We had a great time today at Jamestown. It was an early start and we packed quite a bit into a few hours, but it was well worth it. We started off at the Jamestown Settlement for a tour of a recreated Indian village, fort, and ships. If you plan on taking a class or traveling on your own skip this site as it is not worth the time nor the money. They have a brand new facility, but it exudes Disney-style entertainment. Our guide was mediocre at best; most of my students actually knew more. The Visitor Center is unimpressive apart from a few exhibits. They make it a point to describe Pocahontas as an 11-year old girl who probably had her head shaved when she first met John Smith, but there she is in full Disney attire with full-length hair. After lunch we headed on over to the Jamestown National Historic Site for a few hours. My advice is to spend as much time here. We had a beautiful day and the students got to spend time walking the actual site. Unfortunately, we were not able to organize a tour through the NPS so we allowed students to explore on their own. The site includes plenty of signs and as I walked I was pleased to see that a good number of the students were actually reading. There is a new exhibit hall that includes thousands of excavated items, including what could be the skeleton of Bartholomew Gosnold. It was a bit awkward as I looked on with a group of students and realized that we had just finished reading about him.
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