On December 16, 1739, George Whitefield preached at Bruton Parish Church, an event that Colonial Williamsburg reenacts yearly on that very day.
When I first heard of that reenactment, I decided we must go!
Arriving the night before, we kept warm in the hotel while reviewing our notes on Whitefield, who would be preaching the next day at Bruton Parish Church, in Colonial Williamsburg, at 2pm.
ELECTRONIC FIELD TRIP AT BRUTON HEIGHTS
First, we went to Bruton Heights, where we could view the Founders or Traitors Electronic Field Trip PBS broadcast on a large screen, while all the production happened behind closed doors, nearby.
There were other actors from the historic area in there watching too.
Before the program, a lady gave some background, and recognized my kids!
After the EFT, we toured the broadcast room where we saw Benjamin Franklin, who had just performed for the Question and Answer segment of the EFT!
He remembered meeting my kids earlier in the year.
While in the broadcast room, one of the executive producers came in to say hi, because he recognized my kids as the first Skypers!
That week, my kids e-mailed John Adams for the Founders or Traitors EFT experience.
Well, we met “John Adams!” all of them, upstairs, as we saw how all the EFT e-mails and phone calls were processed!
We even got to read some of the e-mails over their shoulders.
SNOW!
When we left Bruton Heights, it was snowing!
For lunch we skipped the usual picnic and enjoyed a cozy seat at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery, where we enjoyed some hot soup and cider.
From our table we watched the snow falling outdoors.
After lunch, we visited Tarpley’s Store, then went to Bruton Parish Church to get a good seat.
The town was beautiful, as was the historic church.
Walking up to the gate, we were shocked to it locked, with a sign that said the sermon had been canceled!
History records that nothing ever stopped George Whitefield.
Not assigned a church by the government, he took to the fields where thousands heard him.
The largest crowd recorded is 10,000.
However, this active church does not belong to Colonial Williamsburg.
While Colonial Williamsburg was open, the rest of Williamsburg was closed.
PLAN B – TUCKER HOUSE
Why don’t we go to the Tucker House to visit Alexander Purdie, the printer of the newspaper?
Walking to Tucker House we were shocked to find that it was closed!
Eventually we learned the reason why.
Although the Tucker House is Colonial Williamsburg property, it is run by volunteers.
While Colonial Williamsburg employees were working throughout the historic area, the volunteers didn’t have to.
PLAN C – SUBSCRIPTION BALL
One of the interpreters at Bruton Heights invited us to the Subscription Ball that afternoon, at Raleigh Tavern.
Trudging through the snow, my boots became full of snow that melted to cold water.
Pushing on…how can Colonial Williamsburg be more picturesque, than with snow at Christmas time!
SURPRISED BY GEORGE WHITEFIELD AND ALEXANDER PURDIE
Surprisingly, in front of Raleigh Tavern we saw George Whitfield and Alexander Purdie!
Walking up to George Whitefield, I wailed, “The kids and I drove down ahead of the snow storm just to see you, but you were canceled!”
The interpreter said he had just found out he was canceled 5 minutes before!
Then I looked at Alexander Purdie and said, “We decided to go see you at the Tucker House because we’ve always wanted to see you there, and you were canceled, too!”
They were so nice to put up with our disappointments.
We had a nice chat, a bit of teasing, and encouragement to stick around for the ball.
SNOWBALL FIGHT
Meanwhile we watched some of the actors snow ball fight.
My son even made a snow ball and smacked Will Duncan from Scotland right in the side, but he never noticed because he was too busy going after another actor.
There was a lot of bantering between them and the actors on our side of the street at Raleigh Tavern!
At the Subscription Ball we enjoyed the singing and dancing of the townsfolk, having a grand time of merriment.
MILLINER
After the Subscription Ball, we visited the tailor and the milliner!
While the tailor cut out a new waistcoat…
I chatted with the milliner about warm sewing projects, like muffs!
The white fabric waws so lusciously soft!
ENJOYING THE SNOW
Then we started walking through the shops and trades, all of which were open.
With evening coming, and not knowing if the weather would turn for the worse, I went to the Lumber Ticket Office to ensure whether Illuminations and Caroling would be canceled.
