Colonial Christmas

I know Christmas was over a month away but allow me to turn back the clock for a bit. The date will now be December 26, 2008 and you are coming with me on my Christmas vacation in Williamsburg, VA.

Cue the colonial music.

Some of you may remember my blog posts about our trip to Boston. In them, I described a game we played on our way up, guessing how many license plates we would see.  We settled in my mom’s mini-van and got ready to play the game. However, we got a bit sidetracked. My mom commented on how one never really sees car shells anymore and how much room ours gave us on family vacations. Not five minutes after this conversation we counted three cars with car shells on the opposite side in almost a row. After that, we started counting car shells—and they had to be shells, not boxes/bags tied to the roof—on the way down.

By the time we got to Williamsburg at nearly 6:30 PM, we counted over 150 car shells.

We checked into the Quality Inn Colony near the Visitor’s Center and whoever was in there before us was very cold. Our two rooms were sweltering hot and we had to lower the heat. We left the rooms to cool down, rushing over to Williamsburg as we had tickets for the 7:30 PM performance of “Carols at the Courthouse.” The courthouse was awash in candlelight as the quintet sang some of the popular Christmas carols of the 18^th century. One of the singers filled the times not spent singing with historical information about how Colonial Americans would’ve celebrated Christmas.

Christmas wasn’t a big day for revelry—the people usually went to church and then stayed home with family for a large meal. The following twelve days were a time of parties, merry-making and gifts, usually on Boxing Day. This day, following Christmas, got its name from the tradition of the master of a household bequeathing boxes of gold coins to his servants for a year of good work. The last night, the famous Twelfth Night, was the biggest night for revelry and unlike previous nights, the children were allowed to stay up late and join the festivities.

After the singing was finished, we returned to our hotel. Unfortunately, it had not cooled down enough and both my father and I were in for a night of sweating, tossing and turning.

After the rough night (and a quick stop at a local K-Mart for new sneakers and some snacks, among other things), we returned to Colonial Williamsburg in time to see the famous fife and drum core come up the Duke of Gloucester Street. We just had time to see them before hurrying to the Lumber House for our 1:30 PM tour of Williamsburg’s Christmas decorations.

While our guide explained outside decorations such as we do now were not tradition in the 18^th century, a compromise had to be reached with the residents who still resided in some of the historical houses during the early years of the operation. They decorated their houses with items that would be found in the 18^th century—fruit, evergreen, etc. Houses deemed the best are given awards. While the tour started out well enough, it soon got boring seeing fruit over and over. Our tour guide also did not do a good job holding our attention either and by the time we got to the other end of the Duke of Gloucester Street, we noticed our group was considerably smaller than the one that gathered on the Palace Green.

We departed the tour and went to get a snack at the Raleigh Bakery, located just behind the Raleigh Tavern. The line is worth the wait to the goodies sold inside. I prefer a chocolate chip cookie and a bottle of ginger ale. My sister usually gets an apple and a bottle of root beer while my mother absolutely loves their corn bread. I’ve also heard a few compliments of their apple pasties as well. It’s good for a mid-afternoon snack and won’t hurt your wallet as a mid-afternoon snack in Disney would.

As we munched on our treats, we sat back to watch a performance of “Revolutionary City.” Crazy Annie provided commentary between speeches by Lord Dunmore, Patrick Henry, John and Peyton Randolph. They discussed the dissolution of the House of Burgesses as well as the Battle of Lexington and Concord. As Crazy Annie brought everyone to view a copy of Lord Dunmore’s announcement to slaves, we continued on to the visitor’s center for our viewing of Williamsburg: A Patriot’s Tale, the longest running movie in motion picture history. If you go to Williamsburg, see this movie at least once. It’ll give you a great understanding of the city’s importance and let little kids feel excited when they recognize the buildings.

After a dinner at Cracker Barrel, Official Eating Place of the Brims on Vacation, we returned to the historic area for our evening programs. My sister wanted to see “Crime and Punishment” and we got tickets for the 7:15 tour. We met three different people who were involved in the Williamsburg legal scene. The first was of Jack Scratch, a rather overzealous undersheriff who liked his job a bit too much. Today, he would probably fail the psychological test. He talked about some punishments criminals might have been given, like having their ear nicked while in the stocks. After we left him, we saw another creepy fellow—an indentured servant working for the sheriff. He spoke about the courts giving people a second chance but branding their crimes into their palm—“T” for thief or “M” for murder. He showed us his brand, telling us he was accused of stealing though he protested his innocence. We left him and went to the actual gaol to visit a deranged woman who told us her tale of woe. She had been an orphan of England, accused of stealing and sent to America. There, she worked as an indentured servant and caught the eye of her master. In the classic story, he led her to believe they could be together if his wife was out of the picture. So, she killed her and was hanged for it. She kept calling out for her young daughter until she remembered she was dead. However, I’m surprised they picked an older woman to portray the ghost as the woman was most likely considerably younger.

After the tour was over, we hurried across the historic area for our 8:45 PM tour—Christmastide at Home. Our tour started on the Palace Green, heading toward a kitchen attached to the Governor’s Palace. Two servants from the 1760s discussed Christmas traditions such as Boxing Day and the Lord of Misrule (a servant appointed as lord over the twelve night festivities). We moved to a stable to see two soldiers discussing Christmas 1776, including their frustrations over how the war was going (Of course, history buffs know George Washington would make his famous attack on the British that night). They discussed their own traditions at Christmas before firing off shots to welcome the holiday.  As the shots rang out, we next saw a scene from the early 1800s depicting the first Christmas tree. We finished in 1944, where a mother explained to her daughter the reason for Williamsburg’s tradition. It was a lovely tour and very informative.

