[Music]

greetings and welcome to the talk with

History Podcast I am your host Scott

here with my wife and historian Jen

hello on this podcast we talk about

history's continuing impact on us and

our personal journey through YouTube as

we continue to explore record and share

our history walks with you

now before we get on to our main topic

Jen I want to lead off with a five-star

review of the week because we actually

got one awesome hooray

um so I'm gonna I'm gonna read the

little review here this is from not

sleepy girl now this was actually as

you're listening to this it's probably a

few weeks ago but I'm reading it now

because we batch record

so not sleepy girl says I love it five

stars y'all are covering three things I

love so much Classic Movies histories

and cemeteries thank you for keeping all

of these alive I almost cried when y'all

were talking about Maureen O'Hara thank

you

so thank you to not sleepy girl for the

five star iTunes or apple podcast review

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let's be honest with each other for a

minute

learning about history can be hit or

miss I'm speaking from my personal

experience textbooks that we read in

high school may not have caught your

imagination like a good book whisking

you away to a magical land scientific

future or even time travel to the Past

but what if time travel did exist and

you could walk through history see what

it was like in the past perhaps even

talk to the Larger than Life historic

figures that we read about in those not

so interesting High School textbooks

well I'm here to tell you folks that

time travel is real and that's what we

are talking about today so we're going

to talk about our experience in gen what

are we talking about today a historian

Disneyland historians Disneyland

Colonial Williamsburg yes

so tell me about Colonial Williamsburg

Jen so Colonial Williamsburg is at the

eastern part of Virginia uh it's kind of

Southern Eastern so away from DC but

it's part of what they call the historic

triangle yeah that's right so you have

Williamsburg you have Yorktown and you

have Jamestown all of them are so

relevant to American history and they're

all within 20 minutes of each other and

they form kind of like a triangle yeah

so they call it the historic triangle

and and one thing that I didn't realize

being a West Coast kid so I come out

here and you tell me about Colonial

Williamsburg and I've like maybe heard

of it but it's a huge draw it's the

biggest tourist attraction in Virginia

is it really yes I didn't know that it

is so it's it's huge it it's been

recreated to look like it did during the

colonial era yeah and so many people

want to go and engage because it's such

a large area and it there's so much to

kind of walk around around and see that

people just want to go and spend the day

and take in all of the attractions and

the history so we have gone there a

number of times yeah we've probably been

there at least a dozen times now and I

think our first time we were just so

blown away that we bought like the year

pass and so it just brought us back and

the draw of Williamsburg is there is

different things to see at different

times of the year

yeah that that was something that I I I

guess I should have expected but I

didn't expect and we even missed a

couple things and we tried to hit

everything sure so they do like they do

Christmas they decorate for Christmas

it's a very Colonial Christmas they do

the Fourth of July it's very

fireworks and patriotic and they marched

down the street so they do the fall you

know festivals and they put up ice

skating rinks so they try to make it

vary with the time yeah well there's an

occasion to come in any time of year yes

and like any like you've taught me any

good museum is changing their displays

constantly and so they basically have

like a a monthly event calendar so you

can kind of see what they're doing and

where to go and who to talk to yeah so

so so tell us about the the history of

Colonial Williamsburg why is it such a

big deal in such a big draw so it was

founded in 1632 it was a colony it was

the Virginia colony and it's the center

of political events really around the

American Revolution so that's kind of

what made it such a a Pinnacle Point in

American history the College of William

and Mary is there yeah and it's the

second oldest institution in uh

institution of learning in America

behind Harvard but it was uh founded in

1693 and so who's William right who's

William who's Mary so King William III

is where you get Williamsburg from he's

the king at this time and then his wife

is Mary and when William is the king of

both Ireland

um Scotland and England so there you'll

see a lot of these when you walk around

and you go to like the palace or you go

to the governor's

um the governor's Palace you go to the

Capitol you'll see a lot of the coat of

arms oh yeah it'll have the unicorn and

the lion and it's because the Unicorn

represents Scotland because they believe

in those mythical creatures and the line

will represent England

yeah I don't think again me not being a

history guy I don't think I put that

together so so learning as a talk on the

podcast so those coat of arms you'll see

all over the place and then when William

dies well his Mary dies First and

William dies and Queen Anne becomes

Queen and she's really Pinnacle with

like

sustaining Williamsburg and helping them

