Williamsburg

What an interesting place, Williamsburg.  The story of its reconstruction is almost more interesting than its actual place in history, but not quite.  A very dedicated group of people in Williamsburg talked John D. Rockefeller into funding the initial rescue of some old buildings, and it has grown into an interesting, if very touristy, place.  I enjoyed the history very much, but admittedly see this as a place one would want to go once, and preferably with older children. It does give a feeling of colonial America, long before the Declaration of Independence.

 When I arrived, I first wanted to see the Governor's Mansion, since its first inhabitant was Alexander Spottswood, our (correct me if I'm wrong Kit) 11 times great grandfather.  Technically, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Virgina, but the Governor, some Lord in England, never came to the colonies, so Spottswood was the man on site.  He was recalled in about 1722, just after he'd been living there for less than a year.  Here's the house:

I had a really nice time there, and also went to Jamestown to the original site of the landing of the original colonists.  There was a bustle of activity as a group of archeologists and their summer interns were busily excavating more of the site.  I was more impressed with the intent:

It was fun to realize that when they landed, they had no idea of what they were starting, including bringing the diseases that wiped out 90% of the native population.  They sure as heck didn't envision our country as it is today (and facebook).

Myrtle Beach and Raleigh

I continued my love affair with South Carolina by heading up the coast to Myrtle Beach.  I stayed at the Wyndham Resort there for 4 days.  This is a very old and very developed area, and when one sees the beaches, it's not surprising.  It's a very long beach, miles, and I spent a fair amount of time walking.  I played golf a couple of times, but had to go very early in the morning because of the heat.  I've been slowly shaving a few strokes off my golf score and am tending to score in the high 80's.

This was really my last time for awhile of being mostly alone.  I realized that since I got to Destin, I've been on my own.  When I leave Myrtle Beach, I'll be starting a time of being with friends and family for awhile.  I like both.  I'm needing to be with people a little bit right now.  Although I get on well with the people I interact with day to day, they're mostly service people, so are short conversations.  That's one of the benefits of golf. I get to talk to nice people I just met for several hours.  I'm looking forward to seeing some friends and family coming up.

I'm continuing to enjoy really good southern style seafood, and everyone is commiserating about the Gulf oil spill, and very worried about the livelihoods of the people affected.  

I left Myrtle Beach and took off for Raleigh to see my friend Michele.  We only had one night to catch up on what we're both doing and have some fun, but we had a great dinner and chatted into the evening.  The next morning she had to go to work and I was off to Williamsburg, Virginia.