I thought the day would never get here but we were finally on our way.   First we drove to North Carolina to visit relatives and then on to Williamsburg. The weather was perfect for showing the beautiful colors of the leaves. Esther and Russell kept commenting on every vista. My sisters and I had never seen such an array of fall colors. Even though we drove many miles none of us minded since there was much beauty to see.

The excitement mounted as we neared Williamsburg. When we arrived Esther wanted us to see that we were truly in a colonial setting so we went for a walk on Duke of Gloucester Street. I know she could hardly wait to get settled in the hotel room and register for all the events so this was a very brief outing. The first night there was a party in the Hospitality Suite and all the ladies kept looking at each others' name tags. Many of these people knew each other via email but had never met in person so they were so pleased to know what each looked like. Also, they all were amazed at such a large number of wonderful  items for Hitty Helper Drawings and I heard them say that ticket sales were quite robust.

Esther gave her slide program about life here in Zelienople with us Hittys on both Friday morning and afternoon. We sat on a table in the front of the auditorium and after each performance ladies would come to meet us. So many told us that they follow my Journal and that made me feel very good.

That evening we attended our first big event which was a Pajama Party. Oh what fun!  I knew the original Hitty had many descendents but I was not prepared to see so many of them at once and all dressed in their night clothes. We sat with our friends from Kansas City and Hitty Elizabeth and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

The day seemed to just fly by and then it was time to get dressed for the banquet. Our friends from Kansas City came over to our room so we could all get dressed together. Putting on our Red Hat Society clothes was such fun and then we got the packages ready for the table favor exchange. Esther had made cheval mirrors for the ladies at her table and Barbara brought Pinocchio puppets for everyone.

After socializing with our guests in the room it was time to attend THE banquet!  There was a room full of ladies in all types of purple attire and many, many red hats!   Even the center pieces were purple boas and red hats!  At each plate there was a stand with a purple pinafore and red hat from our hostess. We Hittys felt very much in style!  Hitty Freckles and her sister were there and looked so festive in their red hats and boas. The guests ate a delicious meal and then it was time for the souvenir presentation. After much anticipation the souvenir trunk was opened and each guest received a Hitty doll!  Esther tells us we now have a new family member!  We didn't  get to meet her that evening since there was so much happening but she promised us we would get to meet her the next morning. I do wonder what she is like and what she is named.

Sunday morning we attended the farewell brunch and received yet another souvenir!   This time it was a teddy bear also dressed in red and purple!  We wanted to hurry back to our room to meet our new Hitty and indeed we did. She is delightful and so friendly. Her name is Hitty Jane and she was dressed in the style of Colonial Williamsburg which we all thought quite fitting. I look forward to getting better acquainted with her.

Russell packed the car and just as we were about to leave we noticed a car with a unique license plate. It was from Ohio and the only words were "HITTY."  A group of Hittys were sitting on the back bumper and so Esther let us join them. What fun!  I thought this was a fitting way to end our week-end at the Reunion. All the other Hittys agreed.

We are home now and will sort through all the lovely presents we received. There must be a huge amount of items in just the tote bag!   I think it will take Esther several days to get our life back to order. She and Russell both agreed with us that a grand time was had by all!