Poe

It's been a crazy busy summer so I have been rather neglectful of the blog- I had planned to post something on my visit to the Edgar Allan Poe museum in Richmond a long time ago and now am finally getting around to it. It's been well over a month (two months maybe?) since I actually took these pictures during a lovely visit to Richmond with my friend Laura.

Here are the aforementioned pictures.

The South

Recently one of my friends blogged about place-ness I've had some similar moments myself- most recently yesterday afternoon as I was walking Rusty. It had just rained and it was misty out and humid of course- but not unpleasantly so. It also didn't hurt that I was walking by Bassett Hall which is where the Rockefellers stayed when they began restoring Colonial Williamsburg.





The mistiness shows up a little bit better in this picture at the golf course-



And here is the obligatory picture of Rusty- here he is trying to sneak over to greener pastures- I'm not sure what he saw over there but it must have been very intriguing.



I've been dreading summer here. I've never been a fan of summer- the weather part not the vacation from school part (at least not since I can remember) and it's been even worse since I've lived here- summers here can be quite miserable. I had hoped to spend much of this summer at home but alas- one must work- and work I will. This summer is going to be an exceptionally busy one. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough money to pay the bills let alone cover luxury items- you know, like food. So in order to avoid standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign reading- "will lecture you in history for food" I signed on to 4 different teaching gigs- assuming that one or more of them wouldn't work out. Well right now it looks like they all are going to- I'll find out tomorrow for sure. I am really excited about the opportunities but I am also a little worried about managing it all!

Sorry- I got side-tracked there. I was going to say that it was nice to have such a pleasant walk and to enjoy living in the south. I will try to remind myself of that during the miserable summer months ahead.

Colonial Williamsburg

I thought I'd share some more pictures from my walks with Rusty- I kind of felt like I had posted so many pictures of our walks around CW that I had little new to share. But I am realizing that there are still many things that I am noticing for the first time or am seeing from a new angle and it has been kind of fun to start exploring all over again. And Rusty loves CW- so many interesting things to smell...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful that my dad was able to come to Virginia for the holiday (Rusty's pretty excited about it too).

Now I just need to convince him that he wants to go to the White House of the Confederacy while he's here-I've been meaning to go for a while and it's always more fun with someone else!

Pirate Golf!

It only took me two years to get there- but I finally played pirate mini-golf at Pirate's Cove. Here is another reason for you (readers who know me) to come visit Williamsburg- so I can kick your a** at Pirate Golf.

Ok, not really. I came in third (a.k.a. last) when I played my sister and cousin during their recent visit- so you can come to Williamsburg and have a boast to your self-esteem when you beat me at pirate golf.

It was fun and educational- I learned a lot about pirates while enjoying a lively game of mini-golf. I didn't have my camera with me so the pictures (taken with my phone) aren't the best quality but you get the idea-


One of the holes was in the cave- it's hard to make out- but cool anyway.








can you see the pirate in the above picture?

Thoughts on NIAHD (and Keio too)

I have been busily grading papers for NIAHD (I only have 2 left!!!) and setting up my online class (only NINE weeks to go!!!) so I haven't posted anything here in a few days. Trust me, I'd rather be sharing pictures with you than grading papers.

Keio starts next week and I am a little sad I won't be working for them again. I am not sad that i will have some free time and will be able to visit with some family and friends who are coming to Virginia and to possibly work on my dissertation- oh and to teach the online class of course- but I am sad I won't get to hang out with some awesome students (because if this year's Keio students and even half as great as last year's it is going to be a good time).

NIAHD was a great experience. It was very different from Keio- for me the best part of Keio were my amazing students but I didn't really get to know the students with NIAHD because I was kind of like a substitute teacher- but I still had fun and I got to see a lot more of Virginia. Virginia is an amazing place to study history- the 'field trips' were totally worth suffering through the incredible heat and humidity well, mostly worth it (seriously it is disgusting here this summer- we have yet another heat advisory today- my family and friends who are coming to see me don't know what they are getting into to- no one is going to want to leave my air-conditioned apartment- I certainly don't want to. Ever. So gross). I also got to work with some amazing people. I love american studies but it was nice to get back to my history roots. And the one useful thing about the disgusting weather is that I think it really helped the students realize how difficult life was for a lot of our ancestors- especially the millions of Africans who were brought here as slaves.

All that said, it is really nice to be able to sit on my couch, with my faithful dog snuggled next to a me, and to waste some time on the internet. (Inside. Where its air-conditioned).

Last NIAHD Field Trip

Our last trip was to Yorktown- the 19th century class started out there and the Colonial class ended there- so I got to go there twice. And I have been there before. So it was less than exciting.

I do have some pictures to share but not much to say. Sorry, I have kind of fizzled out here at the end.

The first two pictures are of the battlefield.







And this is the monument celebrating the victory at Yorktown.



We also stopped by the Yorktown Victory Center- I posted about it already (from the 19th century class' visit) but last time I didn't make it back to the encampment.

Mount Vernon

The last couple days have been crazy busy. One of the instructors had to leave unexpectedly so I had to take over his course- which, is why I have been busy.

I hadn't planned to go on the Mount Vernon trip, I have been there before and wanted to go someplace new- but I am so glad I went- it was a really fun trip. Plus, the last time I went we didn't get to go on the house tour because the line was too long and my friends had to get to the airport- so it was nice to see the inside of the house. Unfortunately, I can't show you any pictures of the inside of the house because they didn't allow us to take pictures inside.

The house tour was kind of bizarre- we all filed through in a very long line, staying between the ropes, and the tour guides kind of shouted tidbits of information at us from the middle of the rooms- all they needed was a conveyor belt to keep it all moving more smoothly. It was the Disneyland of presidential homes. Very strange. The goal was clearly to get as many people through as quickly as possible. I think the tours are very different during less busy times of the year- I'll have to go back during the winter.

The assembly-line fashioned tour aside, it is now my favorite presidential home. I have only been to three but Mount Vernon is my favorite so far. It's beautiful. If you get the chance- go see it.



Here are a couple pictures of the garden...















and of the Potomac.

Colonial Williamsburg- again

I spent the day in CW, again. It wasn't too bad though since we went to two places I hadn't been before- the Peyton Randolph house and the Great Hopes Plantation.

Peyton Randolph was a wealthy and important man- he was attorney general of Virginia and was the president of the Continental Congress but he died before they declared independence- they told us more about it him but my brain was fried by the heat (the humidity was brutal today) and I just don't care right now. :) But I'll share pictures. Oh, I should mention that much of the focus at this house is on the slaves, so we heard a little about Peyton Randolph but the interpreter focused on the slave experience and how they would have felt listening in on the conversations of men like Randolph and Thomas Jefferson when they talked about how the King was a tyrant who treated them like slaves and how men should be free....

This is Randolph's office.



Here are a couple guest rooms.





The family room...



The staircase....



The master bedroom....







The parlor...



And dining room....



The back of the house and the outbuildings...





(this building housed the kitchen and the slave quarters)





And here are pictures from around the plantation- which is near the visitors center- but a ways away from the rest of CW.















these guys are working on fixing the windmill- which has been without it's sails for a while- it could be another year before it's back together again.



The slave quarters



Pigs



Chickens