Walkng Jamestowne
Sep. 21st, 2008 06:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreI took advantage of being in the "historic triangle" to do a volksmarch in Jamestowne today. The walk included the Historic Jamestowne site itself (i.e. the site of the actual colony), the glasshouse, and the island. The weak link is the walk between the site and the glasshouse which required walking down the main road and was, therefore, not particularly quiet or attractive. While the Island Drive portion of the walk also included a road with some traffic, it was more peaceful and, generally, fairly well-wooded.
The site of the colony is, of course, the most interesting part of the visit. There are plenty of things to see - a surviving church, the statue of Pocahantas, reconstructed building foundations - and plenty of historic signs to read. The downside of all the signs is that they make the walk take longer for those of us who are compulsive about reading such things.
The key question about Jamestowne is why it gets so much less attention than Plymouth Rock, which was some 13 years later. I suspect the answer is that colonies started for strictly financial reasons lack the romance of the quest for religious freedom. But native Virginians will probably just blame Yankee imperialism.
By the way, the drive back was considerably more pleasant than the drive up had been, since I didn't really get caught in any significant traffic. Now, I just have to catch up on an entire weekend's worth of chores in the next few hours.
The site of the colony is, of course, the most interesting part of the visit. There are plenty of things to see - a surviving church, the statue of Pocahantas, reconstructed building foundations - and plenty of historic signs to read. The downside of all the signs is that they make the walk take longer for those of us who are compulsive about reading such things.
The key question about Jamestowne is why it gets so much less attention than Plymouth Rock, which was some 13 years later. I suspect the answer is that colonies started for strictly financial reasons lack the romance of the quest for religious freedom. But native Virginians will probably just blame Yankee imperialism.
By the way, the drive back was considerably more pleasant than the drive up had been, since I didn't really get caught in any significant traffic. Now, I just have to catch up on an entire weekend's worth of chores in the next few hours.
