K&A Peck: Colonial Williamsburg

I'll try and keep this post short since the last one was quite long, plus I managed to create 3 separate posts for the pictures we took yesterday! I can't decide which pictures to post, so I try to get them all in. (this indecisiveness might have something to do with the over packing, too!)

It was a gorgeous day, so walking around Williamsburg was great! We started at the Capitol and headed through the streets. We thought about buying passes for tours, but we figured we'd save the money and just admire from the streets. If we had any questions, there were plenty of employees around to ask. It wasn't hard to miss them, they were dressed in period clothing.

You could tour the capitol, but only if you had a pass, so we admired from the outside. Next we headed along the main street, passing merchant shops and trade shops. In order to see some of the trades being performed, a pass was needed. We thought about getting passes again, but opted not too. Also, interspersed in the shops were buildings that looked like homes but were not open to the public. There was a tiny sign that read:
Private Residence
Not open for Public tour
I understand what private residence meant, but who lived there? Did people own the home but not live there. Andrew and I weren't sure if people would actually want tourists constantly on or near their house. Plus, during the hours of 8 am and 10 pm, not vehicles are allowed in the area. How do they get their groceries in the house????? As we toured the area, we saw more and more of these private residences. The houses were absolutely gorgeous, some large, some small, but all has lots of character. A few of these below were private residences.

We kept that question in mind as we passed the magazine and armory...

and the Courthouse across the street.

Then we headed to the Governor's Palace. Here we finally had to ask our question. We stopped one of the employees and asked our question concerning the private residences. She informed us that there are 80 private residences on the premises. The homes are owned by the organization the restore and upkeep the area. The people living in the homes are mostly employees. How cool is that? You live and work right in that area. That's why I would see people come out of the home in period dress, it pretty cool.

Here's one of the private residences. This was a rather large one. We left the woman, who kindly answered our question. No sooner had we left, did more questions come about. Like, how do you get to live in one of the houses? Is there a waiting list? Do you pay rent or get a housing allowance?

After all this, we were quite hungry. There was a sandwich shop that Andrew was dying to eat at. He remembered eating there as a child, so we walked over. Landon and I waited, while Daddy ordered our food. Daddy was in line for over and HOUR!!!!!!! That means I was waiting at the table with Landon. This could have been a disaster, but luckily Landon was napping. When Andrew arrived with the food, I told him that these had better be the best sandwiches ever! They were good, but nothing too special.