This is the fifth post of a new travel series. In this series, we are headed east starting in Wisconsin and going all the way to Virginia to see the home of George Washington and Colonial Williamsburg. To start at the beginning, go HERE where we stop in Indiana to celebrate Easter with my daughter, son-in-law, and our grandchildren.
After our tour of The Capitol, it was time to see how more justice was administered in Colonial times so we were off to The Courthouse!
The Courthouse
Touring the Courthouse is a different experience than touring any other building in Colonial Williamsburg for it is here where the tourist is not just a spectator, but an active participant. Before entering the Courthouse, tourists are selected to assume certain roles in an actual court case from the 1700's. It is all voluntary, whoever is not selected gets to sit in the courtroom and just observe; which is what my husband and I decided to do.
The roles assigned to those who volunteered to participate were the justice, the attorney, the litigant, the petitioner, and the defendant.
Once everyone was seated, we heard two cases from actual records from the courthouse during the 18th century. It was a really fun learning experience!
The Courthouse was built between 1770-1771. There were two small rooms on either side of the courtroom, otherwise this large building was just one courtroom right in the center of the building.
They had some stocks right outside the courthouse, but it was locked so you couldn't put your head through.
By now, we had seen all three highlights of Colonial Williamsburg: The Palace, The Capitol, and the Courthouse so we decided to just stroll through the beautiful streets to see what other buildings were open.
Presbyterian Meetinghouse
My husband pretended to be a preacher at the Presbyterian Meetinghouse.
King's Arms Tavern
We stopped at King Arms Tavern which actually is a real restaurant but they told us they were all booked for the day. You must need to book this restaurant in advance because it was still fairly early in the day when they told us they weren't taking any more reservations.
King's Arms Tavern is a historic tavern known for its authentic 18th century atmosphere, period-dressed servers, live music, and classical colonial cuisine.
The Raleigh Tavern
Right across the street from the King's Arms Tavern is the Raleigh Tavern which was open for tours.
We had such a great tour guide. She took us all through the lower portion of the tavern and explained not just the significance of each room, but the building's history, and how taverns were different than today. Did you know a colonial tavern isn't a place that just serves alcohol but is also where one would get a bed and meal for the night?
The Raleigh Tavern has so much historical significance because it often became the meeting place during the early stages of the American Revolution.
The "Front Desk" of the Raleigh Tavern. Apparently the bar came down if there ever some unruly customers.
We weren't allowed up on the second floor, but our tour guide did share stories of how people slept in hotels back in the day. One did not get a room all to themselves, in fact, they didn't even get a bed to themself! Guests would have to share a bed with a complete stranger, if they got a bed at all. People also would sleep on the floor of a room, men and women together. Women would not travel alone, so they would sleep on the side of the room with their male protector whether it'd be a relative or a husband. Can you just imagine the horror of having to sleep in a bed with a complete stranger? I cannot.
After our tour of the Raleigh Tavern we headed back out onto the streets. There were lots of little shops; I especially enjoyed this sewing shop. They sold actual material there with patterns from the 18th century.
Most of the shops sold the same items over and over again. If you stopped in one shop, chances are the next shop would have the same things: toy muskets, pewter, porcelain, small food and drink items, etc. A few stores were specialty shops like the one listed above. I also saw a jewelry shop.
Perhaps my favorite part of our wanderings in Colonial Williamsburg was discovering this garden. Oh, what a joy it was to see so many beautiful flowers in April!!! Back in Wisconsin, I only had daffodils in April. This was incredible!
I love how the pretty flowers surrounded the vegetable garden. And the white picket fence was just the cutest!
Bruton Parish Church
We spotted a church and having a love for old churches we were excited to go inside. Bruton Parish Church is an Episcopal Church that still has services today. It is open to the public for viewing during non-service times, they do ask for a donation to walk inside and view the building.
Merchant's Square
Ok, by now, we're starving. We haven't eaten since breakfast and kept running out of luck finding food to snack on in Colonial Williamsburg. Thankfully, right outside of Colonial Williamsburg is "Market Square". It is loaded with nice places to eat where you don't need a reservation, and gift shops. It's the cutest place ever! All the shops and restaurants have a colonial exterior decor.
There are plenty of tables and chairs to enjoy dining el fresco!
After FINALLY FILLING our empty stomachs with food, we checked out the gift shops.
All the gift shops were so cute and they had quite the variety. I'm just not much of a gift shop shopper so we didn't buy anything; we just looked around.
If you're wondering where we ate, well we at the Mellow Mushroom! I know, funny right? Drive all the way to Colonial Williamsburg and instead of having a colonial eating experience we have pizza! Well, the Mellow Mushroom is my husband's and mine favorite pizza place and we don't have any in Wisconsin, so when we travel, if we see a Mellow Mushroom, we are stopping there.
We had a dilly of time getting back to our car parked at the Visitor's Center. We had to first find a shuttle bus stop and wait for a shuttle only to discover it completely full. The people in line ahead of us said the bus before them was full too, so we realized we would probably never get a shuttle ride back to the Visitor Center and decided to walk all the way back! We were pretty sore and tired by the end of the day. But at least now we had some food in our bellies to energize us to make the journey back.
I hope you enjoyed my last post of Colonial Williamsburg. Next week, we are going to Yorktown!
For more information on Colonial Williamsburg see these posts:
Have A Great Day! Amy
Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
If I ever get down to Virginia, you know where I'm going to go, Amy!
ReplyDeleteHa ha. I hope you get down there.
DeleteThank you for showing me
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteI've always wanted to visit Colonial Williamsburg. So much history to explore!
ReplyDeleteJill - Doused in Pink
Me too! And I finally made it there...in my 60's :)
DeleteWhat a unique and immersive way to experience history! 🏛️✨ It’s fascinating how the Courthouse tour blurs the line between past and present, turning visitors into part of the story. 🎭 Your choice to observe sounds perfect—sometimes soaking it all in from the sidelines is just as rich (and less nerve-wracking than being on the "stand"! 😅). Did the case feel surprisingly relatable, or was it full of colonial-era quirks? Either way, what a brilliant way to make history come alive. Hope you and your husband enjoyed your time as 18th-century courtroom spectators! ⚖️🍏 (Bonus points if anyone in the audience heckled like it was a tavern trial! 😆)
ReplyDeleteIt sure was. They did two cases and the one that surprised me was that women did have rights back then if they were single. If they were married or young, then the men in their lives controlled everything. But if they were a widow, they had rights to own property, take their own cases to court etc.
DeleteWatching the courtroom proceedings sounds so fun! Living near a colonial tavern (that was still in operation until just a few years go!) I did know that about taverns. Apparently the one in our town once housed The Marquis de Lafayette and while George Washington didn't sleep there he did often stop in town on his way to or from Boston.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun, and I didn't know that about taverns so it was all new to me.
DeleteI love all the details you shared in this post, Amy! The courthouse experience sounds very fun... and educational, too! I had heard that taverns were places you slept and had a meal, too, but I had no idea that you might sleep with or near strangers! Yikes! And that Merchant's Square is charming! I've never heard of Mellow Mushroom but I'll have to search it out when we travel!
ReplyDeleteYea, that's a shocker. Eww! And yes, check out Mellow Mushroom. We just love their pizza and greek salad.
Deletewhat a fun tour! I hope to visit there some day. We aren't super, super far away up here in Pennsylvania.
ReplyDeleteIt was. Oh, that isn't too bad of a drive at all. I hope you get there someday.
DeleteSuch beautiful pictures and I am so loving the flowers growing along the white picketfence.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellie! I loved that little flower garden! The picket fence made all the flowers really pop!
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