Day 2: Brickyard, Cabinet Maker, Public Gaol & the Magazine

After a picnic lunch in a shady spot, our group split into two.  My Dad and Mom took Benjamin and Cecily to a special program about horses called Bits and Bridles.  Meanwhile the rest of the Joneses did a little touring on our own.

The kids induced me to take this picture.  They thought this tree was pretty neat.

The brickyard was COOL.  This man explained the whole process of brick-making to us.  You can see the pile of clay on the left.  Behind the man is a large trough that holds water.  The clay is added to the water and then mixed with their feet.  When it's thoroughly mixed it is poured into brick-shaped molds that are made from wood and then set into the sun to harden. 

This young man came to explain the rest of the process to us.  After hardened, the bricks are removed from the mold and used to build a giant oven.  A fire is then built inside of the oven  that bakes the bricks at very high temperatures, I think around 2000 degrees.  The oven is then disassembled and the bricks used for varying purposes based upon their ability to resist water absorption.  The ones that were closest to the fire are cooked the most and would be used to build a well or an outdoor part of a building or structure.  The ones that were further from the fire and therefore less baked, would be used for indoor building. 

Near the brickyard is the cabinetmaker.  This building was air-conditioned and we didn't mind staying awhile. 

The shop was split into two parts.  This front part was for displaying the finished woodwork and explaining about staining and finishing.

Beautiful!

This man was very kind and was showing us his favorite stain which comes from the byproduct of an insect.

The children all got a chance to try out the small spinet piano that was there.

The interpreter taught Millie to play Old MacDonald.

The second part of the shop was the workshop.  You can see another spinet in the process of being built.

Wonderful to see real craftsmanship.  I think this candlestick was made to replicate some that are in Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.

Further on down the same street we found the public gaol.

The jailor's quarters, not a prison cell.

Cells. 

Neat, but brief.  There's not a whole lot to see here.

After the gaol, we began to head toward the place that we had agreed to meet Mom and Dad.  On our way we passed the Capitol building.  We never did get a chance to take the tour of the inside of this, but I thought it was a really neat building.  We had learned at the brickyard, that bricks were more expensive building material than wood.  They were more fire-resistent, but only the more wealthy could afford them.  That explains why government buildings like this were made of brick.

This is the backside of the Capitol.

These two pictures are of some houses we passed on our way to meet Mom and Dad.

We met them at the Magazine, which you see in the picture above.  It is walled, like a small fort.

Once inside, there was a large stack of powder kegs and a neat curving staircase leading upstairs.

The upper level is a octagonal shaped room with this staircase in the center and the walls lined with weapons and military supplies.

 I don't think you can tell exactly how big this gun was.  It was HUGE.

 It might have been 6 feet long. 

 Swords.

So, can you tell we enjoyed the weapons?  Peter took some of those pictures.  The boys are all interested in them.  It was pretty cool (not hot) in this building as well and we took kind of a breather here.  But next we were ready for some refreshment and headed to find some cold drinks.