We camped in a rural campground that was a bit concerning for Mike. LOL There were A LOT of Seasonal and permanent residents there. Mike thought we would start hearing banjos play and that when we left our RV, we would come home to a trailer that was totally stripped. The "lake" that we were camped near was a swamp.
The sunsets were beautiful though and our trailer wasn't touched. Mike said that this park needed less than 1/5 stars. We paid for our 1st night to secure our spot and then was told to settle our account the next day. This is quite normal, so we didn't think much about that. Once we arrived, We were told by the office help that the next day (Monday), the office was closed. So, we went by on Tuesday a couple of times snd still nobody was in the office. We called and left messages on both phone #s that we were given. Still no one called. On Wednesday morning, we went by at 8:30, because we were on our way out. Still, no one was there. Called both #s again and left messages. We figured they would call us eventually or we would try again while we were traveling. They finally called us around 1 PM and we were finally able to settle our bill. Never had to chase down someone to pay a bill before. It was very frustrating.
Besides that we had a very informative trip to Jamestown. I have been doing a lot of Genealogy research on my Dad's family since the 1990s. A few years ago I started research on Ancestry.com. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to trace members back. I was able to trace both sides of my Dad's family to Jamestown. So, on this trip, it was a must see for me.
We went to the Jamestown Museum and Living museum on Monday. It was fun and interesting. They had so much information but most documents were copies of originals because they are kept in England.
In 1606, 104 men and boys left England to start the first successful colony on American soil. The year before, the Roanoke Colony was settled but within months, all the settlers disappeared and were never found.
The natives had witnessed and had contact with people from England over the years, but none had come to settle there. The first few months of 1607 was amicable between the men and the natives.
My 10th Great-Grandfather, John Dods, was one of those first settlers. My 8th Great-Grandfather, on my Dad's mother's side was William Bentley and he came in 1608. It was amazing to see their names in books that had been written about the 1st settlers of Jamestown. We even bought a book that had their names in it. We learned that both men accompanied John Smith on his explorations of Chesapeake Bay because they were soldiers.
This was so fascinating to me and I think Mike was getting a bit excited too.
The next day, we went to the Historical site of Jamestowne where they are doing Archeological digs. So, much has been uncovered. We got to listen to snippets from the Archeologist that started digging in 2010. They have discovered bodies that were buried in various places, the foundation to the original 1608 church building, as well as the second foundation of the 1622 church. There have been 3,000,000 artifacts that have been found. They have used DNA to identify some if the bodies that have been found.
The scientists have put together a Archaearium, which is a show of some of the actual artifacts that have been found under glass. You will know what I mean in the pictures.
Highways in Washington DC
THE LIVING MUSEUM
John Dods is listed under Laborer
The Susan Constant Representative
That John Dods traveled on
The 'tween deck that passengers lived on
and were expected to stay on for the
long trip to Virginia
My Love
View of other ships
Captain's Quarters on the Susan Constant
The God Speed Representative
Their trip across the Atlanic
The description of the ship 'Discovery'
Aboard the GodSpeed
Aboard the Discovery looking toward the
James River
Description of the Discovery
Looking towards the Fort
Entering the Fort
Sleeping quarters in the Fort
Wine, Rum, Ale and gun supplies
Tobacco in the Rafters
"Brown Gold"
North Bulwarks
Powder and Ball Room
Cannon
Gun and Armor supplies
Governor's Quarters in Fort
Mike in the Chapel
Buildings in Fort
Governor's Quarters
This had a fireplace in every room
Blacksmith at work
Baker and Chef in Fort
Yummy Salt Pork and rolls on the table.😜
JAMESTOWNE HISTORICAL SITE ARCHAEOLOGY
Swamp land along the road to
Historical Jamestowne
Didn't realize that Virginia had swamps
Turtke in the Pitch and Tar Swamp
Photo of the original Fort
Saving the Original Church tower
Jamestowne Monument
Original Foundations
Inner one is from 1608
Outer one is from 1622
Beams that are showing the inside of the
original 1608 church
This is how they made the walls in
the original Church
The white wall is where the original front
wall was for the 1608 church
Form of the church where
John Rolph and Pocohantas
Were married
4 important people were found
buried inside the church
Archeologists at work
About the 4 important people
that were buried inside the church
Statue of John Smith
Man Speaking is William M. Kelso,
the original Archeologist (2010) who believe that
more of Jamestowne could be found
Looking back at the Barracks where
Dr. Kelso was speaking
Fall colors and John Smith statue
Original glass in the windows from
The 1622 church
Diarama if the Jamestowne Fort
Buried bodies that have been found
Chancellor's Quarters
Original 1607 Burials
Statehouse Foundation
Pots that have been found in the Fort
Soldiers' Tools
Bones of "J.R." that was found
He was around 16-18 years old
He died from being shot
Ball is still located next to his right shin/knee
"J.R." from the bottom
This is a 2nd Skeleton (JR1046B) that was found
Buried with the pike at the top
of the white shroud that covered the body
Finding "Jane," the victim of Cannibalism
Died during the winter of 1609-10
(The Starving Time)
Of the 500 settlers that were in Jamestowne in the winter of 1609-1610, only 60 survived
(Including my ancestors)
Amazing!
The skull of "Jane"
and the Forensic remake of her face
Mike pointing to the area in England
that John Dods was from (#13)
Blurry picture but a list of the original
Passengers and # location of their orgin
Jamestowne Island where the
original Fort was found
The James River was Huge
Bridge over the James was 4.2 miles long
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