The Jamestown Quadricentennial - Part 1

We had a wonderful week in Virginia! We heard great speakers, met many Christian families, learned lots of history, and toured historic Virginia. This first installment covers the weekend we left New Hampshire to our first day in Virginia.

Saturday, June 9th, we packed our van, hopped in, and began the drive to Virginia! We stopped at the CBD headquarters in Peabody (pronounced Pea'-b-dy), MA and picked up some books we had ordered on the topic of - you guessed it - Jamestown!
We stopped in CT for Saturday evening and Sunday. After a friend's bridal shower Sunday afternoon, we once again began our drive! We drove for a few hours, and slept at a hotel for the night.

Monday morning (June 11) we hopped back in the car, and made the last leg of our journey. As we drove through Maryland, we saw the Washington Monument in the distance. We didn't actually visit Washington D.C., though.

When we arrived in Virginia, we headed straight to the Williamsburg Marriot to register. I was both nervous and excited. Finally, we were HERE! I noticed a few cars had signs like, "Jamestown or Bust" and "The Jamestown 400 - Go for the Gold!"

After we got our name tags, we looked around the hotel until the registration for the hunt opened. We chatted with some other families who were waiting as well.

Registration opened, and the line was formed. When it was our turn, we handed in the waiver we had signed previously. After showing photo I.D. and giving our birth dates, a photographer took photos of the family members who were participating in the hunt. Our whole family was, so he took photos of each of us, and then a group shot. Afterwards, there was a short cell phone text-message test, and then we were done until the next day! We chatted with a family we met from the forum, and then we left.

We wanted to get to our hotel - but we couldn't find it! We stumbled across the visitor's center, so we went in to ask directions. While we were there, we met two other families from the forum. Three families from the forum in one day! I couldn't wait to meet the others. :-) It was so much fun meeting people that I worked with over the last few months!
We explored the bookstore and gift shop, and then left.

We found our hotel, and settled in. In the evening Dad, Julia and I went to the opening night ceremony. Mr. Phillips gave an overview of the week, recognized the Jamestown 400 sleuths, led us in a song, and introduced the men who would be speaking during the week. They each gave a summary of what they would be speaking about. Also, we watched a short movie produced by the Botkin family about the founding of Jamestown, and why modern Americans don't want to celebrate its 400th birthday.

There was more after this, but we left during the break at 9:00. Tuesday was going to be a long day, and we needed to get to bed as early as possible.