Jamestown - Fort

And the last, last of all of these photos is the Jamestown Fort.  Heading in you can see their garden plots. 

There were a couple of armed men guarding the gate.

Again, interesting construction, materials, design and furnishings.  It was very neat to see first-hand.

Sam and Will are playing with a scale.

There were several houses within the fort that could be toured.

They were very plain and rustic.  Very different from the Colonial era represented at Williamsburg.  But, of course, this was a settlement that was built in a completely undeveloped place.  They had no resources outside of what they found in front of them in the woods.

:) Dad, being playful.

Investigating the roofing material.

Muskets and powder.

This interpreter had a table set up with leather working tools and items made from leather.  Here, he is showing us a sword that he was making a leather sheath for.

We stood here for quite some time because it was so interesting.

You can tell by the rapt attention that this was history taught the right way!

This was his toolbox.  So neat.  Below, he is showing how a leather mug is made by putting wet leather around a cylinder mold and let to dry, forming the round shape.

Next, we visited the church.

The bells.

Looks like a fire risk to me.  :)  Lots of wood, but big!  This is a lot of pews in this building.

Trying out the pulpit.  (Hello way up there.)

Front row seats.

Inscriptions in the shape of tablets.

The baptismal font.

This next house that we went into was nicer than the others.  I think it must have been where the leader (governor?) of the settlement would have lived.

There were several spanish-looking carved pieces of furniture.

This house had some clothing and armour that could be tried on.

Outside this house was a bench lined with helmets and armour for guests to try on.

Everyone got their turn.

Even Dad and Eli.

This is one heavy hat.

This was the last house we went to.

Looks like someone will be back for their shoes soon.  I love this kind of experience because you really feel like you can imagine living there.

This man briefly told us about this outdoor oven.

Sam is trying out the harness for carrying buckets.

Very last of all, we were covering our ears as there was a demonstration of a musket being fired. 

He wasn't kidding about it being loud.  And he's pretty serious in those red stockings too.

As we headed back to the Visitor's Center, we passed this monument built to commemorate the original Jamestown settlement.

This is what was on top of it.

This is what was on the bottom of it.

And to finish off, here is a picture of a plaque hanging in the Visitor's Center that I thought gave a helpful overview.