[Letterhead] Williamsburg Lodge Williamsburg Virginia
Tuesday
Oct 24th, 1939

Dearest Marie,

You can have no idea how much I thought of you today and wished that you were with me; I can think of no one who would enjoy this place more than you and certainly no one with whom I would rather see it. Williamsburg would be just your “meat”; you would love it. I kept thinking of our trip through the Boston Post Road - Wayside Inn, the battlefields, Lexington and Concord etc. I should have loved to share this experience with you.

I awakened at seven A.M., dressed, had breakfast and then walked around the official part of Richmond. I went into the Capitol building and I was very much impressed and awed by it. In the Rotunda, in the center, is the original, famous Houdon statue of Washington. It is the only statue for which Washington posed and I can fully appreciate why it is so famous. It gave me an appreciation of Washington such as

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Monticello did of Jefferson. Never at Mount Vernon, or at any place that Washington lived in, did I get the felling of Washington, the man – but – the Houdon statue gave it to me. It is so lifelike that, as one looks at it, one seems to feel it breathe. Around, in niches in the wall are busts (also remarkably fine, artistically, of the other six Virginians who became presidents: Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Tyler, Harrison and Wilson (I am not sure that I have them in their proper order). In the next room, is the old, historic Hall of the House of Delegates, in which a statue or Robert E. Lee is so lifelike that it gives one rather a start. I saw the rooms used by both houses of the Virginia legislature then still in use now. The original building, which is very stately and beautiful, was designed by Thomas Jefferson using as his model some building in France.

At 10:15, I left on the bus for Williamsburg and arrived here after a most pleasant trip a little before noon. I had ascertained in Richmond that the Inn charged six dollars a day and up and the Lodge – three dollars. I was trying to decide all the way here whether I should try to find a tourist place or be a sport and go to the Lodge. The bus stopped at the Lodge (it is very lovely – just seven months old – I shall try to get a picture of it) and I checked my bag and coat and went out to look around. I inquired at the desk first and learned that I could have a single room without

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a bath for two dollars. I thought, if that was the case, I probably should be able to find a nice tourist place for a dollar. I walked around quite a bit and finally stopped at the Kerr House (built in 1734). It is a lovely old house with antique furniture and the same kind of smell! I was shown a tremendous room, with very old furniture and a similar, musty odor, no washstand – ancient bed – two dollars a day. I decided then I was a fool even to debate about the Lodge so I went back and asked for a room. Am glad I did! You never saw such a honey. It is in the Annex in back of the Lodge; the entire place is built of smoothed and unstained maple. I went nuts when I saw the room and felt so badly, for the moment, that there was no one to share my enthusiasm with.

The walls are made of maple fitted crosswise, like this: - [drawing of wall planks] with a rough white plaster ceiling. The room is about fourteen feet square with lovely blue and grey-tweedy looking homewoven rugs on the polished plank floor. The furniture is of unstained, curly maple, just shellaced and waxed – a very simple, graceful, colonial pattern.

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It is furnished as follows: [drawing of room layout]

You may think me goofy for going to the bother of diagramming this but, honestly, I’ve never seen such a love of a room. The bedspread is of unbleached, white muslin with bands of blue and red chenille around the edge as a border. The curtains are the same and the armchair is covered with a tan rep material with the same color of red trimming. The lamps are in keeping and complete such a charming ensemble that, as soon as I saw it, I closed the door, unpacked, and decided to spend at least two nights here. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever fallen for a hotel room! The things that Bryna falls for! Oh yes, there is a large picture on one wall of “Parus Monticolus” that I wish I could swipe as a wedding present for Loo Harris. (Which reminds me, tell Milton to go to Gottlieb’s and look at that salad bowl set – I didn’t see it close but have an idea it’s just the thing).

