Going Colonial

It has been quite the week y'all - it hasn't gone quite as smoothly as I'd hoped although I did get safely to and from DC for the absolutely amazing Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience (pictures and videos to come...probably next week...we shall see..) but Wednesday was nothing more than an almost 24 hour headache and here I am today trying to fight off an "after shock" headache - you've got to love those migraines, am I right?

Beyond all that - let me get back to the past weekend spent in Williamsburg and finally share my pictures from Colonial Williamsburg. We came back into the center of Williamsburg on Saturday evening and perused the shops at Merchant Square before we ventured into the Colonial portion and I wandered up to the Governor's Palace to snap a few dusk pictures...

I don't remember on our previous visit getting to wander down the palace green and snap pictures of the Governor's Palace but I made sure to do that this time. I was also pretty adamant about wanting to be in Colonial Williamsburg at dusk - there is just something slightly unearthly about seeing this little town come alive with lantern light...and knowing the colonial people used to roam these same streets by lantern light..and perhaps still do roam the streets once night has fallen? We didn't take a ghost tour this time but we have before and it's all delightfully eerie!

We made some purchases at the Peanut Shop and Wythe Candy and Gourmet, investigated all the amazing and unique cheese on sale at The Cheese Shop and my Dad and I discovered even more information about our Scottish ancestry at Scotland House, LTD. Apparently one of our descendants had a ballad written about him because he "slew a gigantic beast or worm"...in some writings it says he killed the last serpent in Scotland and that is why the coat of arms for our family has a dragon on it! How amazing is that? My ancestors were killers of giant snakes - I am all for that - I guess the dislike of snakes is also an inherited trait?

We had a late dinner at Sal's by Victor Italian Restaurant and this was authentic Italian food, not your Olive Garden fettuccine alfredo (which I am definitely not hating on, I love that stuff so much - I just also know it's not really authentic)... and the pizza that my Mom and I split was divine! I know I mentioned my dessert on the other post but it was easily one of the best things I've ever eaten and I want to see if I can find another when I'm in Italy!

We started the morning on Sunday with Duck Donuts - a donut shop that originates out of Duck, North Carolina and is essentially a made to order donut shop. Now we have Duck Donuts here in our area of Virginia but we've just never made our way to one and Sunday seemed as good a day as any to give them a try! We had some really delicious donuts: blueberry pancake, s'mores, french toast, apple pie, lemon blueberry and pumpkin pie with strudel - my mouth is watering just thinking about them! It certainly wasn't a healthy breakfast but it was tasty!

We popped into the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor's Center after we'd have breakfast and perused the shops for a bit - I also came to the realization that the actual layout of Colonial Williamsburg is much larger than I'd thought. I purchased a Christmas gift for a certain someone and then we sought out the tavern guests parking and entered the Colonial area that way. I wanted so badly to have lunch or dinner at King's Arms Tavern but we couldn't seem to make a reservation...but aftern inquiring about eating lunch there, we learned it was first come/first serve at 11:30...and since it was 11:20, we perused a shop or two and then made our way back to the Tavern!

Now you may be wondering why I wanted to eat at King's Arms Tavern so badly and I'll be glad to tell you - I wanted to try the Peanut Soup! The King's Arms Tavern is known for it's peanut soup and I love all things peanut, so I wanted nothing more than to try some of it...and King's Arms is the only tavern in Colonial Williamsburg that offer the lovely soup made of peanuts! I was just so pleased to have a seat and order some peanut soup - it really is the little things in life y'all!

I had the half sandwich and cup of peanut soup for my meal - and peanut soup tastes exactly the way I thought it would: like soupy, creamy and delicious peanut butter! I'm glad I opted to do a bowl because while it was delicious, it was also incredibly rich and I think an entire bowl would have been too much! When it came time for dessert, I also decided to branch out and I got Syllabub - the most historically accurate dessert on the menu; it's made from cream mixed with white wine and sweetened with lemon, topped with fresh berries. It was delicious and I'm wondering why Syllabub isn't really a thing anymore because it's so tasty and good!

After our delicious lunch, we walked down the main street (Duke of Gloucester) to the government houses and then peeked in a few shops on our way back down the street. One of the most interesting items that I found was a mourning ring (pictured above) - which was normally a ring made from the silver a person inherited from a relative; they wore the ring for a year following the loved one's death and then had the silver melted down as their inheritance. Isn't that the most interesting thing? The rings were decorated with skulls and cross bones, so they almost looked like a sort of pirate ring or something... amusing to say the least!

It was threatening to rain and so we made our way past a few houses and a pen of sheep before hopping into the car to make our way home. We stopped in at the Yankee Candle Shop on our way out of town and then when traffic backed up on I-94, we decided to trust Google Maps and headed home via the back roads - which took some time off our drive and we got to see the countryside. We arrived home around 5:30 with Panda Express for dinner and a very happy puppy waiting to greet us (a friend watched him over the weekend).

Such a great weekend - I always love poking around Colonial Williamsburg and seeing all the sights!