grow and get bigger and she's actually

the sister of Mary Mary and Anne are the

legitimate Heirs of the throne yeah and

so when Mary marries William he becomes

king but as soon as he dies and Mary

dies it goes back to Mary's line since

she's the they have no children so Queen

Anne becomes Queen

and she um so that's why their name is

plastered all over everything it's all

over everything and so College while you

and Mary you get Thomas Jefferson you

get George Washington got a surveyor

license from the way the college boy

would marry you get James Monroe you get

John Tyler these are all presidents that

have gone to William and Mary so

it's just a lot of

historic places

1699 it becomes the capital of Virginia

so yeah it's actually Williamsburg is

the capital and

it's not until Thomas Jefferson decides

to move it during the American

Revolution in 1780 for protection

because Williamsburg is really close to

the water

opening the Chesapeake Bay would be

technically easier for someone to yeah

so the British and cannons yeah the

British will have easy access so he

moves it further up River where it's not

as accessible by ship right to Richmond

and then and so in 1790 Richmond becomes

the capital of Virginia

and Williamsburg is

I wouldn't say forgotten but it's kind

of it goes into disrepair I mean the

College of William Mary is still there

but it's kind of untouched you get

Farmers that live there and locals but

it's really not

it's not modernized it's not as

populated and then it's it's a sleepy

town in the early 20th century but there

is a reverend at Brewton Parish which is

the church there the church that Thomas

Jefferson goes to Children's and George

Washington goes to church and he wants

to

bring back the history he wants to give

it back to America so he

tries to find philanthropists who are

interested in something like that and he

lands on the best one yeah he lands a

whale yeah he gets John D Rockefeller Jr

so the director I don't think a standard

one I don't think I realized that

because it again from you know if we if

we give the kind of behind the scenes

perspective right we go into the YouTube

realm of things right we talk about how

we're learning and I'm learning about

Colonial Williamsburg literally like as

we're there and you're bouncing off the

walls with excitement and you're telling

me about all these things I'm like oh

that's great you know this is so

historical and it and I was

flabbergasted at how big it was 300

acres it's I mean it's huge and it's

well done but I don't think in my brain

when you get there you're like oh this

must have been like this for as long as

Williamsburg has been around I didn't

realize it was literally like kind of

brought back to life

yeah about the 1920s so the early 20th

century

um Rockefeller and his wife are very

instrumental bringing all the financial

backing and they take 88 original

structures and then they build like

hundreds of reconstructed structures and

open up this colonial historic area and

it's basically a Living Museum yeah no

it it's super super cool and like the

folks walking around tell me about some

of the the like the characters walking

so that's what it's a Living Museum they

employ all of these different types of

people who recreate The Artisans and the

occupations of the time they are in the

actual buildings and locations so you

can walk in and and see a milliner and

she's making dresses or you'll walk in

and see a wig maker and they talk about

who would make Who would wear these wigs

and they know a lot they know a lot like

I mean they're they're ready for little

kid questions and adult questions it's

amazing they talk about how you know

George Washington never wore a wig they

talk about people who would wear wigs

all the time when would you change to

wigs and and how you would get them made

to your specific head size yeah that was

one of the more interesting shops that

we finally got to recently because I

guess they're not open as often as some

of the other places yeah so those are

the we will do another podcast on top

tips yeah and I'll give you some top

tips of visiting but you have to catch

them weather open yeah but like the

Apothecary like what people did for

medicine at the time so these people are

so knowledgeable they stay in character

they wear the colonial dress

and it's really amazing if you can

engage with a historical character oh

yeah so so a whole lot before you go

where I know it where you're going so

for the for the the folks listening

right Jen's birthday is in December time

frame and so depending on on what we can

do whether it's a big birthday or

something like that you know um

sometimes for us as parents it's nice

just to get away for an afternoon or a

day or whatever like that so Jen takes

off for her birthday and she drives to

Colonial Williamsburg we'd already been

there probably six or seven times

she does the she spends the whole day I

don't know if it was Saturday or what

date I think it was like the middle of

the week was the middle of the week

because the kids were in school and you

come back and you're like Scott I got to

talk to Lafayette oh my gosh the Marquis

De Lafayette I

saw him walking down the street and I'm

like is that who I think it is and then

I walked up and I said good morning sir

and he started speaking in French and

then I said you know

um sorry sorry I only speak English and