(I’m going to stop now as it is 6:35 and I want to take a shower and dress for dinner. I was going to economize (Chapel Hill was an extravagance for me – but after my experience with

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[the] room, I decided that I’ll be a damn fool if I do. As momma used to say, “Ozey on borimer warm, ozey on borimer mann”! So – I’m going to the Inn for dinner! It’s a gorgeous place (dinner is from $2.25 up but – as long as I’m here, I may as well see that too.) I can just see you and hear you now, saying “That damn fool, why should she even hesitate” and why should I, since you carry me thru the red marks in the check book! So, here goes – I’ll resume later if I don’t die from “indigestion.”

10:45 P.M. and – I nearly did die!

Well, my dear, in all my life I never enjoyed a better meal. The Inn is really a beautiful place and I should have been an idiot if I hadn’t seen it. The dining room is done in exquisite taste I never had such service anywhere – Longschamps and the Waldorf aren’t in it. This time, I’m going into details because I should like you to keep this letter for me. I splurged again and bought a pictorial book of Williamsburg for $1 as souvenir and I want to add some other data to it and keep it as a memento of this trip. I’ve never collected postcards of any place I ever went to, but this trip is different – I feel that you should have been with me and I want to share as much of it as possible with

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you when I get home. The dining room has authentic copies of exquisite colonial furniture, beautiful crystal lights, soft-shaded walls, windows artistically draped in a beautiful texture of colonial design. The tables are widely spaced to give, very successfully too, an air of elegance. The china was of a soft ivory color, with wide fold bands; sparkling crystal glasses, on fine damask and gleaming silver. The waiters are dressed in handsome livery and even their faces seemed different from those of ordinary negroes. They definitely were carefully chosen for their jobs to give the impression of being old family servitors.

The menu –

(I had a Dubonnet cocktail first – nothing like doing it right).
1. Two slices of fresh pineapple served in a very thin glass dish, with rum on cracked ice. They were
invisibly sectioned so that they looked whole but broke to the touch.
2. Tray was brought around with celery, all kinds of olives, pickles, relishes, mint jellies, etc
3. Hot biscuits, gingerbread, bran muffins, corn pone, melba toast, buns, etc brought in a huge silver hot
plate.
4. Consumme Julienne – but – consumme and Julienne. Now I know hot it should be made!
5. Roast duck, with some kind of sauce – served on some kind of heavy groats. I never ate such duck and
I never had such sauce. Then the waiter brought over a silver-steam dish with steamed
tomatoes, Southern style, baked cauliflower and fresh green peas and I helped myself.
6. Salad – sounds ordinary, but it was anything but – a segment of Romaine lettuce – about 3 leaves of
the heart, on which were

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three large segments of grapefruit – on the side, a heart of Simpson lettuce with a ball of cottage cheese
and a strip of pimento on the cheese. Over all marvellous French dressing. That salad was a
picture.
7. Hot mince pie, served with some kind of hard sauce – (the hard sauce was the only thing I wasn’t
impressed with – too rich for my taste) and demi-tasse.

Well, Marie, I just couldn’t breathe when I got up. It was the kind of food that you simply can’t leave a speck of – it would be an insult to the cook.

I was so uncomfortable, I kept walking around, breathing deeply in order to get some of that food burnt up in my system. At about 9:45, I came back to the Lodge and spent some time in tbe lobby looking at picture postcards and books. Since the cards are 2 for 5₡, I decided it was more advisable to buy the book which I did. I still was in no condition to sit down so strolled around inside the Lodge and finally went downstairs where they have a magnificent game room. There were two pong-pong tables and I should have liked to play but couldn’t – first because I couldn’t move and secondly because I had no one to play with!

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I finally came back to the main parlor and sat down in front of the large fireplace (which has the most beautiful brass and wrought iron screen I’ve ever seen) and got into conversation with a young woman who was later joined by a very pleasant man, her husband. We talked until 10:30 and then I decided to go to my room. I wanted to get to bed early but here it is 11:30 already. I want to write these things while they are fresh in my mind for, when one sees so many new things each day, everything is inclined to blur together! And so ends the episode of my dinner at the Inn which was the end of my first day here. I’ll have to start tomorrow to write you about what I did before. Good night! [small sticker photograph of the Williamsburg Inn]

Wednesday 10 P.M.

