Williamsburg Day 5: Aliens and Ghosts

Today is what I call a “good day.” We went to Newport News and saw a movie, went to a mall and walked around, and then spent the evening being entertained in Williamsburg. No crazy Mother Nature expeditions or rides that question your intestinal fortitude, just some good ol’ fashion fun akin to what I’m used to.

War of the Worlds – Mini Review This movie was a thrill ride from start to finish, and Tom Cruise, for as crazy as he may be in real life, has once again shown that he is one of the best actors working today. The imagery in the film was great, the set pieces and CG destruction were awesome, and the acting was great. Sure there were some hiccups, like Spielberg going into sentimental mode a little too much, but overall he has presented a good tale of humanity. And often in the film, the humans are acting scarier than the aliens.

In Williamsburg we went to see a theater production called “The Grand Medley of Entertainment.” Dad had purchased the tickets without actually finding out what it was… he had figured since it had the word “Entertainment” in the title, that it would be right up his alley. Luckily for all of us, that it was not only up our collective alley’s, but it made a right and parked on our boulevard as well! The show was a funny historical representation of what the theater experience would have been like in colonial times. It had all the staples of the old fashioned traveling show, including vaudeville, puppet shows, jugging acts, and song and dance. And even back then they were funnier than Jimmy Fallon!

That evening came what we were considering the main event of the week: the lantern ghost tour. We were supposed to meet our tour guide at 9PM, just when dusk rolls around, on a park bench across from a colonial Episcopalian church in Williamsburg. And sure enough, our tour guide walked over to us, lantern in hand. His name was John and he was a friend of the ghosts.

The tour walked us through the main street of the town, down to the capitol building, and then past the jail and through a second, parallel street back to the church. Along the way he told us stories of ghosts haunting specific shops and houses, making sure to include not only the details of how they died, but also how often they appear and who has seen them. I normally don’t go in for this kind of thing (I don’t even let people tell ghosts stories at SHU while I’m in the room) but I figured since I probably won’t be back here anytime soon, it’s no big deal. And thankfully, John included a good bit of historical stories and trivia along with his tales, so I got to learn a bunch (or at least unearth old memories from high school history classes). The most interesting part of the tour was the very end, in which we stood outside of a graveyard and he told us a true story about people trying to dig up a specific grave that is said to contain manuscripts by Sir Francis Bacon (you know, the guy who wrote all of Shakespeare’s plays). It all tied in with the Knights Templar and the Free Masons… a little “National Treasure” action in real life!

Okay, so we didn’t see any ghosts (even though Dad claims he saw one in a window or something) but we did have a good time. I don’t really believe in ghosts, but then again, they sure are good for tourism.