Happy Birthday Dakota and Jamestown

This is our second birthday on the road - this time for a 12 year old!

We actually started the day before in Jamestown, going back to 1607 when the very first settlers arrived (13 years before the Pilgrams arrived) in what would become these United States of America.

Scott and the boys on the Susan Constant

Here, Jamestown has been recreated back to the 17th century where we walked among the settlers in their daily lives, whether it be in the kitchen where they prepared one meal a day and the other two meals would have been leftovers and possibly some fruits or vegetables and cheese, to the forge where we watched as one man stood making nails. Yes, nails.

They did used a version of raised beds back in the 17th century.

And the chickens were allowed to roam and fertilize the dead beds

We also experienced a little of the life of the Powahtan Indians and walked through their homes. It was amazing to see all the actual animal rugs. If the men in your family were very good hunters, you would have made the very best hides into large coats to keep you warm through the winter. The rest would have been laid across the beds - both for comfort as well as warmth. The bones from the animals were used as well. Primarily as tools, animal bones were also filled and shaped into fishing hooks.

Boys trying on the gear

We ended the day by celebrating at Red Robin, one of D's favorite places - singing and all.

 

On his birthday, after a short school day, we headed out for an adventurous day of hands on learning.

We started out in Yorktown, went and played video games (talk about two opposite ends of the spectrum), went to a military surplus store for D to pick out some of his own gifts, and ended the night with a new Royal Rangers group where he found a new friend with very similar hobbies. 

Not being a big sugar eater, D opted out of cake and just wanted some ice cream, so day 3 of his birthday, ended with a trip to the local ice cream shop.

In the end, D said this was the best birthday he's had without having his friends around. Whatever that means, I'll take it he had a good time.