Just a side note: While the Williamsburg people will tell you the Tucker-St. George house was the location of the first Christmas tree, there is proof the tree was in America before the 19^th century. The Pennsylvania Dutch brought the tradition with them as they settled here and there are accounts of the Hessian soldiers decorating trees during the American Revolution.

Sunday was a free day—we have relatives in the area and thought we might visit them that day. Unfortunately, they didn’t return our messages and we were unable to reach them in person, so we went to church with the day wide open. But when we left Mass, we were dismayed to find one of our tires had gone flat. Unable to leave the parking lot, my mother called AAA. Since we belong to the New York branch, that’s the number we called but they helpfully transferred us to the Virginia branch. A tow truck came and after a bit of a search, the donut was put on our car. He gave us the name of a place where we could get our tire fixed which ended up being located right across from our hotel! So, thanks to the tow truck man and AAA. Fortunately, the temps that day hit a high of 75 degrees, so we weren’t so upset about sitting in our car with the windows down.

We stopped for a late lunch at Pizza Uno’s, served by the cheerful Dr. Bill who answered our questions about his education. We decided to go to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor’s Center and do our souvenir shopping. The gift store is split in two. On one side is the store full of the little odds and ends—T-shirts, dolls, drums, etc—and the other side has the book store, complete with music and video items. I picked up a book on ghosts in Williamsburg while my mother picked up the colonial caroler’s CD and the orientation movie on DVD. We sent my sister to check the programs for that night and we decided to go wait for the illuminations of the taverns.

We chose a spot right next to the stage outside Raleigh’s Tavern, where some scenes of “Revolutionary City” are performed. After helping a family move the benches around so they could view the Duke of Gloucester Street better, we were dismayed to suddenly feel rain. We decided to stick it out though and I’m glad we did. The event started with the fife and drum corps parading down until they reached the first tavern. A narrator came on over the PA system to explain the history of each tavern. A small band of militia fired guns as each lamp was lit. The fife and drum corps would start up again and march to the next tavern. We soon found we picked a great spot as we had front row seats for the last performance of the corps and had our own personal heater when they lit the lamps outside the Raleigh. We were dry before we ever returned to our car.

The entire trip, my sister was craving chocolate covered strawberries from Wyeth candy shop. We finally got into the store on Monday—the map said the store was open from 9 to 9, but when we went at 8 PM Saturday night, the store was closed. Unfortunately, strawberries were not in season. So she settled on a chocolate covered apple while I downed another ginger ale (I love the brand they serve in Williamsburg!). I enjoyed my drink; she didn’t particularly care for her apple. She chucked it and we headed back to the main historic area.

We sat down outside the Mary Stith house, where the program I wanted to see would happen. Due to the crowds, you had to get to a program at least an hour in advance. So, what else is there to do? Chat up the people standing there with you! Particularly as Monday was not as balmy as Sunday, we needed body heat. We met a nice family from Florida and the hour flew by.

The program was called “Theater and the Road to Revolution.” The history of theater in the American colonies was explained. An excerpt from a popular colonial play was performed and we were requested to act like a colonial audience: if we liked something, cheer. If we hated something, boo. And if we wanted to see something again, yell “Encore!” The performers graciously obliged us to do-overs of some demanding scenes. Next an excerpt of George Washington’s favorite play, Cato, was performed. Washington himself ordered the play performed at Valley Forge. Congress, having outlawed theater in a show of support with New England and a measure against frivolity, ordered him to never do that again. The program ended with a stroll down memory lane for me. An excerpt from “The Contrast” by Royall Tyler, the first truly American play, was read. It was the first play I read in my American Drama class.

By the way, Congress’ law outlawing theater was never repealed.

We needed to pick up our new tire so we grabbed a quick lunch of McDonald’s before returning to the hotel. After some resting, we returned to Cracker Barrel for a light dinner—this time, I just had a tossed salad. We paid for our favorite nighttime activity—a ghost tour—this night but had about an hour and a half to kill. We settled outside the King’s Arm Inn, though sadly there wasn’t a fire burning behind us like the night before at the Raleigh. We saw a few tours go ahead of us and heard the story of Irma, a manager at the King’s Arm who also lived in an upstairs room. She died there but still demands respect. So, employees say “Good morning, Irma” and “Good night, Irma” so as not to invoke her wrath. We figured we sat there so long that when we went to check in, we said good night to Irma as well.

Kelly led our tour, where she started with the ghost of former tavern owner who still haunts his tavern. He has even messed with her—unlocking the bathroom door. Next she moved onto two ghosts most people don’t expect to see in Williamsburg—Civil War era ones. Williamsburg was the site of a battle during the war and has its share of 19^th century ghosts. We continued on—there was a ghost a tour guide told his group to ignore, creepy sounds in the Capitol, etc. I’d go more into the ghost stories, but if I did, why would you go on it? I suggest you do. The guides are Williamsburg employees who have had encounters and share entertaining stories.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We cleaned out the rooms and went back to the historic area for one more go-round, like our Walt Disney World last call. We went back to the courthouse for a final program: Order in the Court. We sat in on the recreation of an actual trial, which was about a Baptist minister accused of disturbing the peace and preaching in a non-sanctioned place.  After the program ended, we made one last stop at the Raleigh Bakery to load up for the ride home. This time though we tried the tavern rolls (AKA unsalted pretzels) and my sister and I agreed next time, we’re bringing something to dip them in. So with one final sip of ginger ale and a quick stop at the ladies room, we left.

So it was back to reality via 301, which my grandparents used to drive to South Carolina. And as the temperature on my mother’s car dropped from 60s to 30s, we returned to New Year to ring in 2009!