Visiting Jamestown

Samuel tries on a 1607-style military helmet and vest.

Hands-on history? What could be better? Except Jamestown Settlement has improved over the years.

Since we last visited, the foundation has constructed a beautiful new exhibit hall and visitor center that includes a first-rate movie about the England's first colony in the new world. Script-writers carefully wove their way through the delicate issues of slavery and European encroachment on the Indians, and side-stepped the myths perpetuated by Disney and others regarding Pocahontas.

In bad weather, a visitor likely could still learn much about the settlement through the film, photos and items stored inside facilities constructed for the 2007 anniversary of Virginia's founding. For us, making the 200-mile trip from Northern Virginia, it was worth waiting for nice weather.

Uriah also wandered about in
military garb while in the fort.

The outdoor exhibits have remained much the same since we first visited about 15 years ago, although I think the ships may have been rebuilt. Re-enactors stroll about and demonstrate the life-style skills of the early 1600s in the fort, Powhaten village, and ships that brought the original settlers. Because the tools and buildings are reconstructions, children are much freer to explore and play than they would be at a typical historic site. This is a crucial distinction for kids, especially those like Samuel that are extremely impulsive.

Those traveling greater distances often combine trips to Jamestown with visits to Virginia's early capital at Williamsburg and Yorktown, the site of the final American continental army's victory over the British. For us, one major historic site was plenty any given trip!