INKLINGS: Tricorn hats and ruffled bonnets | Columnists | Summerville Journal Scene

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INKLINGS: Tricorn hats and ruffled bonnets

Published Friday, November 27, 2009 8:22 AM

By Barbara Lynch Hill
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Not only did we sleep in George Washington’s bed, but Martha cooked and served our breakfast. These were two of the delightful amenities we enjoyed at the B&B we stayed at in Colonial Williamsburg recently. Our hostess, who in real life is called Bonnie, is also a reenactor who plays Martha Washington giving lessons in deportment.

Jim and I and our daughter Cathy and her husband Todd each had historic four poster bedrooms and décor. Theirs was the Jefferson Room, all done in Federal blue; ours the Washington Room, expressed in American flag red and white

We were the only guests during our early-in-the-week visit and pretty much had the run of the house. We gathered in the kitchen to peek over “Martha’s” shoulder while she was preparing breakfast and one evening after a long day of touring on foot and eating an enormous midday meal, we stayed “home” and watched a movie in the den, nibbling on cheese and crackers from a wonderful local market.

Turns out this B&B is the oldest licensed lodging establishment on this Virginia historical site and was built from “leftovers” from other buildings. For instance, the floors were a gleaming dark walnut from the Governor’s Palace and the windows came from the court house. The furniture was 18th century, and the breakfasts included big fat blackberries in a fresh fruit bowl and such treats as French toast, quiche and George Washington’s favorite breakfast hoe cakes, a spiced pancake, originally made containing cornmeal.

The ambiance provided by our hostess transported our quartet back to the 18th century, an atmosphere sustained throughout Colonial Williamsburg. Men in leggings, buckled shoes, long vests and tricorn hats drove phaetons, the open, four wheeled, doorless carriages so popular then. They also kept shops, sang in restaurants and led oxen down the streets. Women in ruffled bonnets and prim aprons were everywhere, meeting and greeting visitors, serving, singing and playing instruments in dining rooms, waiting on customers in shops and acting as docents in historic buildings.

The gardens were tremendous. Flowers, vegetables and herbs were abundant, designs intriguing, and the sculpted hedges and topiaries ranged from low borders to towering greenery. One of the gardeners told us he needed 12-foot ladders for trimming.

We ate in period taverns, watched a silversmith, cabinetmaker and tailor ply their trades and peeked at my special interest, the printing shop. Here tradesmen used reproduction printing presses for newspapers and political leaflets. On site was antique lead type that once was hand set for each word on each line on each page. The Governor’s Palace and the Courthouse were two of the most fascinating places to visit. One afternoon we drove to nearby Yorktown, ate lunch overlooking the water and enjoyed some of the best crab cakes ever. We shopped for Christmas presents, wandered throughout the neighborhood residential and business areas and sometimes simply sat on benches and watched the world go by.

We started our first day with a special historic film which successfully incited patriotism in our hearts and renewed pride of country in our souls. It was a good way to reflect on how fortunate we are to be Americans. Often, stepping back a few centuries can truly be the best modern use of time.

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