posted
Verily's New England post reminded me, in a roundabout way, of one of the most memorable things that I did in the years I was in Virginia.
St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond is the site of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech. Every Sunday afternoon during the summer months a reenactment of the meeting where that speech was given is held.
You go in and sit on those hard old pews and watch costumed actors portraying Jefferson, Washington, Henry, and others have at it over the issues of the day as part of the Second Virginia Convention. Henry's moving speech is the conclusion of the meeting. It's fascinating to sit in and hear the speech in the context of the debates of the times. I found it profoundly moving, and if I had children this would be on the lifetime list of must-dos, no matter how far away I lived.
As I recall, it's free and open on a first-come, first served basis. It's been quite a while, but my memory is that it wasn't air conditioned; I could be wrong about that and just remembering how hot it was outside that day.
Here's the website for St. John's church w/ more info about the reenactments.
If anyone takes my suggestion, please let me know what you think of the experience!
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posted
My scout troop did that a few years ago. It capped off one of the best trips we've ever had. We started with Monticello on Friday, visited Lynchburg and the James River Batteau festival on Saturday, and hit Richmond on the way home. You can really cram a lot of historical stuff into a weekend in Virginia.
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I'll try it and let you know what happens. 
