I'm back at school after a week of spring break. Here's what I did:
Saturday the 13th
Jeremiah, Matt, and I got up early and headed for the airports. They dropped me off at Dulles and went on to BWI for their flights. It was weird being dropped off at arrivals and taking luggage out of the trunk...I caught a bus to a metro station and took the metro to Reagan Airport. For the next 30 minutes or so, I walked back and forth in the baggage claim, looking for my family. We reached each other on the phone and I found out that there was another terminal in that airport. I walked over to it and greeted Mom, Dad, and Naomi. We got our rental car, a cheap silver Neon with no automatic locks and no automatic windows, and headed South. We found our timeshare in Williamsburg and got settled in. It was a pretty nice resort, but a little older than many we've stayed in. Our suite had a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms. I slept in the room on the third floor.
Sunday the 14th
We slept in and hung out until after lunch, at which point Dad dropped Naomi, Mom, and me at a local movie theatre. It was not the best theatre, but may well have been the best movie (of all time) - The Passion. I enjoyed it thoroughly and have nothing really negative to say about it. It was powerful emotionally, accurate biblically, and beautiful aesthetically. I can see why it is so popular - hey, I want to see it again. That evening, we hung out around the resort and I probably did some reading.
Monday the 15th
We started the day by visiting the state-run museum at Jamestown. There was an Indian village, life-size models of the ships they used, and a replica of the settlement. I enjoyed seeing and hearing about what I learned about in US History I. Then, we went to Yorktown. They had a nice timeline of the debates leading up to the American War for Continued Self-Government (American Revolution for those who haven't taken Snyder). We saw how they fired cannons, which was cool but loud. Then we visited the medical tent, and the historian gave very vivid descriptions of procedures used at that time. Unfortunately, Mom didn't take it too well and ended up passing out. The good thing was, we were at a medical tent, so she was able to lay down on the cot until they brought us a wheelchair to help her to the car. We came home to let her rest, and by evening she was back to normal.
Tuesday the 16th
We got a free breakfast by going to a timeshare presentation Tuesday morning and they tried to get us to upgrade. I had fun analyzing the saleswoman's rhetorical skills, but in the end she was not persuasive. Then we went back to Yorktown and finished seeing the nice museum. Late that afternoon, we stopped by Williamsburg and saw a film and watched a drum and fife concert. They let us have our badges early, even though we bought two day passes for Wed. and Thurs. It rained some, but wasn't too bad.
Wednesday the 17th
We spent all day at Williamsburg. We saw Peyton Randolph's house, the governor's mansion, and the church. The best part of the day was in the morning when we got to see a guy act like he was Patrick Henry. He was really knowledgable and a very good speaker. I enjoyed his presentation very much. We also saw a guy play Thomas Jefferson, but he wasn't as good.
Thursday the 18th
We went to Williamsburg again. This time we saw the capitol building, the Rockefeller's house, and shops like the cabinet maker's. In the afternoon, we saw Patrick Henry again, and I enjoyed him again even though he pretty much said the same stuff. We took a walking tour, but it wasn't that good.
Friday the 19th
We drove down to the James River and took a ferry across it, which was a first for all of us. We went to the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier and Pamplin Historical park. It was a new, very well done museum all about the Civil War. Inside, we learned about life as a soldier. Outside, we saw the site of the Union's final breakthrough near Petersburg in the last few weeks of the war. It was really cool to see the mound of dirt that the Confederates made as a fortification, still intact, and hear about how the Union army broke through the line. We also saw a restored plantation house, and learned about slave life at that time. I would say that this was the best museum we visited all week, because I learned so much from it.
Saturday the 20th
We packed up and headed North for Purcellville. We ended up getting to Leesburg around lunch time, so we met those of my friends who were on campus at Taco Bell. Jeremiah, RJ, Sherri, and Christina got to meet my family. We arrived at school and I showed Mom and Naomi my dorm room and the classrooms in Founder's Hall. We took a quick tour and then said our goodbyes because they had to catch a flight at 4. For the rest of the afternoon, I hung out with the four friends I mentioned above. We walked into town and visited some shops, spent some time reading Johnson (History) together, and went to Subway for dinner. Last night I read some more and chatted.
I really enjoyed the vacation, but it's good to be back at school. I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things. There's a lot of writing assignments coming up, so I may not be posting here very often. But that's nothing new. Now I need to get to church.
