Dinner

The kids ate a hardy meal at the Golden Corral. They especially enjoyed the dessert options. The children now go to a witch trial while the chaperones go shopping.

Monticello

One student commented, "this is the coolest house ever," referring to Jefferson home and its many unique features... too many to list here. The architecture is Roman neoclassical and serves as the style for many other historical structures in America, including the White House, Capitol building, Virginia State House, and the original campus of University of Virginia. The last two being designed by Jefferson himself. As Monticello was constantly a work in progress, it took 40 years to complete construction, finishing in time for Jefferson to return to after serving as president. Now we are heading back to Williamsburg for dinner and then a witch trial.

Richmond

We witnessed a re-enactment of the second Virginia convention at Saint John's church in Richmond in March of 1775, where Patrick Henry proposed a resolution that would make provisions for an armed force to defend itself against an increasingly aggressive British army that had just instituted martial law in Boston following the Boston massacre and tea party. Henry convinced his reluctant fellow Virginians with his famous "give me liberty or give me death speech." The resolution narrowly passed by a margin of 5 votes out of 120 delegates, who include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other famous patriots. Just 3 weeks later shots were fired at Lexington and Concord and the Revolutionary War had begun! The boys saw how a representative government works and how eloquent arguments are made with regards to the use of force versus diplomacy... topics relevant in today's foreign policy debates. We are now on our way to Jefferson's home, Monticello.

Early start

All the children had a blast with colonial dance instruction last night. After the ball, we returned to the hotel at about 10pm. No time for popcorn or hot chocolate. The boys fell asleep within 2 minutes of hitting the bed and slept soundly all night. We are having a filling breakfast. Today we head out to Richmond and Monticello. The buses leave at 7:15am.