First settlements

One thing that keeps making Christina and I cringe is when the tour guide or video reminds us all how the English torched Washington DC in 1812. To be fair they were very careful to burn only the government buildings, but still that included the White House, the Capitol and Library of Congress.

We are staying close to the 'Historic Williamsburg' area which was one of the ver first places settled by the English around 1700. Many of the buildings were 'reconstructed' which i guess means they built it from a drawing, but still it gives an amazing impression of the colonial settlement. It feels quite English, but the white picket fence feel very American.

Jefferson's house Monticello(last photo) was great to go and visit- he had about 11 grandchildren living there who were banned from his 'Sanctum' on one side of the house, when he was in his 70s. I would definitely do the same. It gets a little muddled around the slavery issue though- he had over 100 slaves on his tobacco plantations but was a fervent abolitionist.

During the Civil war, it seems very strange that the Confederate capital was in Richmond, Virginia only 108miles from the Union capital at Washington DC. No wonder most of the Civil war was in Virginia!