What a difference a day makes! Today was a hot day! Not sweltering, but just plain hot. Bright and sunny. Thank God there is a lot of shade at Williamsburg so it was not so bad. The boys wanted to dive right in to their RevQuest game and they needed to meet a character at some location where the person would be every 30 minutes on the quarter hour. We tried hard to get the kids to take a 30 minute walking tour, but they wanted to go right for that. I got them at least to agree to stop at one location and hear all about guns of that time period.
Once they got started into their game, it was not too bad, but unfortunately that was all they could focus on. I guess all in all, it was a successful day. They did learn something about the time and the events leading up to the Revolutionary War. After they finished the quest (and got their medals) Avi and I took a “tour” of the one coffee house that was in Williamsburg. We learned the difference between a coffee house and a tavern and got to sample either Coffee, Tea, or Chocolate. Of course Avi chose the latter. They make a very authentic chocolate drink from that time period. A thick mixture with coco, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and a pinch of cayenne. Add a touch of sugar and it was VERY good. I tried to find their recipe but I was not successful. I gave this some thought and here is what I think will come up with a similar drink (makes four 8 ounce servings)
1 quart of milk
4 ounces of unsweetened coco powder (not dutch process)
1 Tablespoon of sugar (superfine would be best)
1 Tablespoon of flour
2 Teaspoons of cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of nutmeg
1 Teaspoon of ground cloves
pinch of cayenne
pinch of salt
Mix all of the ingredients except the milk. Add a small amount of water until everything has dissolved and mix well. Wisk in the milk slowly and then heat on a stove until just starting to boil. Serve hot.
After coming back to the resort the kids went to the pool and I went to a grill and prepared burgers, dogs, and corn from NJ. Everyone enjoyed! Tomorrow we go to Jamestown and I am hoping that they also have some things to keep the kids interested.
As for the trivia question yesterday, the answer is that the ring was called the Culper Ring. Washington wanted it called the Culpepper ring, but the men did not like that so they shortened it to Culper ring. Today’s question is (without Google!) “Name two Virginians who signed the Declaration of Independence.