Late, late Monday night, Moon Pie and I (along with 22 other adult chaperones and 25 other kids) returned from the east coast. Eighth grade is U.S. History year at school, and time for the traditional tour of historical sights. Until we enrolled in private school, I didn't know this was a thing, but apparently it is, because half the people I saw in Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, Washington D.C, Gettysburg and Philadelphia were eighth-graders in large groups, wearing identical sweatshirts, shouting and behaving goofily (my term).
So, Monday morning before last, all 49 of us met at the Portland airport.
We will call this young woman "A". A is an expert photo-bomber, and extremely personable. All week, she talked to every stranger she possibly could - and there were many. As we waited at the Alaska counter, she made the man behind her (again, complete stranger) belly-laugh, loudly.
The next morning, our first order of business was appropriate: Jamestown colony - the first English settlement in North America.
About 100 people founded this colony on the James River in 1607, and things didn't go well for the first couple years. Disease and famine killed many, and the group didn't mix well with the natives. The church in the photo below isn't the first one; the original (along with many original structures and graves) has been located by archaeologists.
Captain John Smith
The settlers started a glass foundry and exported their product, but tobacco became one of their most successful cash crops.
Near the original site is a museum park called Jamestown Settlement. There, touored a re-created version of the original colony, and saw reproductions of the first ships that brought the settlers from England. We were able to board the Susan Constant.
This man showed us a few seaman's knots. We walked inside re-created Powhatan dwellings, watched people use seashells to scrape the fur from animal hides, and learned to make natural-fiber rope. We were also told that the original settlers could be flogged for missing church. Nice.
Next post, I'll show you what we saw after lunch