What a glorious day! But now I’m going back to yesterday after my arrival here and tell you a little bit about Williamsburg. First of all, I must tell you that I am very glad that I knew nothing whatever about the place except that Rockefeller had “pulled a Henry Ford” and restored it. What he has restored it to, I didn’t know and, since my history of the period

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was completely hazy. I had no idea what I was going to see. Well, this is the story –

After the capitol of Virginia was moved from Jamestown in 1699, Williamsburg became the state capitol until 1779, when Richmond was made the capitol. Much of the town was destroyed by various means – war – fire – march of progress until only a few renovated houses remained of the original city. A Dr. Goodwin, rector of an old church here, for years entertained the idea of restoring the city to its glory of pre-Revolutionary days and, finally, interested Rockefeller in doing it. What a job they have done! Houses have been torn down in order to find original excavations of old buildings – streets of houses renovated and restored to their original appearance. Absolute facsimiles of old buildings

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constructed, with lumber brought from the same localities as the originals, bricks made from materials and in the same laborious manual way as the originals. In the work of finding original sites, relics were discovered buried – parts of walls, of mantels, pieces of china and pottery. These vestiges of the old Williamsburg, together with the information garnered from years research in old records, grants, surveyors charts – inventories filed by the different governors and landlords enabled them to reconstruct the city and the gardens. They even moved the station of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad so that it would not interfere with the authenticity of the view from the Governor’s Palace!

This is a very poor view of the Christopher Wren Building of William & Mary College. [presumed small sticker photograph of the Wren Building now missing]

The College is at the entrance of the town and it is a very lovely old place. Next to Harvard, it is the oldest college

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in America and here it was that George Washington, Jefferson, Monroe and a who’s who of the founders of these United States attended college. Having acquired a keen interest in the college campuses from my stay at Chapel Hill, my first visit was here and I walked thru their library and around the old buildings making comparisons to N.C. Everywhere one is aware of its history and traditions. From there I walked into the business section which has been reconstructed too so that the shops and their signs are sort of old America. [small sticker photograph of the Business Section]. Only their merchandise and sales force are modern! Then, up the Duke of Gloucester Street past old house and lovely gardens with old brick walks until I come to Bruton Parish Church. [small sticker photograph of Bruton Parish Church]. This church has been entirely reconstructed and it is most interest-

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-ing to see. I have seen many old churches but the pews here are different from most. It has slave galleries, in which the slaves could attend services. Buried ‘neath its floors are the bodies of many notables of ancient W. – most recent burial was that of Dr. Goodwin who died a few months ago. Outside is an old churchyard with interesting inscriptions. I expect to revisit that tomorrow. Oh yes, there are two old organs of that period that are most interesting in the church.

Down the side street of the Church, one walks to the Palace Green leading to the Governor’s Palace. ON the way, one passes The George Wythe House in which lived George Wythe, the first American Professor of Law – William and Mary College, [small sticker photograph of the George Wythe House] under whom Washington, Jefferson etc. studied. Along the way then to the Palace, which is simply indescribable. The building and its outhouses are lovely but the interiors and gardens are really beyond description. [small sticker photograph of the Governor’s Palace with a horse and carriage in front] I took the

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guide tour thru the Palace twice and, with the time I wandered thru the gardens, I spent about four hours there today. By a “fluke” my ticket was not demanded (entrance to six of the buildings is by payment of fees ranging from 25₡ to $1 – but one can buy a combination ticket for all but the Powder Magazine for $1.50. Of course, I bought the combination but, since admission to the Palace alone is $1, I’m delighted that I have that ticket for I shall go there again tomorrow. I’m so glad I can chat Mr. Rockefeller – I’ll never have another chance!

It is impossible for me to describe the interiors adequately but I want to list some things that I want to remember -
1. The silver chandelier for candles in the lower middle room.
2. The mahogany knife boxes with gleaming cutlery on the buffet there.
3. The beautiful oil painting of flowers over the mantel and the Delft boxes on the tables.
4. The dining room – oh that dining room! Gilt fruit bowls – sterling gilded –

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the tremendous gold wine cooler on the buffet – it looks like a samovar. The sterling silver candle brackets on the walls with crests on them. Well, in short, the dining room.

