This weekend, we are in Williamsburg, VA for Dick's daughter's graduation from the College of William and Mary.  While we were walking around the campus, we ran into these guys in their colonial costumes giving a little performance.  As an old piccolo player, I was drawn to the high pitched music.  And of course, I had my camera in hand!

I'm guessing this weather vane, sometimes called a weather cock, is pretty old.  It sits atop a building in Colonial Williamsburg that dates back to the 1700's.  While they were somewhat functional, helping people to know which way the wind was blowing, these vanes were more decorative than anything else.  I took this last weekend using a Nikon P500, which as a very cool telephoto lens.

This is an adorable little cottage in the historic section of Wiliamsburg, Virginia.  It probably dates back to the early 1700's.    And I'm guessing that it started off as the kitchen to the really big house next door.

Wow what a gift! 2.5 million dollars is being gifted by a Minneapolis couple to Colonial Williamsburg to help fund its education programs. I grew up in California and did not learn more then a page of history regarding historic
Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. My children are lucky enough to benefit from annual fifth grade school field trips donors area. Donors Peter and Patricia Frechette from Minnesotta want to help more students nationwide learn about the area. Their generous gift according to Wavy.com will help endow the director of teacher development job and support the historic site's electronic field trip series, which is offered on public television and cable stations nationwide. A new high shook curriculumn will be introduced to compliment middle school studies. The funds will introduce in school history and civics curriculum to private, charter and alternative schools, and create a partnership with schools of education at colleges and universities to help prepare high school students to become history and civics. A gift that educates the youth and creates jobs and improves the economy in Williamsburg is greatly appreciated by all of Hampton Roads.

Colonial Williamsburg’sis a 301-acre Historic Area that boasts hundreds of restored, reconstructed, and historically furnished buildings. Costumed interpreters tell the stories of the men and women of the 18th-century city—black, white, and native American, slave, indentured, and free—and the challenges they faced. In this historic place, we help the future learn from the past.

For an interactive tour of the Collonial Williamsburg area Click Here!

Grazing With the Bulls

Have you heard of Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain? This event is supposed to be a lifetime opportunity. I'm still trying to figure out what opportunity do the sponsors of the event have in mind.

A rare opportunity to be jabbed with one of these deadly looking horns? I prefer the peaceful nature of the Colonial Willamsburg's bulls. Can you see them jabbing anyone? Or even running?

I saw these two mellow friends on the grounds of the Colonial Willamsburg, and liked their peaceful approach to life. I'll take grazing with these two bulls over running with the Pamplona kind anytime.

Duke of Gloucester Street is the main thoroughfare in Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg. Here is a 51 second visual impression of what you can expect to see when you visit...at least halfway down the street. We never made it the full length :-)

If you haven't visited Colonial Williamsburg and you want an idea if it's your cup of tea, you can take a more  a more leisurely photographic stroll through some of the venues by visiting 2 other shows from our 2.5 day visit.

Colonial Williamsburg VA at Christmas

A Few Dogs, Innocent Bystanders and Christmas Wreaths

With no traffic, you can make it to Colonial Williamsburg in 2.5 hours from Northern VA. We often take  route 66 west to 29 south to 17 across to Fredericksburg.

This avoids the mess that often occurs on 95 south. It took us 4 hours on the way down (we went by 95, leaving at 3 pm) and 2.5 on the way back taking the route 17-29-66 way leaving Williamsburg at 2:30pm. Have fun! Thanks for stopping by.

You should not waste 5 minutes of your time watching the following slide show unless you have an abiding interest in either Christmas Wreath Design of the Colonial period or like to see photos of ordinary people minding their own business while strolling around a major American tourist attraction accompanied by COOL JAZZ .

Studies have shown that photos of people (even people you do not know) are more interesting to the average human, than photos of static objects.

So I mixed those in with the shots of buildings and decorations. There are at least 4 dogs in these photos for those of you who demand a canine presence in every worthwhile photo show.

In order not too make potential viewers mind numb from over saturation of photos of vacationland, I have broken our 2 day blast through Colonial Williamsburg into several shows from different perspectives.

You can see the first one here which features mostly museum shots and  Colonial  Williamsburg at night.

Thanks for stopping in.