History is Fun

When we saw this sign, our thought was to post this picture and write “enough said! Blessings, Jay and Kelly.

I wrote this in May, however I’m just getting my blog back up and running. Better late than never as they say.

Last time we were on the east coast we didn’t have time for a tour of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Then we heard all these stories of Colonial Williamsburg. So we just had to go see.

First thing I will say is we didn’t plan enough days in Virginia.

Second thing I’m going to say is I did not pay attention to American history in school at all. Young ones, don’t be like me, learn it, it is pretty interesting.

Our first day we discovered Jamestown. You all, I thought our first settlement was the pilgrims at Mayflower. That is not true. The first settlement was in Jamestown, VA. On May 14, 1607 English explorers landed and the colony began. They were greeted by the Pohawtan tribe. Does that mean the first Thanksgiving was earlier and it was Virginia baked ham instead of turkey?

Our second day began with a beautiful drive to Monticello. This is the only house pictured on any of the US currency.

Jefferson education was a lawyer, however he was a student of architecture and self-taught. He did not want to be remembered as our third president. Instead he wanted to be remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the father of the University of Virginia, and the Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom.

Thank you, Mr. Jefferson, for our religious freedoms. We cherish them each day. I hope you do too.

We learned approximately 193 countries have used our declaration of independence as a template for their own act of democracy.

While touring and hearing the stories I felt Jefferson was truly troubled by slavery. He actually owned 600+ slaves, he kept families together instead of selling off members of families to other plantations. He wrote, “maintaining slavery was like holding a wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let them go.”

When he wrote in the declaration of independence, “all men are created equal”, he knew he wouldn’t see it in his life, but hoped the next generations would make this a true statement for all living in the United States of America.

We woke up on our third day and decided we wanted to see what Yorktown was all about. We had no idea the stories of the American Revolution which is kind of scary. Are we the only ones, or is this normal for American adults not to really know our history?

It is said if we don’t know our history, then history will repeat itself. Something to think about especially these days.

Let’s just say if it wasn’t for the French, we would not have won the American Revolution. They just happened to have 30 ships in the northern part of the Caribbean. They turned and came up to block the English from the Chesapeake Bay area. This frightened the general. Then weather set in and they could not escape. It was in Yorktown George Washington and his troops came in, and the rest is history – which apparently I’m just learning. Had no idea.

We ate in a little basement in Colonial Williamsburg that has claim to George Washington frequenting the place for meals.

During those days you brought your own silverware and napkin. Your napkin could show your living class.

We continued our travels down to Savannah, Georgia for a little more history. On our way, we past this town with all these whirligigs. A gentleman, who has since passed, made these on his property. After passing, the town raised enough money to have them moved and built a park in his honor.

We spent a few days in Savannah enjoying all the parks and memorials. On Sunday we worshipped in the oldest African American church, First Church. Bells to let us know worship was starting. I love the legacy and culture that is kept to this day.

John Wesley was hanging out in one of the parks. And we ran into…

Not really, just a life size of her to stand by after lunch in her restaurant. You leave this place saying to Paula Dean, “Bless your heart for cooking all this. My goodness sakes alive, I’ll never eat again, Sister!”

So many restaurants just like that, such as Mrs. Wilkes Place. Here is our table and what was served – not ordered, just automatically served. Get ready to go to the hospital to get those arteries cleaned out….lots of butter in this part of the country.

Martin Luther King spoke a very important sermon at the Second Baptist Church of Savanah. It became his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Again, so much history here. From the American Revolution to the Civil War to famous speeches, and great chefs. It’s a place we certainly recommend visiting.

Next stop was Atlanta to visit family – The Miller’s and Kuek’s.

Next stop – Niceville, FL. Ever heard of it. It’s what you can imagine. So nice you would want to move there. It’s a town close to Destin, FL. That’s exactly what happened with my sweet name sake, Amberlyn Kelly, to which I call her little Kelly, and Jay calls her AmberJay Kelly. Sorry Papa Grant for taking the Lynn out.

She fell in love with Uncle Jay and really didn’t want to much to do with me. I enjoyed watching their interactions.

We also got to be the first to see Anthony and Kyle’s first home purchase. They just received the keys the day before. Such a cute place and a special memory. Congratulations!

And….there was a Lionfish derby going on that weekend. I bet you thought I couldn’t get Lionfish in this blog. Big awards for the largest, smallest and the most caught. I will just say, we’ve speared bigger ones than the largest recorded at this derby. One group speared 363 fish.

Next stop, Ocala, FL. Home of the World’s Equestrian Center, and our family The Tom Harris clan. I failed in the picture taking until we got in the car to leave and I said, Wait! I don’t have pictures. Next trip, more pictures!

We did do some fun things such as NASA and a glass bottom boat tour to see manitees and monkeys. Yep, our luck, 900 hundred monkies around there and we didn’t see one. No manitees that day either. However it was fun being with family.

From the Harris backyard, we watched history in the making – something taking off into space. I think they were launching a satellite possibly.

History is fun! Making memories with family and friends is fun! Memories turn into history, don’t you think?

What kind of history are you making in your life? Go out and make some. Maybe even while learning some history. We definitely recommend it.

Blessings,

Jay and Kelly