The Lumber Ticket Office assured me the events were not canceled.
DINNER AVAILABILITY?
Assured by one of the employees that Merchants Square restaurants is always open for the Colonial Williamsburg guests, we planned a very early dinner, 4:30pm.
Walking to the pizza place in Merchant Square, we were shocked to find that they were closed!
Sheer panic began to set in. Oh dear. Now what?
Wait, I think I saw lights on at the Cheese Shop. Guess what? They were open!
Loving their cozy atmosphere, we sat at the big picture window looking at the snow while we ate.
ILLUMINATIONS OF THE TAVERNS
We made it to “Illuminations.”
The fife and drum corps were there with the militia.
This is a narrated tour where there is gun firing and lighting of the cressets with a bit of history of each tavern.
CAROLING
Afterwards we stood in front of Weatherburn Taven for some Christmas Caroling with a modern choir from the 21st century Williamsburg.
Burning cressets were all about us as we sang, helping to keep us warm.
HOT CHOCOLATE?
Afterwards we walked as quickly as we could to the bus stop.
At this point I knew all the footpaths to the Visitor Center were closed for safety reasons.
My boots were completely soaked, and I was cold.
The bus finally came.
Hoping to get some hot chocolate at the Visitor Center, guess what? They were closed! It wasn’t even 7pm.
Despondent, we trudged in the snow to our van and guess what? It was covered in snow. duh
Why did I not think of that ahead of time?
My son was my knight in shining armor.
He told me he’d brush all the snow off while I warmed up the van and put the defroster on.
SECRET TO DRYING SNOWY WET BOOTS
With all the closures that day I feared the worst regarding the roads…but they were great!
We entered the hotel and Doug was there.
Doug is really great.
After our third visit to that hotel last year, he told us we should just buy a place down there.
He knows us so well now, that he never needs to ask me a million questions.
He just says, “Hi guys!” and processes our paperwork.
In the rare event we ever need anything, he always finds the answer or locates the supplies.
I asked him how late we could stay at the hotel, depending on the road conditions the next day.
We didn’t have to check out of our room until 2pm and he knows us well enough to know we’d rather be in the historic area but did say the secondary roads would be bad.
That afternoon things were already melting and we’d be getting another freeze that night.
When I told him about my soaking wet boots, he told me to grab newspapers from the desk to stuff into the boots them.
Ta da! The next morning the boots were dry!
SUNSHINE THAW
The next morning everything was dry, and the roads were in excellent condition, although the parking lots were ice.
The van was now covered in ice, which my son scraped away while I heated up the car.
The kids wanted to return to the historic area to squeeze in more fun, so I told them I’d take them to do whatever they wanted.
Since my boots were dry, I was willing to do that.
PATRICK HENRY THAWS THE ICICLES
First, we stood in a frozen, crusty snow-covered garden behind the palace to listen to the fiery Patrick Henry emphatically spew forth his strong rhetoric against the British empire.
Icicles shattered about us. Icy leaves crashed. Snow melted.
RALEIGH TAVERN BAKERY
After his talk, off we went to the Raleigh Tavern Bakery for soup and cider at a cozy warm table overlooking the glistening snow in the garden.
MILLINER
Then we returned to the milliner and talked about all sorts of lovelies!
Muffs, mitts, etc, etc, etc!
My questions for current and future sewing projects grew and she was really open to helping me with information.
She was the same milliner as yesterday, friendly and helpful, which really chirped me up!
Then my son wanted to go to the blacksmith shop, where he got to ask different questions.
SUBSCRIPTION BALL
Next my kids wanted to do the Subscription Ball again.
Before that, Mrs. Randolph saw us and was absolutely delighted to see the kids.
She wrapped them in her arms with a big hug. We had a lovely chat.
GEORGE WHITEFIELD IS QUITE DEAD
She told the reverend that I had come into town to see George Whitefield.
He gave me a bit of information about Whitefield’s background, then informed me with the sad, sad, sad news that he had passed away a few years prior.
Oh no! I had just come into town to meet him, to which he responded: He is quite dead, Madame.
PLAYING THREAD THE NEEDLE
Then Kate got the reverend and several of the kids, including mine, to play Thread the needle!
