11.08.2012 – 11.08.2012  33 °C

Our drive today took us from Elizabeth, NC up to Williamsburg, Va. By morning tea time we had arrived in Yorktown, Va where we pulled into the NP stop for morning tea. Straight after our break we walked into the visitor centre to hear more about the American Revolution.

Yorktown was one of the key battles in the revolution. Admiral Cornwallis (for the British) had been told by his superiors to dig in and protect a base in the south that would serve as a deep water port for British ships. Cornwallis chose Yorktown, and so over took the town and built dirt and wooden palisades surrounding the town to protect it from any American attack.

By this time of the war, Franklin had secured French support for the war and so Washington gladly received some crack French troops as well as one of their top commanders, Rochambeau. With the reinforcements Washington decided to start taking the war to the British and devised a plan to deceive the British into thinking the French/ American troops would attack New York but instead attack Cornwallis’ troops at Yorktown.

The first stage was supported by the French Navy. The French Navy attacked the British warships off the opening to the Chesapeake Bay effectively ensuring that Cornwallis was not able to get fresh reinforcements. Second stage, was for Washington and Rochambeau to surround and besiege the town of Yorktown.

Once both stages were successfully completed (although no-one really claimed victory in the Navy battle—the British ships did return northward though so achieved the end that Washington was aiming for), the battle for Yorktown began. The American and French troops besieged the town for days, pounding it with shells. Eventually, Cornwallis had to surrender when it was clear that he was not going to be relieved. With Cornwallis’ surrender (and more than 7000 POWs), the tide had turned in the war and the American/ French troops then went on to eventually drive the British from America.

The three of us were able to join a walking tour of the town to see where the battle had taken place and more excitingly see the old buildings that still grace the main street of the town. The main street of the town is pedestrian only and the whole town is part of the National Park so each building has been lovingly restored to their former glory. One of the main houses in the town was owned by one of the ‘rebels’. He was actually the governor of the time of Virginia and was one of those who went to Philadelphia to sign the declaration of Independence and was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson. The owner personally sacrificed everything he owned to make America a free and sovereign nation, even to the extent of spending all of his money and giving up his house.

Another storm brewed up this afternoon (which was so welcome because it is HUMID) so we went looking for some shelter in the town. We were going to have some lunch but after waiting 15 mins to be seated and not getting anywhere we decided to leave Yorktown and drive up the road (about 20 mins) to Williamsburg where we are going to stay for the next few days.

Just as we were leaving Yorktown the heavens opened and our car was deluged in rain.. Deluge is the right word because driving visibility was down to less than a couple of meters. Fortunately we had taken the scenic Colonial Parkway which is really only used by tourists so traffic was light.. Driving on a scenic road was a waste of time because all three of us were just concentrating on trying to help D see the road. The 20 min drive up to Williamsburg felt like hours and just as we neared the town the rain stopped so at least we didn’t get soaked trying to get our stuff out of the car.

We booked into our hotel and home for the next 3 nights and after a rest we headed to downtown Williamsburg to the Visitor Centre to get the goss on Busch Gardens (theme park) and Colonial Williamsburg (part of the town that is only open to people with a ticket). Williamsburg is one of the oldest towns in America (almost the oldest!) and has been preserved as one of the Colonial destinations here in the US. The preservation has gone to the extent that the main street (and many of the surrounding homes) are all owned by a preservation society which charges admission to help pay for the upkeep. I wasn’t too sure whether we wanted to go into the town itself (because you can walk around parts of the town without paying so we spent some time at the info desk grilling the lady on why we should buy a ticket. Eventually, we all agreed to buy a 7 day pass to both Colonial Williamsburg and to Busch Gardens (this might seem excessive but it was cheaper than buying 1 day passes to each separately). I’m sure we’ll get value for money out of our ‘Bounce’ pass.

Most of the attractions in Colonial Williamsburg were closed by this stage in the day so we jumped back into the car and headed back to our digs, where M cooked dinner whilst I did the washing down at the local Laundromat. Talk about funny, we had heaps of laundry so I put our washing in a big washer forgetting that a big washer needs more detergent… Once the cycle was complete, our clothes still smelt so I had to run them thru again! My 1.5hr washing trip turned into +2hr of washing and I was pretty hungry by the time I got home.. Luckily the Laundromat had wifi so I spent my time blogging and skypeing home to AU!

Song of the Day– Garbage, Only happy when it rains