Richmond Visit; Henricus

 We went to visit Matt's parents in the Richmond, VA, area this summer.

 We flew to Washington DC, and rented a car to drive to Richmond on Thursday, July 17.   The plane was only half full, and we had the whole back half to ourselves.

On Friday, we visited Henricus Historical Park.  Henricus was the second permanent English settlement in North America; Jamestown was the first.  The park features a reproduction of the village from 1611, and it is an attraction similar to Jamestown settlement, but smaller in size.  We thought the kids would enjoy a lower-key history experience than visiting Jamestown Settlement or Colonial Williamsburg.

 Everyone tried some of the herbs and spices growing in the garden.  Abbie tries some spearmint in this picture.

 Abbie loved to help clean the house.

 Abbie loves goats.

We visited a reproduction of Rev. Alexander Whitaker's house in Henricus.  Pocahontas was abducted by English settlers and was converted to Christianity under Whitaker's direction probably at Henricus. Pocahontas had grown up in the area, and her tribe traded with the English settlers at Henricus and Jamestown.

 Abbie tried on some armor.

Sophie visited a reproduction of an Indian village at the park.  It was interesting to us that Pocahantas was not actually a princess.  Pocahantas' father, Chief Powhatan, was the chief of the Powhatan confederacy. However, the royal secession ran through women.  Powhatan's oldest sister's oldest son was the next in line for the chiefdom.

All in all, we had a great day.  The weather was nice, and Henricus Park had just enough fun things to do for Abbie and Sophie.