Today we start the morning with brunch. We picked the National Pancake and waffle House on Pocahontas Trail. It seems there is a pancake house every two feet here! They sure do love their carbed up breakfasts. We googled the highest rated one and this was it. It was totally worth it! Below are pictures:
My strawberry and whipped cream pancakes (delicious!!):
Jason's Waffle with scrambled eggs:
After saying goodbye to our waitress (who had a Slavic accent), we headed to Copper Fox Distillery. We were there in no time. Upon arriving, we became slightly nervous. There was a great deal of construction going on and the distillery appeared to be in a broken down hotel. There were signs saying they were open and to walk to the back of the hotel. This is where I thought we would be murdered. Turns out, we were simply about to be greeted by these cuddly monsters:
They are Native American dogs and they are beautiful!! And super friendly! One of them ran right up to Jason and pointed his nose... well, in an area that is awkward to say the least. That's why some of the pictures with Jason are hilarious. Soon after petting them, a woman arrived and welcomed us. She left promptly to get a tour guide for us. Another woman showed up a moment later and apologized for having paint on her hands. They are renovating the hotel they purchased just a few months ago--she was painting. She then showed us around. Below are pictures:
They make gin and whiskey. She showed us how they make it, store it, bottle it, etc. She also let us walk into the main area of the hotel which they are currently renovating. She told us we would need to return in a year to see their finished work. Apparently the owner moved here from Sperryville, VA. They were also running out of storage for their whiskey and gin in Sperryville. She told us they are asking them to hurry along the renovations so they can move some barrels here. Pretty cool. She also walked us through each building and told us what they construction workers were trying to accomplish. We saw what the barrel rooms will look like and she even told us where the employee stay--apparently they've kept some of the hotel rooms and have made them into apartments. Pretty cool. After completing the tour, we did the tasting. Below is a picture of what we tried:
In order from left to right: Single Malt, Rye, Single malt(aged in cognac barrels), and Gin
The Single Malt was really good. It's aged in apple and oak wood, giving it a really nice flavor. The bottles are covered in red or blue wax. She told us they got a cease and desist from Makers Mark because of the wax on their bottles. Apparently Maker's Mark has rights on the way the wax drips. They were still allowed to use wax, but they aren't allowed to have the wax drip. She told us there are two of them (our tour guide is one) who are trained to dip the bottles so they do not drip. She also said they have figured out a way to spin the bottle so that the wax creates a "C" on the top. She showed us and it does look exactly like a "C." Pretty cool. We thanked her and headed out.
After our tour, we decided to go to Yorktown. We had already paid tickets for it, so we thought we'd give it a go. We drove up, gave them our tickets, and quickly walked through the museum. We then headed to the best part--the replica of Colonial encampment. Below are pictures:
Real live chickens and a rooster!!
A guy did a musket demonstration. He also told us that they picked muskets because they were easy to mass produce and they cost little. He gave us kind of a back story on the war. Said that the British originally provided protection to the colonists, so none of the colonists knew how to shoot a gun and had zero training for battle. Apparently, they didn't even own guns. The French were the only reason they had guns at all. He also said the reason they battled so differently than we do now is because the battles weren't about killing more men than the other side. The battles were about trying to get the other side to leave the field first. Apparently many of the guns, Muskets mainly, were helpful to harm people but not with the purpose of killing them on the spot, although many died later from the wounds of the gunshot. Apparently Washington was at 21 battles and he only won 4. Turns out many colonists were afraid and untrained, so they would shoot one round and then leave.
After visiting this guy, we saw the medicine woman. She told us about what colonial medicine was like. Apparently, 6 men would sleep in a small white tent on a bed of straw during the war. Lots of bugs, particularly scabies were very common and rashes/infections would break out all over camp. She showed us as small bowl filled with a yellow paste. This was made of sulfur and lard. This apparently was rubbed into the rash to help you avoid scratching yourself and getting infections. Either that or it helped keep the bugs away--we can't remember at the moment. She also talked about tooth infections during the war. Apparently, they didn't get their teeth looked at unless it was really horrible, mainly because they didn't have good treatment back then for dental issues. She told us they would pack their infected teeth with salt and vinegar to help prevent the tooth from rotting. She actually said, "What do we use salt and vinegar for? To preserve meat. What are we (pointed to her body)? Meat!" It got a good laugh, and was 100% true.
The rest are pictures of the tents and how they would have looked during colonial times:
More animals on the way out:
Tobacco plants:
Me with Washington:
After visiting the replicas, we headed toward the battlefield and the old church that was founded in the 1600s. We came across this part of Yorktown, however, and took a break. We walked up and down the beach a little and enjoyed the salty air:
We also found a cave that was used by Cornwallis in 1781.
Murals on the wall in Yorktown:
We eventually were able to find the church but it turns out it had burned down and was rebuilt--no 1600 ruins for us to look at like Jamestown. I didn't snap a picture since it wasn't too old and just looked like a normal church. Even the graves were newer and only one was from the 1700s.
After giving up on the battlefield, we left for Williamsburg Distillery. We walked in and were greeted by two older women. They gave us a taste of their rum and gin. Apparently this is the only distillery that uses Indian corn. They apparently try to stick to the recipes from colonial times. Honestly, neither Jason or I thought it was very tasty. Not horrible but not great. A man gave us the tour and told us a bit of history. He also let us know they make bourbon but it won't be ready for a bit longer. Below are pictures:
After visiting this distillery, we headed toward another one that the two older women had mentioned. Unfortunately, traffic stopped abruptly on the way and we almost wrecked the car. Jason put on the breaks quick and we were okay, but a little shaken. We decided to just go back to Colonial Williamsburg for dinner instead of doing anything else. In no time we were walking through town and found DoG Street Pub. We were seated immediately. Below are pictures:
We debated on dessert but decided to just go to the Candy shop across the street. Below is a picture of the place:
We purchased soda and tried the martian poop and cock cola.
We also got some chocolate. To the far left: dark chocolate coconut. To the middle left: peanut butter chocolate. To the middle right: chocolate peanut butter krispies. And to the far right: Marzipan cordial.
After picking up our candy, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed our soda and chocolates. It was a lovely and relaxing day. Tomorrow should be filled with more wonderful adventures!
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