Happy anniversary to us! We've spent six beautiful years together. This past year has been a very difficult one in a lot of ways. But, my one constant--our one constant--has been each other. Through every up and down, we always knew a loving, warm hug was waiting for us at home. That's never changed. We're lucky. Lucky than most. In these past six years, we've learned that the love we have for each other is rare. Today was a very vivid reminder of that. I will never take for granted our marriage--for it is one of a kind.
We slept in this morning. Once waking, we laid in bed a while talking, facebooking, and discussing how lucky we are to have each other. It was a beautiful way to begin the day. After a while, we ate some of our leftover food from dinner the night before. We readied ourselves for the day and then left the hotel for Colonial Williamsburg. Here's also our first picture of us after six years of marriage:
As we walked out of the hotel room, we laughed about a few events from the night before. After we dropped off our first round of luggage in the room, we made our way back to the car. We were in deep discussion as we left the room, distracting us from noticing we were walking the wrong way. We eventually realized it and turned around. Upon doing so, we noticed a woman who was walking behind us. She started to chuckle at our conversation and how very unaware we were of our destination. She nodded and continued to chuckle as she passed us. The second event was the conversation we had as we were moving our luggage to and fro. Jason and I had been so surprised at how fancy and extravagant the hotel was, we were certain we would upset the rich people. We began speaking with a fake rich person accent, saying things like "Quuuuite" and "indubitably." It was hilarious. But, I digress...
This morning was rain-free. In fact, it was hurricane-free. Evidence of the storm remained, however. Although we had seen two trees fall into the road last night, they were cleared by sunrise. Wet, scattered leaves lined the sidewalks and the breezes were chilled and damp. Surprisingly, it was still a lovely fall day. Warm enough to need only a light jacket and cold enough to be longing for a hot cup of tea.
We arrived in Colonial Williamsburg in no time. We walked to the visitor's center and, after some confusion about where to go, we checked in to retrieve our annual passes. The woman gave us information about where to go and how to enjoy our trip. After seeing her, we met an elderly woman who helped us reserve dinner at various restaurants in town. We thought it would be easy. It wasn't. Apparently, these places book up fast. We eventually found a place to eat at on Tuesday and Thursday, but the rest of the nights were booked.
After reserving dinner, we took the leisurely walk toward town. Here are pictures of us on the way:
These pictures are right outside the visitor's center. On the bridge are stepping stones with a list of events in American history, along with their corresponding dates. Here are two pictures of what we saw on the bridge:
Here are more pictures of us on the way; it's about a 10 minute walk if you don't take the bus:
Once in town, Jason and I walked... and walked and walked and walked. It was so much bigger than we ever imagined! It's a perfect walking city! We began looking for places to eat, as it was lunch time and our stomachs began to growl. There were many restaurants we wished to try, but we seemed to have trouble finding them. Eventually we stumbled across an area of town with a vast amount of restaurants that weren't even on the map.
We eventually settled on The Trellis for lunch. We walked in and were told it would take 20 minutes before a table was ready. We left our name with the hostess, who told us they would send us a text when our table was ready. While waiting, we walked into a candy shop across the street to browse. Sugar filled the air as the door swung open. We immediately took advantage of the free samples on the counter. One same was a fruit slice that was individually wrapped--we promptly placed it in our bag for an after lunch snack. After browsing, we made our way to a bench outside the restaurant for lunch. Below are pictures as we waited:
Shortly after the picture above was taken, Jason received a text. We were seated upon arrival and were given a circular table with a wrap around booth. It was perfect and create a romantic seating arrangement. Our waiter brought us some water, took our orders, and returned with our food within minutes. Below are pictures:
Jason's poached eggs with biscuit and chipped beef cream sauce.
My Virginia Ham biscuits with honey. Side note: surprised at how less salty this Virginia ham was compared to the ham we had in Staunton at Kathy's Diner. Smokey and delicious!
After eating and admiring the beautifully imperfect glass windows, we paid our waiter and returned to the brick streets. Jason and I quickly made our way back to the candy shop to purchase a few treats. We found root beer and lemon hard candies and also purchased this chocolate soda (featured in the picture below):
As we shared this chocolate soda, we walked to William and Mary college. It's the oldest college building in the United States. Below are pictures:
In the picture below, you can see names carved into the brick.
Jason and I were talking about how old everything was here. Jason pointed to this tree and said "Look! It's the oldest tree in America!" We laughed quite a bit and I took a picture for the joke.
Three busts of John Tyler, another John Tyler, and some other guy with a great mustache.
After walking through the college campus, we made our way back through town. As we explored, we realized we walked right past the main entrance of the town--the part with all the restaurants we were looking for! We also stumbled across a group of people working together to put out a fire, just as they would have back in Colonial times. It was pretty funny!
We also stumbled across the post office. This building below is an actual working post office. We popped in and grabbed two post cards (which we will later mail home to ourselves from Williamsburg) and a mystery book.
below is the picture of the mystery book we purchased. It was covered up in an old newspaper style wrapping.
