American Heritage RV Park, Williamsburg, Virginia
There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain…and brought it to Pharaoh’s palace…all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food…Our money is used up.” Joseph replied, “Then bring your livestock…and I will give you food.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph and he gave them food…the following year they came to him and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money…and livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land…Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we…will be in bondage to Pharaoh…so we may live and not die.” So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh…and Joseph reduced the people to servitude…However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough… ~ Genesis 47:13-22 The first time I read this, I was very confused. It seemed out of character for Joseph to seemingly treat people so harshly. I mean, why not just give them the food? But then I realized that it’s exactly what our people in America expect from our government today. Free handouts. Don’t pay for it, don’t work for it, just give it to me. That’s not the foundation our great nation was built upon. Nor is it God’s way for us. In addition, we must consider that this is the position (that of being accustomed to some semblance of servitude) God wants the people of Egypt in when it comes time for Moses. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the rest of this part of the story.
This coming week, we’re continuing our history lessons! (And you thought you’d be done with school for the summer. Ha!) This time, we’ll be looking mainly at pre-Revolutionary War, but there’ll also be Revolutionary War as well as some Civil War things sprinkled in here and there. But that’s later this week. Let’s focus on today shall we?
So we’re parked in this large RV Park that’s been around forever, and we’re near large towns, and yet, we have blessed little internet service. How can that be?!? We can open gmail, and we can go to Google, but when we try to open a link, it most of the time doesn’t work, or it works intermittently. Blaine even put the booster in the window! Incredible! And very frustrating! And very sad! ☹
This morning we headed over to Williamsburg to gather information and walk around for free. You can do that, walk around for free; you just can’t enter any of the buildings or see the special presentations. But if you happen so see a costumed person on the street, you can talk to them.
We’re debating about whether we want to purchase a one or three day pass. If you buy a three day, you have to use it consecutive days and it’s supposed to pour down the rain on Saturday. We also got a little information about Jamestown and Yorktown. As we looked at the fee boards, we noticed that buying a pass for all three places actually cost more than buying one for each place; probably because it’s good for seven consecutive days. To make a long story short, after walking around town today, we decided a one day pass for Williamsburg and a three day at Jamestown (which also covers Yorktown) would work best for us. We get a senior discount at all three with our Lifetime National Park Pass. Yippee! Something good that comes from aging! 😊
Since this will be a relatively short post, I’ve decided to put in a bit of Williamsburg history today. I found this “Reader’s Digest condensed version” on williamsburgva.gov:
A Brief History of Williamsburg
Williamsburg was founded as the capital of the Virginia Colony in 1699. The original capital, Jamestown was the first permanent English-speaking settlement in the New World founded in 1607. Colonial leaders petitioned the Virginia Assembly to relocate the capital from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, five miles inland between the James and the York Rivers. The new city was renamed Williamsburg in honor of England’s reigning monarch, King William III. Williamsburg celebrated its 300th Anniversary in 1999. (We’ll learn more about why after our visit to Jamestown. That’s a perk to being behind. You can predict the future! 😊)
One of America’s First Planned Cities
Williamsburg was one of America’s first planned cities. Laid out in 1699 under the supervision of Governor Francis Nicholson, it was to be a “new and well-ordered city” suitable for the capital of the largest and most populous of the British colonies in America. A succession of beautiful capitol buildings became home to the oldest legislative assembly in the New World. The young city grew quickly into the center of political, religious, economic, and social life in Virginia.
A Center of Learning
Williamsburg also became a center of learning. Famous political leaders emerged from the College of William & Mary, (which had been founded in 1693), such as Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. The first hospital established in America for the care and treatment of mental illness was founded in Williamsburg in 1773. General George Washington assembled the Continental Army in Williamsburg in 1781 for the siege of nearby Yorktown and the winning of American independence.
Loss & Restoration
The Capital was again moved in 1780, this time up the James River to Richmond, where it remains today. Williamsburg reverted to a quiet college town and rural county seat. In retrospect, Williamsburg’s loss of capital city status was its salvation as many 18th century buildings survived into the early twentieth century.
The Restoration of Williamsburg began in 1926, after the Rector of Bruton Parish Church, the Reverend Doctor W A. R. Goodwin, brought the city’s importance to the attention of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who then funded and led the massive reconstruction of the 18th-century city we see today. National attention soon focused on the restoration effort. During a landmark visit in 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed its main thoroughfare, the Duke of Gloucester Street, the most historic avenue in America.
Williamsburg Today
Today, Williamsburg is known internationally as the premier center for the preservation and interpretation of American colonial history: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; and as the home of one of the nation’s premier public universities: The College of William & Mary.
There’s a mile or so path from the Visitor Center to Colonial Williamsburg.
There’s a shuttle available too, but only if you have a day pass.
This is a commercial area, filled with shops and places to eat.
We were very excited about our next stop for today! It was time to go see the new Top Gun movie! Wanna feel old? It’s been 38 years since the first one! Believe it or not! We drove over to the theater, parked and walked towards the entrance, when just outside Blaine suddenly discovered he’d forgotten his wallet this morning! All day without it! It’s good we didn’t plan on buying anything but movie tickets today!
And we’re low on gas.
So we drove home, sat around until time for the next show, stopped for gas on the way and made it to the theater just before showtime. Except, as you know, showtime isn’t really when the movie starts. Today it wasn’t even when the previews started! The movie began about 30 minutes after the posted time! Crazy!
But it was absolutely worth the wait!!! I was on the edge of my seat a lot, and even got teary-eyed a few times! Excellent movie! We encourage you to forfeit the money and go see it in the theater. So good!
Meanwhile, back home in Ohio, our oldest son, Chris was honoring his Christmas gift to his grandma (my mom) by taking her to Amish Country. The four of them (Mom, Chris, Elise and Matthew) had a wonderful day! For those of you who don’t know, Ohioans call some of the counties where the Amish community has settled ‘Amish Country’. It’s a place where, you could go to see a glimpse of how peaceful life used to be. But that’s before it became commercialized. Now, unless you find some really out-of-the-way place, there’s nothing peaceful about it. Frankly, I’m surprised the Amish stay. But there is fantastic food to be had there, and outstanding craftsmanship on anything from cheese, to quilts, to clothes, to produce, to woodworked pieces of furniture.
