Crossing the York River

Colonial Williamsburg was an immersive experience. Even the sounds placed us in the late 1700s. Clomp, clomp, clomp went the horses hooves as this carriage passed us by.

Before we opted to take a one-hundred-fifteen-mile side trip up the Potomac to Washington D.C., which was a fantastic decision, we made a two-night stop to see Yorktown National Historic Park and Colonial Williamsburg.

These stops are along the York River which is a feeder to Chesapeake Bay. 

We stayed across the York River from Yorktown at a lovely marina in Gloucester Point, VA.(1) The harbor master informed us that, unfortunately, there was no public transportation over the York River's half-mile bridge that connects Gloucester Point to Yorktown. Nor were there any Lyft/Uber drivers who were willing to cross the bridge, which had a toll, to pick up tourists like us and bring them over to the historic sites. 

Instead, the harbor master very kindly volunteered to drive us over himself after work our first day as well as the next morning. Lyft/Uber drivers are willing to drive us back from historic sites, he said.

YORKTOWN

We arrived at Yorktown National Historic Park at four p.m., so we had one hour before closing time to absorb everything we could about the siege of Yorktown by the colonists/revolutionaries, leading to the General Cornwallis’ surrender of the mighty British forces. This essentially ended the Revolutionary War, everyone!(2) 

I don't remember the details I learned as a youngster about American History, so this immersion at the Yorktown Museum and all these historic places was almost new information for me. 

We were wondering why battalions were accompanied by boys rat-tat-tatting on drums. This exhibit explained it was a method to communicate orders. A-ha!

My takeaway was that in addition to blocking the British army from retreating via land, the colonial army won this decisive battle at Yorktown because of two things. First, an overwhelming number of French Navy frigates blocked the British Navy from retreating down the York River into Chesapeake Bay. Second, a windy storm blocked a retreat across the York River. General Cornwallis began sending his army a half mile across the York River in small row boats towards Gloucester Point in the dark of night. He got word that most of his soldiers died in the water when their boats sank. (That must have been a major storm!)

And, we knew that there could have been major currents right in front of their camp at the York River; we witnessed it ourselves. It's a dangerous combination with opposing winds.

General Cornwallis had no choice but to surrender. 

Do you remember making dioramas in school? This is the first professional diorama I recall ever seeing. It  brought the formal surrender of the British to French and American forces to life for me:

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

On day two, the harbor master drove us to Colonial Williamsburg.(3) It was time well spent. First, it was a beautiful Spring day. The town was surrounded by a profusion of greenery, bloomed dogwoods, and puffy white clouds floated in the sky. There were rolling hills and a bubbling creek meandering through the town. And, talk about immersion, this reconstructed colonial town was filled with real artisans and actors dressed in eighteenth-century garb.(4) 

We stopped at various "shops" where Makers were making to preserve or reconstruct the town. All the professionals took their jobs seriously and seemed to relish history and authentic details of their craft. 

We stopped by the cabinet maker and the brick maker/layer.(5) 

The cabinet maker. Note the eighteenth century tools. He patiently explained to us different types of joinery techniques. They have recreated seventeenth century furniture that appear in Williamsburg in this workshop.

Making bricks! It’s just as you might imagine. They made thousands of bricks here that were sourced in Virginia and used locally. 

We toured a meeting house/inn and the Governor's Mansion.(6) The tour guides made it easy for us to imagine the colonists meeting in the rooms and sneaking around the taverns and homes to plan their treasonous acts. Some tour guides took on the viewpoint of enslaved people and explained the choices they had and the living conditions they endured during The Revolution.

Pretending to be dinner guests at the Governor’s Mansion.

Mike chatting with a tour guide in the Governor’s Mansion entry hall. Guns and swords filled all the walls.

We watched a well-spoken monologue by a "Young Washington." He explained that a serious impediment to convincing King George to address their grievances was that the colonies had disparate needs and had come to him with one voice. 

At first, they presented their grievances and signed their names "your loyal subjects." It was when they began in secret to overturn the court-appointed governors that they became treasonous. They had to plan and act in secret because so many colonists were loyal to the King and treason was an executable offense. Overall, Colonial Williamsburg was an interesting and unique way to experience history. 

Strolling in the Governor’s Mansion gardens.

THE POTOMAC

The next day, it was our turn to storm The Capitol. It took two more days (about eighty miles) in the Chesapeake just to enter the Potomac River. The Potomac is about five miles wide at its base and slowly narrows for sixty miles until it reaches Washington D.C. as it heads Northwest. It was about 165 miles from Yorktown to Washington D.C. by boat, taking us four days. 

We saw only a few boats along our cruise. It's a long way from marina to marina on the Potomac, so it seems few bother to make the trip. 

Mike took this lovely sunset pic of Sacagawea with his drone at a quiet anchorage off the Potomac River.

As always, we followed along on our charts and Google Maps, looking at notable landmarks. Similar to the Intracoastal Waterway, we saw enormous mansions along the waterfront. As we rounded the last bend, the glorious Washington Monument appeared. We knew our marina home for the next ten days was just a half mile away. 

Approaching Washington D.C. The pointy thing on the upper left is Washington Monument.

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1) The York River feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. It's on the Western side near the Southern portion of Chesapeake Bay. While it would have been more convenient to stay at Yorktown, a little research proved that the currents were strong and unfavorable at the marina in front of Yorktown National Historic Park. It would have been a nightmare to try to dock there. Lo and behold, once we were dropped off at Yorktown, we saw only one boat in the entire large marina: an American Cruise Line ship. Other recreational boaters must have come to the same conclusion as we did. 

Side note to this footnote (!): we saw American Cruise Line ships at the greatest ports. I'm not sure what it's like on these boats, but if you want to come via water to the same cool spots I've written about like St. Augustine, FL, Beaufort, SC, Charleston, SC, and Yorktown, you should check it out. 

(2) We also learned that British officers still occupied New York City for two years, even though the British Army leader, General Cornwallis, surrendered for the whole British military at Yorktown. 

(3) Colonial Williamsburg is not a government park but a non-profit originally funded by John D. Rockefeller around 1930. One of its functions is to maintain artisan guilds. The guilds have artisan training programs in specific crafts such as cabinet making, bricklaying, baking, and sewing historic clothing.

(4) Clothing wasn’t 100% authentic because they wore modern leather shoes and many clothes looked store-bought with zippers. 

(5) The cabinet makers were using eighteenth-century tools. Even the broom was made of wood and straw. During our visit, they demonstrated how they inlaid wood designs and various types of nailless joinery. The brick maker said they host apprentices who work for years before becoming journeymen. And, the clay was all sourced locally. We saw the massive ovens he used to fire bricks and many cords of wood he used as fuel.  

(6) The Governor's mansion had beautiful English garden grounds. The entry hall and stairs had expensive marble floors which contrasted with walls hung with dozens of swords, like an armory. The town was also home to people who lived there full-time.