11 November 2011, 2:50 PM, Aboard the Carolinian:  After rain late yesterday afternoon and into the evening, a cold front moved in and the predicted high for today is 54F, both in Richmond and Raleigh.  

A hazy blue sky sets off the browns, rust, greens, and scarce reds of mid November. An unnamed county seat with a red domed courthouse, large older homes, a brown brick church with a white spire, all bordered on one side by a dryly waving cotton field, went by as I was waking from my nap.  

I’ve always known trains are excellent venues for napping.  The rocking movement of the train induces sleep easily.  Blended noise of iron wheels on tracks, and the mutter of conversations spread a soft sound curtain.  Barring a pick up on the tracks or the sudden arrival at a stop, one can easily sleep undisturbed for an hour.  Waking, the return of consciousness and light, is a gentle process and the first look at a moving landscape is always a wonder.  It is on a train that I am most relaxed.

The year round volkswalk in Williamsburg began at a hotel a long, round about bus trip from where we boarded near our B&B on Richmond Road.  It went like this:  We got on and rode the entire Blue route, ending at the Transportation Center by the train station.  Then, walking two busses back, we boarded the Grey route bus for the ten minute ride to the walk start.  The problem turned out to be the presence of two Clarion Inns in Williamsburg.  The one on the Blue route was not the one serving as host to the walk start.  

That being done, we registered and began the walk.  The route took us past the myriad historic sites of Colonial Williamsburg and in and around the campus of William and Mary.  Next to Harvard, William and Mary is the second oldest college in the US.  It also has the oldest campus building in the nation. The Sir Christopher Wren Building, designed by Christopher Wren and built between 1695 and 1700, is fronted by a large statue of Narborne Berkeley, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1768-1770).  

The historic section of the walk included the Commonwealth Capitol, the Governor’s Palace (1722), many recreated shops and some taverns, touring carriages, period costumed interpreters, and the Bruton Parish Church (1723).  

We returned to the Church Thursday for noon prayer and an informative talk on the history of the church.  Located near the seat of power, it was a typical Anglican (now Episcopalian) church.  Many of the early leaders of the colony are buried in the floor of the church and the pews are labeled with the names of the powerful who worshiped there.  Among the names were Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison. 

The church was renovated and restored in the early 1900s and became part of a larger restoration effort which included much of the city.  John D. Rockefeller added considerable money, push, and prestige to the project.  Applewood B&B, built in the colonial style inside and out, was constructed in the late 1920s, paralleling the Williamsburg renaissance. 

 Saturday, 12 November, 04:30 PM, Room 201, Days Inn, Raleigh:  We arrived at Raleigh a few minutes late, yet with enough remaining daylight that we decided to walk to our reserved Days Inn Motel.  Once a kind stranger told us that north was the other direction, we easily made the walk up Dawson St. in twenty minutes.  

Saturday morning, we followed a local couple as they searched for an open breakfast place and ended up at the Helios for a fine breakfast with good coffee.  Had we gone there directly, we would have walked only five blocks rather than the near mile we trekked.

The Raleigh volkswalk began at the North Carolina State Museum, across from the Capitol, and remained near the downtown.  The route skirted many of the government buildings, wandered through City Market, and led us east through the old and stately Oakwood Cemetery.  There, on a hillside under the flag of North Carolina, rested over 1500 Confederate soldiers who lost their lives in their futile rebellion.  Following the route back out of the cemetery, I wandered past the final resting place of Jesse Helms, late senator and contributor of charming comments such as

Atheism and socialism -- or liberalism, which tends in the same direction -- are inseparable entities. When you have men who no longer believe that God is in charge of human affairs, you have men attempting to take the place of God by means of the Superstate" (1973).  After standing there in silence for a few moments, I said, “You know Jess, I could develop a fondness for you like this.”  The ground trembled only slightly and just for a second.

Completing the walk, we followed the advice of a woman at the Visitor’s Center (where we registered for the walk) and ate at Clyde Cooper’s BBQ, a local institution since 1938.  North Carolina barbecue is a vinegar based sauce with a little heat.  I had the pork and chicken combo, Pat a barbecued pork with cole slaw sandwich.  If you’re ever in North Carolina ...

Across the street from our hotel window is the Babylon Restaurant.  We can see candles flickering on tables and gas torches along a wall.  It is unlikely that we will eat there.  

Instead, I have been researching local brewpubs along the way.  In Indianapolis, we dined at the Ram.  In Columbus, we ate and drank at the Columbus Brewing Company.  In Charleston, there was no brewpub.  In Richmond, we attended the Capitol Ale House (not, alas, a brewpub).  Here in Raleigh, we have the Boylan Bridge and the Natty Greene brewpubs, both of which sound pretty good.  

Boylan, located near the Amtrak station, has some train-themed brews.  Natty (Nathanael) Greene, was the general leading the military end of the southern rebellion against England’s rule, and did so, they say, brilliantly.  Tough choice.