so then he started engaging in English

with me and it was amazing he stayed in

character and and for those listening

guests this is the same Lafayette in

Hamilton yes insane Lafayette and he

knew his his information yeah I asked

him about the Battle of Yorktown I asked

him where he stayed in Williamsburg as

he was there with George Washington and

and as they were there with Rochambeau

and how they were strategizing he could

tell me where they were staying and

where they strategized at then I asked

him about his comeback tour of America

and where he went and who he talked to

and we talked for like 10 minutes yeah

and people walked by and I think they

were nervous to engage and he he would

greet them yeah but that they want you

to talk to them yeah and I can see how

people would be nervous because they're

like in they're in full dress right they

stay in care character and we'll talk

about more of that on the next podcast

where we're going to give some top tips

like you said I didn't realize that he

started talking to you in French yes

yeah because a lot of people around

there you weren't you wouldn't know

exactly where people would be from right

right because the French is helping so

much and so you do have to and some

people actually are schooled in French

at the time you would learn it yeah so

he's he's engaging with that language

first

um which would make sense yeah that's

cool that's a that's a neat little

tidbit it was so great and I just I I

just had had a great day I got to see a

colonial play so they recreated a play

that would have been shown about the

1780s in Colonial Williamsburg and it

was like a it was kind of like a a play

about couples and Christmas time so it

was it was great so I really

enjoyed that but again you want to catch

some of these events because sometimes

the historical figures will be in one

location on a stage and they'll give you

kind of a talk or something so let's

move back to a little bit more of the

history of Colonial Williamsburg so like

I mean who are someone like the the

buzzword like the big names that

everybody would know that were like

living there working there you know

before it went into disrepair and before

things moved up to Richmond sure you're

gonna know Thomas Jefferson sure of

course he goes to school at William and

Mary he's very influenced by

um George with and we go in on one of

our videos yeah we go to the George with

house yeah and then and if correct me if

I'm wrong but George with actually kind

of helped Thomas Jefferson formulate

some of his thoughts on Law and the

legal system huge influencer Thomas

Jefferson so much so he shows so much

respect to him he keeps that spot open

on the Declaration of Independence

that's right we've got a whole video on

George with and that and so he and he's

he has a statue of him in front of the

law school of William Mary because he's

such a father of American law yeah and

so you have Thomas Jefferson you have

people like George with the sign of

declaration independence you have um of

course George Washington you're going to

have Madison you're going to have

Martha Washington close by her family is

going to live there so you're going to

have these early founding fathers of

course James Monroe and John Tyler both

also go to William and Mary so you have

presidents Through Time who go there and

this place has been visited by Queen

Elizabeth twice 1957 and 2007. so we I

stand on the staircase where she stood

yeah so in in the uh the Williamsburg

Inn the Colonial Williamsburg they have

pictures of her visit yeah so you'll get

like Churchill has been there Eisenhower

has been there President Bush has been

there modern day president President

Obama has been there the ninth G7 Summit

was held there oh I didn't know that yes

so it's it's been very there's been a

couple presidential debates held there

oh at the College of William Mary oh so

it's it's just so much a part of

American History yeah now when you know

you talk about the historic triangle so

there's obviously there's places to stay

in the greater area but as far as like

staying in Colonial Williamsburg what

what are people's options because we had

our one thing sure and we'll talk about

that here in just a second but there's a

couple different options for folks to

stay at well I'm sure you know of course

you can stay at the Colonial

Williamsburg again yeah it's as a big

one it's amazing and it's beautiful it's

really nice okay the other hotels around

in the area yeah now you're gonna have

this is a draw for families so Busch

Gardens is there yeah there's there's a

whole lot in the area but as far as like

in Williamsburg proper and really what I

was driving it was like I want to talk

about cleaning Williamsburg in and then

where we stayed and it's a Colonial

House Colonial House

Williamsburg yeah yeah so I in my mind I

kind of see them as as separate right

um but the Colonial Williamsburg in I

mean that's that's the big place and I I

mean I have friends that like their kids

do soccer tournaments in the greater in

the Williamsburg area

um well it's still modern day I mean

you'll see if you go to visit don't be

surprised to see people jogging through

yeah you see college kids jogging

through the streets and they're just you

know because it's it's a very just it's

way by the college it's very modern day

uh I think when we were there there was

