The trip started at 6:45 on Tuesday with the bus
ride to Williamsburg. When we arrived, everyone shuffled wearily off the bus
and to our first tour. After which we received our rooms and roommates. Now,
you must understand in the past weeks there has been a lot of social tension on
who put who on their roommate list. Then about three days before our trip,
everyone started to get worried about who would be in their room. All in all,
it was a big deal. When they started calling out rooms there was so much
tension in the air I was worried some heads were going to explode because of
the pressure. After the room calling we unpacked and then headed out for dinner
at the Golden Corral.
The Golden Corral was an experience on its own.
The restaurant is run buffet style, and included a chocolate fountain. After
everyone was called for dinner, there was a run on the dessert table. Everyone
was trying to give their sweet tooth a field day. Personally I prefer frozen
yogurt and the line for that was sparse. After the Golden Corral, we were
bussed back to Williamsburg for our first night activity.
The first night activity I enjoyed was an
arrangement of stories called “Mammas and Papas.” The main theme was stories
slave parents told their children to teach them lessons. This activity had
group participation (which is always exciting), after which we walked to the visitor
center to have a lesson in African dance. I look very odd when I dance because
sometimes I have trouble moving to a beat I have never heard. But I tried nonetheless.
It was fairly simple until they asked us to do a rhythm as a group. We were
supposed to stomp, slap your thighs, clap then snap. I finally got this rhythm
after my friend showed me what I should be doing. Next, we went back to our
hotel and got ready for bed. Lights out was ten o’clock but when you are in a
room with four girls you are going to end up staying up a little later; we
ended up going to bed at midnight.
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| The trip included various activities aimed at educating students about Colonial America. |
The next morning were woken up at six, 45 min
before schedule because we all had to shower, after which we headed down to
breakfast. At breakfast, everyone looked like zombies, pale faces with circles
around their eyes and uncombed hair. Next, we loaded buses and drove to
Williamsburg for a guided tour with our history classes. The tour was very
interesting; we saw the jail, court house, wig maker, carpentry shop, and
blacksmith. Following the tour, I got lunch at the cheese shop and dessert at
the candy shop. Then the teachers did something extraordinary: they let us
loose and gave us three hours of free time. I spent mine buying souvenirs and
taking pictures. I also took a tour of the silversmith house.
The class went back to the hotel room and had
time to relax. Dinner that night consisted of soda and pizza but we were all too
excited to care. One of our night activities was a scare tour. Everyone was
confessing no matter what you said.
“Hey can someone pass the napkin?!”
“No am scared of the dark.” There was so much
confusion and energy in the air you could light a match and the room would
explode. When we all loaded onto our bus in the center of Williamsburg, we were
ushered to our first tour which was a normal tour at night - no surprises. After
we split into four small groups, our scary stories tour started. After a
sleepless night, the next day we all filed onto our buses and said farewell to
Williamsburg and headed for Mt. Vernon.
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| Seventh graders explore Williamsburg. |
At Mt. Vernon, we saw a short film and were
given a tour of the grounds, after which we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Then
we all filed onto the buses again and continued to drive home. As we were
driving that evening, the world around the bus seemed to fade away as it got
darker and darker and for a few moments everything was still. And then all of a
sudden there was an uproar and excitement filled the air. The bus turned into
GA and everyone was in search of their parents. The bus parked and we all filed
off and began to say goodbye to our friends and hello to our families. This is a
trip I hope I will not forget and I must say I learned a lot. Not just about
Williamsburg but about lasting without my parents for a few days.
-Margaret H. '19
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| Guided tours showed students the best of Colonial Williamsburg. |
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| Margaret observes a craftsman at work. |
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