I can see right now it is impossible to list things – there are too many unforgettable treasures so I’ll have to go on to the Gardens, reconstructed as of old to every plant, tree and shrub – even the holly trees and holly maze – the tremendous willow tree on the lawn (about 60 feet high) which was planted just where the original stood. The fruit trees – pear – apple – peach and figs. The artificial canals and lakes with weeping willows and ducks.

The vegetable gardens next to the old kitchen – the smoke house – wine cellar (where one governor left 3200 gallons of wine when he died!) the laundry – ice house etc.

But on – out of the Palace. I spent a pleasant half hour with a nice couple I met there.

Back to Duke of G. Street and up it to the old Court House. Reconstructed in every detail except the furnishings as it is now used as an archaeological museum showing W. before the restoration and

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after. It is most interesting for they have pieces of marble, brick, cement, wood, china, pottery, nails, iron etc found in the old houses, from which they were able to model the new. [small sticker photograph of the Ludwell Paradise House] The Ludwell Paradise House in which is housed Mrs. Rockefeller Jr.’s collection of American folk art. I want to remember to tell you about the embroidered and water-color mourning scenes. On then again to the Raleigh Tavern which, again, has too many beautiful and interesting things to be described here. [small sticker photograph of the Raleigh Tavern] I want to remember to tell you about the gate on the bar – the drinking scenes – the beautiful Apollo sitting room in which the seeds of the Revolution flowered – the Neptune dining room – the public dining room – “tap room –

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the first “ladies retiring room” in an American inn – and more. Next door is the “sigh of the Golden Ball” shop – silversmiths – who work while you watch and sell their output. I was not impressed with their output of jewelry – very bad copies of Jensen designs – my conversation about that anon.

Also – my visit with the blacksmith of the Deane Forge – facts I don’t want to forget – he works from 9-5 – salary $75 a month – worked for his father-in-law for $30 a month so feels this is a good job though he needs more money. Works only with tools of the 17th century on objects copied after that period and others which he designs himself – gets $1000 group insurance and old age pension for which he pays 3% a month and R. the same. Treated wonderfully by corp. Does similar work after corp. working hours at own shop. Fire set - $5 – a story!

Well, darling, I can see that I will never be able to carry out my original intention of getting these two days down in black and white. I should

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have to write a book and I don’t have the time right now. Instead, I’m going to paste down the rest of the stamps and trust to my memory for the rest! [small sticker photograph of the St. George Tucker House, Colonial Coach and Four, Coke-Garrett House, the Old Capitol Building, Old Powder Horn, Travis House, Public Gaol, Public Gaol stocks – stocks stamp annotated This was for the ladies – their feet were too small to be held in the stocks, they would slip through]

I had dinner tonight at the Travis House – on Spode – with old pewter by candle light – and ate – potato souf[fle] – Southern fried chicken – (now I know

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what made the South famous – its somepin but the first time I tasted real southern f.c. Also heavenly candied sweets and cauliflower. Relishes – green-gage plum ice cream – cookie and coffee - $1.25 and something to remember. I’m eating my way home and I’m afraid to get on a scale. I bet I’ve gained 10 pounds! I’ll have to starve after I get home.

I just learned that I can get the boat at Old Point at 7 o’clock (1 hr & 35 minutes from here) instead of Norfolk which is 2 hrs & 5 minutes – from which the boat leaves at 5:30 P.M. That gives me two full hours extra here tomorrow. I considered staying here another day but since I’ll now have until 4:40 tomorrow, I have time enough to do all I want to do.

You’ve no doubt given up reading long before this, in which case you’ll never learn that I love you – the Friedbergs and the whole damn family. I’m going to bed – its 11:40 P.M.

Bernice

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After I started this letter – I decided to use it as a journal of my two days here so please save this for me.

B.

I couldn’t get it in one envelope so had to use two!