Buildings of Williamsburg

Under cloudy skies, we spent our third day at historic Williamsburg. Before we began, we started in Newport News at the delightful Silver Diner for lunch. The diner is one of a chain of 50-style diners in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. We will seek these out as we continue our travels.

We got a late start because I had some stomach and sleep issues during the night. I think I may have gotten a little dehydration after standing in the hot sun watching the re-enactment of the Revolution. I felt like I was cooking from the inside out. There is absolutely nothing on any of the satellite channels at 2 a.m. but the nonsense soothed me and I fell asleep on the sofa after an hour or so of channel surfing.

The photo above is of the Governor's Palace, the home of the British governor in charge of the welfare of the colony. I am sure the King had no idea about how well his appointed representative was living in the Virginia colony. Being able to tour the palace was worth the price of admission alone. The opulence of the time is incredible. Most of what we have seen in our travels have been buildings and homes of modest proportions but considering that this is 18th century living, the governor and his family lived quite nicely as did many of the wealthy colonists of Virginia. The Governor's Palace is representative of the Executive Branch of the Government.

This photo is of the Bruton Parish Church, now an Episcopal chuch, built in 1715, one of the few remaining original structures in historic Williamsburg. This church is representaive of the influence of religion in the colonies.
This photo is of the Courthouse, where lower court, non-felony cases were heard. Once the jury was sequestered, they were given no heat, drink, food or place to sleep until a unanimous verdict was delivered to the court clerk. Needless to say, deliberations were handled in a timely matter. I thought there was a restriction regarding cruel and unusual punishment. Oh, that's right that was for the accused. The Courthouse is representive of the Judicial Branch of Government.

This photo is of the Capitol, where members of the House of Burgess would enact laws affecting the governing of the colony. Also, in this building, the High Court would hear cases involving felonies and criminial cases. These were jury trials for the most part, although the attorneys could ask for bench trials, where the judges would hear the cases and make the decisions regarding the outcomes. As in our times, the colonies were full of lawyers. What seems to be different is that the lawyers of those times debated lofty ideas of freedom and independence. Not that money wasn't motivating them, but they did seem to be driven by some higher purpose. Had they not prevailed and brought about the Revolutionary War, we would still belong to Britain. My how things would have been different. This building is representative of the Legislative Branch of the Government.