actually a run and organization 5K was

happening so don't be surprised to see

things like that it's still a very

active place for the community

but yeah I would the Colonial

Williamsburg is is like the ideal place

to stay and if you can do like we did

and stay in a colonial home so so so

tell us a little bit tell the listeners

right because they may not know that I'm

like the best husband ever and I got you

an amazing 15-year anniversary gift so

it's our 15-year anniversary and Scott

surprised me with um a weekend in a

Colonial House the Lewis house and the

Lewis house was

on the property of Martha Washington's

grandfather's property right and

I think he rented out the house I don't

think he lived there I don't think Lewis

was his name no so if I remember right

from when I was making the video I think

it actually like it was one of his homes

one of his properties one of his

properties he eventually he eventually

sold it yes he eventually sold it and

then I think that's the person he sold

it to is Lewis yes

um but it's it's highly probable that

Martha Washington as a as a young child

absolutely was in the garden was in the

garden was walking around I mean here

here you know she was uh what was her

maiden name I'm trying to remember off

the top of my head oh I don't know I

know custis was her first married name

that's right that's right I don't

remember what her maiden made I don't

remember either but it was I mean it was

really cool because

when you're walking around Williamsburg

you don't kind of know what might be an

office

or what might be one of these homes that

you can stay in or a Tavern or something

like that yes and so the Lewis house was

a three-bedroom Colonial house and we

had the whole house and it had a little

kitchenette it had bathrooms it had it

was just an amazing place and we had the

run of the whole place so if you go

there with your family it's a great

place to stay with your family and I

mean it's literally like across the

street from the Williamsburg Inn and

then the next block over is the main

drag of Colonial Williamsburg so

um I think her last name was

Dandridge Martha Dandridge okay that

sounds that sounds right but um staying

there was amazing so there's lots of

options and and I think I know this a

little bit better than you because I did

all the research trying to find the just

the right place for our 15-year

anniversary so there's there's places

where you can kind of um some of the

smaller homes right and so they're

actually some of the bigger buildings

that's but that's because there's three

or four rooms right it's kind of almost

like more like a motel style they try to

mimic like a Tavern right type idea so

if you were gonna stay in a in a

colonial Tavern what would that look

like so they have some bigger buildings

that are called taverns yeah and you can

rent the rooms upstairs and stay in a

Tavern now they're modernized

to be American you know with the modern

amenities but um but it gives you that

idea yeah and so yes you can get a house

like we did you can stay in a Tavern

room you can actually stay in some that

they they label as like there's like the

oral house and then there's the oral

Kitchen yes right and so we talk about

this a little on our video that every

house or Manor usually had a kitchen

would be which would be a whole nother

Standalone structure behind the main

house it would not be connected by walls

it would have space between it and

that's because of fair fire and so what

they have done for some of these

kitchens is they have made them small

little

um basically like Studios or one

bedrooms if you also wanted to rent

those you could stay in the kitchen and

it's confusing because you'd be like why

would I want to stay in the kitchen but

it's it's part of the house yeah it's

just not connected yeah and honestly

like I that's exactly what I thought

when I was looking this stuff up I was

like why is this saying in the kitchen

like I'm I don't I don't get it right

and then once you educated me thank you

very much

um I was like oh that's why because it's

a separate structure but it's on the

same basically lot

um so it Colonial Williamsburg is I know

you were like incredibly excited to go

there because we have friends and family

like close family friends that have been

going there for quite some time it's

been really fun and it's just one of

those places it's nice to walk around

and it's it's just a great spot it's

really up to you how much you want to

engage yep people will dress I I plan to

dress I bought the colonial dress and

the colonial hat and the Bonnet and I

have the under hoops and I plan to dress

and people will do that and and people

will engage with you and so it's not odd

to see people dressed in the colonial

outfits as they walk around Colonial

rooms but yeah I'm that'll be a day when

I see that so the history of Colonial

Williamsburg it's undeniable

the country's forefathers lived and

worked there building the foundation of

the society that we know today

that fact alone actually takes time to

set in when you're there walking in the

same Garden that Thomas Jefferson walked

through or having dinner in a Tavern

that James Madison probably sat down and

had drinks in

and yes possibly staying in the same

home that Martha Washington herself

might have stayed in at one point in

time

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