College of William & Mary

Some things are old.  Some things are REALLY old. 

I am a native westerner so “really” old to me may be new to an Easterner, or downright cutting edge to a European, but lets not get into that here.  Lets just stay American for this one. 

Colonial Williamsburg is great with all its reconstructed and reenacted sites.  Jamestown is fine with all its folks dressed like one would in Colonial times.  But I say they both get trumped by a big slice of history that needs no recreating.  The College of  William and Mary is alive and has been for over 300 years. 

Lord Botetourt, cast in 1993, stands in front of an institution founded in 1693.

Let me put it this way; the guy who wrote our Declaration of Independence, which birthed our country, learned all those writing skills at this school.  Thomas Jefferson’s Alma Matter was almost 100 years old by the time The U.S.A. was 1.  The best thing about this school isn’t that it is old, but that it is still a school… a good one. 

This weather vein is older than our constitution.

O.K. here is the challenge: name an institution in this country that has existed continually for over 317 years (quiet down Boston, we know, we know).

The oldest school building in the country.

Enough of the old stuff, this place is a great spot to visit as well.  The campus is surrounded by shops, cafes, and stores housed in colonial era buildings.  The area is quite walkable and I say the Honeywell store is more than digestable.