WILLIAMSBURG, Va., September 29, 2010 – The Godspeed is embarking on two voyages this fall, to Lancaster County in October and Urbanna in November, from its home port of Jamestown Settlement, a state-operated museum of 17th-century Virginia.
The ship, a re-creation of one of the three vessels that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to America in 1607, will be docked at Yankee Point Marina on the Corrotoman River in Lancaster County October 8-10. Maritime education programs for students from Lancaster County schools and Chesapeake Academy are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, October 8, and the ship will be open for free public tours from 3 to 5 p.m. The Godspeed will participate in Lancaster County’s Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta on the Rappahannock River October 9 and 10.
The Godspeed is a featured exhibit at the Urbanna Oyster Festival, where it will be open for free public tours at the Urbanna Town Marina from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday, November 5 and 6. The ship will host students from Middlesex County public schools and area private schools on Education Day, November 4, focusing on the history and ecology of the Chesapeake Bay region.
The Godspeed will set out for Lancaster County October 5 and return to Jamestown Settlement in mid-October, departing again November 1 for Urbanna. During the ship’s absences from Jamestown Settlement, museum visitors will have access to the Susan Constant and Discovery, re-creations of the other two 1607 ships, and the Elizabeth, representing a ship that made several voyages to Virginia between 1613 and 1625.
Located at Route 31 South and the Colonial Parkway adjacent to Historic Jamestowne, the original settlement site, Jamestown Settlement also features a re-created Powhatan Indian village and 1610-14 fort, a seasonal riverfront discovery area that interprets economic activities linked to waterways, and extensive indoor exhibits that chronicle 1600s Virginia and the cultures that converged there. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757) 253-4838 or visit www.historyisfun.org.
