Colonial Couples Retreat

A couple months ago I had the brilliant idea of going on a mini-vacay, just me and Mattias, to hang out and relax before our lives got a little bit crazier. With Kerstin and Magnus on board for babysitting over Labor Day weekend, all we had to do was decide on a destination. Ambitious me thought "NYC!" But the idea of taking a 4 hour bus ride to a city where you walk everywhere turned sour when I thought of having to take a 4 hour bus ride home in labor. So we chose a destination with a lot history and a much slower pace-- Williamsburg, Virginia.

Lucky for us, Melissa and Matt were able to join us for a colonial couples retreat at the War Hill Inn. The colonial style inn sat on acres with cute Angus heifers in the front pasture.

After just 3 1/2 hours of beautiful country driving, we met at the inn and did some catching up. Speaking of heifers, check out that butterball eating a caramel apple.

After a while we drove in to the historic area, where there are original and reproduction buildings (some dating back to the 1700's).

Melissa and I got a chance to ponder life, or maybe we were just exchanging recipe/craft ideas.

It was pretty quiet on the street for a Saturday night, and the sunset gave all the buildings a golden glow.

This is a reproduction of the Capital building.

We finally made our way down to the Kings Arm Tavern, where we had dinner reservations. They specialize in foods from the colonial times, complete with candlelight and wait staff dressed in costume.

The Game Pye was the biggest hit. I think it had venison, rabbit, beef, and chicken in it. Definitely not Kosher. The entire experience lasted 2 1/2 hours, and it was so great to just linger over dinner, dessert, and coffee, and not have to worry about getting home to the babies. It has been at least 3 years since we've had a dinner together like this, and we had fun remembering our college days in Davis. Like the time when Mattias ran down 3rd street with his pants down on a dare.

After sleeping in (that's 8:30 for all you non-parents) we enjoyed a full country breakfast made by the innkeepers.

Stuffed (with stuffed french toast) and caffeinated, we hit the town again. During the day, many of the buildings are open to explore.

The best part for me was going into the buildings that housed businesses. From left to right: the apothecary, colonial surgical instruments, and the tailor. As a medical professional, the thought of surgery back in the day makes me nauseous. Don't the instruments have an eerie similarity to woodworking/butcher tools? I spent a good amount of time questioning the tailor about colonial underwear. How often did they change it? Could they flip it inside out and backwards to extend wear?

The wig maker was a pretty sweet character as well. Only rich ladies wore wigs, and if you were lucky you could get extensions.

They also had reenactments of the Revolution, including the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

And interspersed throughout the town were beautiful little gardens.

Before Melissa and Matt had to head back to the DC area, we had the chance to catch a tour of the new coffee house and see a few demonstrations. Being 37 weeks prego, I was pretty much done for the day.

The following day was spent at historic Jamestown, the very first permanent English settlement in North America. Founded in 1607, Jamestown served as the capitol of the Virginia colony until 1699. The early settlers built a fort and a church, but the majority of them died of disease and starvation.

The trip was chill and educational, and a treat for the both of us. We are now counting down to the arrival of Swedipino 2.0. While I plan on working until my due date on the 24th, there have been a few signs that this kiddo will make its appearance shortly thereafter. I have been on hyperactive nesting mode, cleaning, organizing, and stocking at every opportunity. Mattias has been almost the sole caretaker of Linus, given I can barely lift the kid. Even though I'm enjoying the amount of sleep I am getting, I am looking forward to expelling my little parasite :)