After visiting the post office and other shops, we realized we were thirsty. We stopped in at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery for water. Below is a picture of the bakery:
As we sat drinking our water, two things happened. A couple to our right began screaming at each other. They stormed past us as they argued, leaving Jason and I to realize just how happy we are. In fact, all day we've passed couples and families that have been angry at each other. Not just angry, but they were out in the open with their anger. It was sad and heartbreaking to see so many people unhappy. Jason and I sat at the bakery thinking about what made us happy... what's prevented us from ending up in a loveless or bitter marriage. Jason said something that I think all the time... we're happy because we've built a life that encourages happiness. He's 100% correct. One common theme I noticed with the couples who were arguing is that they all had young kids. Not that you can't be happy with children, but it has been proven in studies that people say they are happier if they don't have children (at least in America). We also have surrounded ourselves with others who are happily married and are happy in general. We've also had a lot of luck-- luck with getting jobs that help us pay bills; luck with obtaining a good education and being able to pay it off. I'm so thankful we've built a life that encourages happiness--that we've had the opportunity to build a life like this. If these six years have taught us anything, it's been to be unbelievably grateful for our marriage and to never take it for granted.
The second thing we saw while sitting at the bakery involved some employees. To our left, two employees were getting sodas from the supply room and taking them to the other building. One was a young man and the other, an older woman. The young man grabbed some sodas while the older woman hauled a much greater amount than he. She then bolted toward the door as the young man said "Margaret! Don't you dare open that door!" We look over to see her smile and pull the door open skillfully while holding an armful of sodas. The young man ran after her in alarm as he saw the door open. It was pretty hilarious!
After finishing our drinks, we began walking through town again. We overheard an employee informing others of an "Interview with Jefferson." We decided to join in. Basically there was an actor who played Jefferson. He gave a speech about the lack of representation for the colonists. He was very interactive with the audience. He spoke to the couple sitting next to us and said, "We're not Bostonians!" The couple laughed and said "Yes, we are!" He was startled and couldn't help but laugh. He tied it in pretty good with his speech actually-- good improve actor. We also saw a cute dog with a colonial costume on. It was adorable!! Below is a picture of "Jefferson."
After listening to a few Q&A for Jefferson (some of which he answered incorrectly), we made our way to the Court House. below are pictures:
Jason found a secret door!!! He couldn't help but open it--he has problems. As soon as he discovered the door led to a secret room, an employee emerged from upstairs. We quickly closed the door and took off. We can't help but be a little rebellious in this city.
After leaving the court house, we made our way to the Gaol. Below is a picture:
Upon arrival a man dressed in a colonial outfit informed us the tour would be starting soon. While waiting he told us a little about the gaol. He also showed us the gallows in the back and briefly described how people were hanged. A small boy was looking up at him as he spoke. When he finished, the boy said "Is that how they did it?!" The man was surprised and looked at us as though we should know how to answer such a difficult question. Eventually he just looked at the boy and said, "Are you really interested in this?" The boy nodded. He laughed and just said, "Yep. That's how they did it. Not how they do things these days." The man then looked at us and said, "I never know how far to go with little kids like that." We had a good laugh.
We saw two kids running toward the open cellar doors. The man in the colonial outfit yelled, "Don't fall in there! That's where they keep the really bad people." The kids ran off. He, again, looked at us and said, "I always try to make it sound like something horrible so they won't want to go down there." I replied, "Sometimes that just makes it more interesting." Again, we had a good laugh.
Within no time the tour guide arrived and walked us through the gaol. Below are pictures:
Inside the cell, which had no glass on the windows. It did, however, have a fireplace and toilet. The tour guide said this is where debtors were kept (since they would be held longer than most prisoners). He also said this is where the sick were held because it was the most comfortable of the cells. You can't see it, but beside us was a small door. One Jason had to try and open... again, he has problems. Unfortunately, the door was locked. He tried a few times but it never opened.
The other cells outside:
After the gaol, me made our way to dinner. We decided on Chownings Tavern. It's the only place around the town that does not require a dinner reservation. They said the wait would be twenty minutes, but they called for us within 5. We were seated directly in front of the fireplace. Below are pictures of our delicious meal:
As we were eating, a man directly behind Jason (without any warning) began playing a guitar and whistling. It startled Jason quite a bit and was hilarious!
Jason with his beer.
My beer cheddar spread with fruit and bread:
Jason's Turkey sandwich with potato salad:
Our shared Spoon Chocolate cake with ice cream, or as I like to call it... icing with some cake bits and ice cream.
Us:
After dinner, we decided to head back to the hotel for the night. On the way back, we came across the sheep and cows:
Ellie... she liked us.
Golden hour!
After heading back to the visitor center, we grabbed some chocolate covered Virginia peanuts, a root beer, and porter. Side note, the man who checked us out was named "Mr. Dilday." We had a lot of fun with that! We then got in our car and turned in for the night. For kicks, we also watched some of the presidential debate, which caused quite a bit of laughter, as one of the candidates is quite a Dilday himself! The end.
