Don't Ask Me Why Not...I Just Said So!

Partying With Pilgrims - Part 2

Today we went into the historical part of Williamsburg. I was all in for renting costumes, but my parents wouldn't go for it :(

Torro, torro!

Pretty little windmill

The Govorner's Palace. Not exactly what you expected, eh?

Sitting in front of the Episcopal Church

Apparently, Thomas Jefferson regularly worshipped here!
My mom and I went in to take a look around, and all of a sudden a priest appeared! So we hurredly left the building and narrowly avoided a service.

Sundial!

It was really neat to come at this time of year, when all the holiday decorations were up
People decorated just like they had in the colonial times, making wreaths and that sort of thing with whatever they had around the house!
Also, the decorations had a tendency to reflect the purpose of the building. Note the clothes on this wreath on a tailor's shop :)

This is where I WANTED to eat lunch...

Pretty! :)

Don't you think the hat suits him?

A Gentleman *cough cough*

The Weaponry

Pretty convincing, eh?

Poor Lily was too short to fit on the seat!

Bad Boys

First place in the decorating contest

Well, I found a post office, but I didn't have my mail with me!!!

Carriage rides!

The British are coming! The British are coming!

I didn't mention this was a key historical city during the Revolutionary War, did I?

I can't believe some people actually live in these houses!

I like the apples in the pigeon holes ;)

The Capitol

No, Lily, I don't think you'd fit through that...

Done with your dinner? Add the remains to the street!

The other side of the Capitol

And the other side!

Another beautifully decorated house :)

Taking a rest

Marching Soldiers

Costumed Characters : Master and Servant

Aren't you a little old for that now?

o.O

Napping :)
You know it was really tiring, all that walking! We did a total of at LEAST 3 miles!

It was prettier outside the picture
You could actually tell the dot on the right was the moon...

Afterwards, we went to the Bonefish Grill, where we had fabulous food, but had to wait over and hour to be seated! It was definately worth it, though :)

And so concludes Day 2.

Partying With Pilgrims - Part 1

Technically, Colonial Williamsburg isn't a pilgrim settlement, but I just put the title as it is because Alex once told me to "have fun partying with pilgrims" (or something along those lines), so I just decided to call these posts that ;)

So that we get our history clear, the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in 1621.

Williamsburg was founded in 1699, and was not a pilgrim settlement.

Anyways, on day one we didn't really do anything. Basically we:

Drove
Took a nap
Ate dinner at this wonderful Italian restaurant ('Sal's' I think it was called) where I forgot to bring my camera!!!
Attempted to sleep, but couldn't because my siblings snore and my brother kept trying to cuddle with me (no, that's not cute! He kept kneeing me in the back!)

And that was all that happened on Day 1.

Big Rocks

We were just going for a walk, and all of a sudden we found this huge deposite of gigantic quartz rocks! Out of the blue! It was way cool...=D

Lily and her awesome sunglasses

Just to give you some scale

Big rocks!

Celebrating Eight Crazy Nights

My dad's side of the family is Jewish. So, in addition to Christmas, we also celebrate Hanukkah. Here is the story:

In ancient times, the Greeks and the Israelis used to live happily side by side. But one day, there was a new king of the Greeks, who took over the land of Israel and forced all its people to follow his own customs. Some people were fine with this new way of life, but others couldn't stand it! One such person was Judah the Macabee, and he led a revolt against the Greek army. Though the Greeks were much stronger, the Israelites still managed to defeat them.

However, this wasn't the end of it. The Greek army had all but destroyed the capital city, Jerusalem, including the temple. In the temple, there was a special candle holder called a menorah, and the flame in it was supposed to burn forever. But, the during the war, the flame had gone out, and only enough oil was left to keep the flame burning for one day. This was a problem, because it took a total of eight days to make more oil! Yet, after eight days, the flame was still burning. So, we celebrate Hanukkah to celebrate the miracle of the oil.

Busy at work in the kitchen...

...making latkes! (potato pancakes, a traditional dish of this holiday)

Didn't I mention these were crazy nights?

The chef with his latkes

Our dinner: latkes with applesauce and sour cream, steak and mustard, green beans

Before we eat, we have to light the menorah. Each night, we add another candle. This is our menorah on the last night of Hanukkah.

Only one candle is lit with the match: the Shamas. This candle is higher up than all the other candles, and is used to light the other candles.

As we light the candles, we recite three prayers.

Our menorah is of nine of the cynagues in the world. I've only been to two.

I just thought this was a cool angle :)

Pretty Sidewalks, Dressed in Holiday Style

Every year, our neighborhood holds a sort of candle-fest, where on the winter solstice (at least, that's when it was held this year), everybody puts out paper bags with a lighted candle in each along the sidewalk. It's just a beautiful thing to do :)