Yes, Mary Kay and I spent 11 hours there yesterday, Saturday... counting the 
time from getting on the Yellow Lot bus to the time we got back off of it.

Holly is correct that there is just too much to see.  We concentrated on the 
a couple of trips down to the ships -- one to see them arrive -- very 
impressive with the honor guard, and with the firing of cannon.  Everything 
but The Trumpeter of Jamestowne, but they can be forgiven since there was so 
much to address.  We also walked through some of the gallaries, but the 
lines for the buses looked too long to go over to Real Jamestowne so we did 
not try.

We were most fortunate in that we had been invited to partake of a couple of 
hospitality suites.  Both had food, air contiditioning and one had 
bathrooms-to-die for.  For me, the suites were welcome respites to get off 
my 74 years-old-feet and at least rest even if I could not nod-off in a 
corner.

Holly confirms what we suspected about the problems of getting food.  The 
Cafeteria was a zoo, and I had trouble finding the places in the Anniversary 
Park, and the script policy looked to me to be an unnecessary plague to 
visit upon visitors.  But Mary Kay found a shirt-place right at the entrance 
to the park who took plastic!!!!!  That tent epitomized what my old boss at 
IBM used to say, "The only way to survive in a bureacracy is to 'corrupt the 
system.'"

We visited the gallaries only briefly, spending most time listening to the 
half dozen Virginia high-school and community bands perform.  That was most 
enjoyable, and I manged to (1) get into a photo with Der Alte Kammeraden 
German Band, and (2) interviewd by the BBC, I think because I had on a shirt 
with a cross-of-St.-George emblazoned below the Trumpeter of You Know What.

I did not like the loud sub-bass thumping which shook the ground all 
afternoon from the rock bands (contemporary music groups?) performing at the 
stage a quarter of a mile away from the civilized music.  If you have ever 
been waiting at a traffic light and had a car pull up and shake you with the 
bass woofer which must be operating at 120 db, you know what I mean -- only 
worse.

I had nice chats at lunch with the Director Development of The 
Jamestowne-Yorktown Foundation, and with a high-placed member of the Board 
thereof.  And contrary to what most of you probably think of me as a loose 
cannon, it was all very amicable.  I told them the weekend was being handled 
very well.......

There were plenty of buses, and they did not keep you waiting until they 
filled before pulling out.  I have not seen reports of Saturday, or of 
course of Sunday, but it looks like Friday had about 15,000 people -- about 
50% of the target.  My impression as we left the parking lot was that 
Saturday probably did equally as well, maybe a little bit better.

Upon checking into the motel Saturday evening about 7:30PM (we tried to 
check in that morning, but they would not let us) we found (1) they had lost 
our reservations, (2) the motels in Williamsburg had no vacancies for 
Saturday or Sunday nights.  I think I saw that Mother's Day was as much a 
contributor as Jamestowne.  Again, keeping my cool, producing the 
documention right off the Internet with THEIR confirmation number that I had 
a reservation (shades of that Seinfeld episode where he had a car rental 
reservation, but they had no cars) and the Grace of God that the motel did 
happen to have a vacant room, we were able to find a place to rest our 
heads.

I managed to pick up 600 Jamestown stamps, so my Christams Cards and all 
mail for years to come will be emblazoned with them.  I did not want a 
repeat of the Lews/Clark stamps which ran out early in the game.

The book is now almost closed on the weekend, so I hope somebody out there 
has started on his/her dissertation of how it all turned out -- and what 
could have been done better.  The Hampton (or Newport News) paper on Friday 
had a very good article about how the hopes for a bunch of high-roller 
companies to contribute a couple of million dollars each fell considerably 
short.

Randy Cabell


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Holly Ulrich" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 12:10 PM
Subject: [VA-HIST] Have you been yet?


> We went to Jamestown yesterday.  Weather was pretty good, but hot, until
> later in the afternoon when clouds took over.  Parking was fairly easy 
> since
> we received our tickets in the mail with a recommended parking lot 
> location.
> We arrived before lunch and immediately went to the Settlement which is 
> also
> the main shuttle bus location.  Going through the galleries there took
> almost 2 hours.  Then went to see the fort and the ships.  The only place 
> to
> eat lunch was there or across the street at the Anniversary Park, where 
> you
> have to exchange money for "scrip" in order to purchase any food.  Beware:
> the cafe at the Settlement was packed with hardly any extra tables for the
> crowds.
>
> Our next stop was Historic Jamestowne where we saw the marvelous 
> Archaearium
> and then heard the welcome speeches by the Governor and other dignitaries.
> My main complaint is that Jamestown still shuts down at 5 PM this weekend.
> I couldn't believe they would not remain open later, so we missed the
> Glasshouse and gift shop where I could have done some serious "damage". We
> did stop at one of the USPS trucks where we purchased first day Jamestown
> stamps.  By 6:00 we were too tired to even set foot in Anniversary Park,
> which is mostly musical performances and a few exhibits which were not
> compelling enough to us in their descriptions to warrant crossing the 
> road.
>
> Probably the coolest sight I saw all day was a group of Poles wearing
> "Polish Pioneers in America" t-shirts.
>
> We decided to go home via the Jamestown-Scotland ferry which is under 
> heavy
> security - we had to stop and open our trunk for inspection.  Had a lovely
> waterfront supper in Surry at Rocky Bottom Grill on Gray's Creek (take bug
> spray).
>
> Holly Ulrich
>