I need real dark to sleep. Kings Creek Plantation had too much light coming through the blinds from the street lights outside for me to find peace. By the end of the week I had covered them with everything I could find to block as much of that light as possible.

  

After breakfast we cleared out of the timeshare, and spent a few more hours in Williamsburg before heading downstate.

     

The coopers job was to make barrels and buckets. Most of the barrels his historic counterparts made were disposable ones, like the one in the middle picture above. They were mostly used for storing tobacco for export to Europe, that being the main cash crop even then. The distinguishing characteristic of disposable barrels was the viney wooden things used to keep the slats in place. Full sized barrels were at least four feet tall, and were probably burnt as fuel after being emptied in some distant city.

  

The jailer explained that back in the 1770s it was considered cruel and unusual punishment to keep a prisoner locked up for more than six months to a year. Sentances for crimes that were more serious than that were more likely to be death. The cells were more spartan than the ones in modern jails though.



This was the seat of Government for the Commonwealth of Virginia in the 1700s. When we visited here in 1999 I saw the government inside debating the pros and cons of supporting the resolution for independance. We didn't have time for that this time though. After I took this picture, my sisters family and I drove down to their old stomping grounds in Central Virginia.

     


The woman who made this vest was Teresa's piano and sewing teacher. This vest is a nice thing she made for herself to wear. The sewing was very beautifully done. I think the medallion things were done with a numerically controlled pattern template, but a lot of the other details were done by hand. She is very good with her tools.



This was the recipie for the salad she served us. It was in one of her Menonite cookbooks, and very delicious. She said that she made it with 3/4 cups of water instead of a full cup.