The next morning, we slept in, got some breakfast and kind of dilly-dallied around the hotel for the day. After some swimming, reading and more TV, we made our way to the Jamestown Settlement around 4 p.m., giving us 2 hours before closing time.
Well, we made a couple of wrong turns, and before anyone knew it, we were parking with just over an hour left to see the settlement. It was a speedy stop but such an interesting exhibit!
For those of you who forgot your high school history lessons, in 1607, 13 years before the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock, a group of 104 Englishmen began a settlement on the banks of Virginia’s James River. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America. Today, about a mile away from the actual settlement is a museum of 17th-century life with exhibits that chronicle the first century of the Virginia colony.
[The settlers' kitchen on the ships...imagine cooking in that tiny thing!]
Impressively, we made our way through all the forts, the ships and the indoor, air-conditioned exhibits. Of course, another hour or so would have been ideal, but for what little time we had, I think we did one heck of a job. The kids learned a lot and they had fun doing it! A success for all :)
[Robert looking rather ferocious]
[Dad talking to a 17th-century settler...no big deal.]
Afterward, Mom and Dad randomly decided that we'd stop at a Virginia diner somewhere off the road. We kids (hahaha I'm clearly going mad as I'm grouping myself with the kids now...) weren't so sure about it since we parked in front of a sign that said "Virginia Diner Headquarters" with no hint of life within a 5-mile radius. Mom called the number on the sign and asked, "Are you a restaurant?" With some key questions and maneuvering, we figured out that the restaurant was actually down the road, about a block from the headquarters. When we finally made it there, we were thrilled to see that it was a very southern restaurant, to say the least.
The entire building was white, with big red letters that read, "Virginia Diner." Inside were packages upon packages of peanuts because...well, naturally, Virginia is the peanut capital of the world! (Did you know that? I didn't!) I had a Waldorf salad, which was not what we Californians know as "Waldorf Chicken Salad." It was a little bowl of cut-up apples and a peanut dressing that tasted more like caramel than anything else. It was delicious but a little too sweet as a dinner entree for my taste. Luckily, I also got some vegetable beef soup that was absolutely delicious. Dad got what else but fried chicken and Mom got a vegetable platter with sweet collared greens. The kids got the usual (chicken tenders and french fries) but for dessert, they ordered peanut pie, which was very interesting. It was almost like pecan pie but everything from the outside to the filling was peanuts. A little to peanut-y for my taste but good nonetheless.
On our way out, we found out that Guy Fieri went there for his show once. Our waitress told us that after seeing the show, couple from Vancouver specifically traveled to Virginia to try the collared greens that Guy had on his show. They, unfortunately, did not like it. Oh well! It was quite the southern experience :)
Until next time, lovelies...ciao <3
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