| Jamestown, November 2024 | |
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Slide show option — just for looking at the pictures. | |
| We decided to learn a little more history and took a quick trip down to Jamestown. Roanoke, in North Carolina, disappeared so Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Interestingly, the area is broken into 3 parks: The National Park Service's Historic Jamestowne effectively surrounds Jamestown Rediscovery's Historic Jamestowne. And the recreated Jamestown Settlement is just up the road a little ways. |
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We started at Jamestown Settlement. They have a nice museum and movie depicting the history of the area. And have recreated both a small Native American village and the Jamestown settlement of the mid-1600s (the early 1600s did not have buildings quite so grand). They also have recreated the three ships which brought the initial settlers across the Atlantic (over about 4 months). Obviously the ship on the right is designed for longer trips than the dugout under construction on the left. But both seem really small and uncomfortable ways to travel. Sarah and I both marveled at the Discovery reproduction: it seems tiny for 4 months and an ocean crossing. |
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| The next day we visited The Glasshouse, part of the NPS park where they blow glass similar to what was tried at Jamestown. A couple distinctions: the modern, recreated glasshouse is a working industry using an assembly-line to produce lovely hand blown glass. The original never got off the ground and was eventually abandoned (though it was one of the first attempts at industry at the time). |
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| As the weather cleared later in the day, we went to Historic Jamestown. That is the actual spot, still undergoing active archaeology. They have some areas roped off for current work and have some recreations of the fort's walls and buildings. Along with this statue and a church tower from the third church on the site, constructed about 1680 and a restored church built on to the tower. Perhaps not old by European standards, but this really was the seed which eventually grew into the current US. |
| We saw a second of the recreated ships heading back to Jamestown Settlement (I think that's the Susan Constance, the largest of the three). Clearly, this updated version is not reliant on sails, it was making good time without any canvas in the wind. In the larger version of the photo, you can see some folks on deck for scale — still seems tiny for an ocean crossing to me. |
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| We even took a little bit of detour on the way back on the Jamestown - Scotland ferry. I believe that's the first Virginia ferry we've been on. |
Vacation notes:
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