, there will probably never be another chance for me to visit the Triangle. Rats. My DD is now wishing they'd spent more time traveling the East Coast during their one-year stay in North Carolina. Sigh. Don't we all wish such things?