* The colonial quotes are the author's, based on events happening during the period. Any historical inaccuracies are, therefore, mine and not Williamsburg's.

May, 1680. Our journey to the colonies continues in unbroken pursuit of a horizon that forever surrounds us. The great sea tosses our vessel about without mercy or respite. Many among us lie dull-eyed and jaundiced, sickened by the rolling emptiness and weak with hunger. We are destined for a place known to us only as the Middle Plantation, drawn by the promise of sun and soil and dominion.*

My visit to Colonial Williamsburg began with an adroit call to 800-HISTORY (800-447-8679). Operators were not standing by because they were busy fielding some of the 30,000 calls they process each month. So, I listened to a menu of recorded options and pushed the button that promised to send me a vacation planner. I was asked to key in my home phone number and, while I waited, an AS/400 with Holmesian powers of deduction automatically verified my mailing address 3,000 miles away. Anonymous inquiry isn't.

Colonial Williamsburg is a miracle of restoration and Rockefeller money. Beginning in 1926, a $95 million endowment launched the razing of some 700 modern buildings and the loving restoration of nearly 90 historic ones. Many were rebuilt on their original foundations and, like antique jewels, are grouped in a verdant garden setting. The 173-acre complex now arrays over 500 colonial buildings as meticulously authentic as artistry and concessions to commerce permit.

More than three million visitors a year stroll through this living museum staffed by workers in colonial dress and demeanor. Guests, while moving between centuries, remain unaware that 18th century attractions are underpinned by 20th century technology. From ticketing, hotel reservations, and dining, to point-of-sale transactions, special events, and interpretive programs, the AS/400 handles the logistics so the visitor can remain immersed in the experience.

October, 1684. The Plantation prospers. It lies between the James and the York rivers in the Virginia colony. Free men, indentured servants, and slaves toil upon these banks. Silversmiths, carpenters, makers of ale, inn keepers, growers of tobacco, and farmers flourish here. We have cleared and planted the land and built a home upon it. We pray the winter will be clement and that we may soon receive communications from England.

Two AS/400s, supporting five LANs and an RS/6000, now simplify communications between centuries. An AS/400 F70 supports four onsite hotels and a scattering of colonial houses and inns. Even quasi-colonial characters such as the hotel concierge have a discrete AS/400 connection through which they can arrange tavern dining, golf, or a visit to one of the area's fine museums.

An AS/400 Advanced System 310, upgraded from an F50, runs a suite of financial, human resources, purchasing, and facilities maintenance applications. Ticketing is driven by an RS/6000 host, online to the AS/400's credit approval and billing system. The LANs, all attached to the AS/400, support point-of-sale (POS) transactions, catering, and the business and research activities undertaken by the nonprofit Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which administers the historic site.

The ability to link the POS and ticketing networks to the AS/400 allows for both speed and flexibility when servicing customers. If a guest, for example, makes a purchase anywhere in the complex and charges it to his hotel room, the system handles the transaction as if the guest stood in the lobby. Credit can be verified and a charge posted to the guest's room folio within minutes of the transaction.

Ron Carruth is the director of information technology at Colonial Williamsburg. Arriving in 1993, Carruth inherited a staff of 25, an AS/400 B70, and two aging S/38s. His biggest challenge, however, was not upgrading the hardware, but a software environment that was license-rich but integration-poor.

"We have over 40 different software licenses," Carruth explained, "and 20 different vendors." The interface points, largely written and maintained in-house, were the weak links in the complex operation. "Every time we received a new software update," Carruth recalled, "we couldn't be sure that the interfaces would work."

Carruth's strategy was two-fold: move to a more powerful client/server environment and reduce the number of individual software packages. The abundance of applications written for the AS/400 allowed Carruth to convert multivendor applications to single vendor integrated solutions. Where that was not immediately possible, he contracted with the providers of standalone applications to write and maintain the interfaces between their programs. "Ideally," he said, "we don't want to locally write or maintain any special interfaces."

From a hardware perspective, the AS/400 is capable of supporting any-to-any communications, but in Carruth's mind, that facilitates only half the desired outcome. For the Foundation to benefit from the system's full functionality, Carruth wants to establish any-to-any software integration as well.

February, 1693. The royal governor did inform us that Middle Plantation is to undertake the construction of a house of higher learning. It is only the second in the colonies and will be of a design by Christopher Wren, a builder of some eminence and repute, and thus may be enduring and pleasing to the eye. It will be christened in honor of our sovereigns, William and Mary.

Only Harvard predates the College of William and Mary, which is still headquartered in Williamsburg. The original Wren building, completed in 1695, survived. It now marks the northeast boundary of the historic area. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation continues to sponsor the exacting work of archeological research and restoration. An extensive collection of colonial furniture, rare maps, textiles, silver, and china are on display at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery. And a superlative collection of painting and sculpture can be viewed at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. An onsite research library supports the work of a host of arch-eologists, architects, furniture specialists, and historians.

The Foundation employs 3,500 people, approximately 1,000 of whom are directly supported by the AS/400. That support encompasses 30 retail stores and, of course, the hotels, museums, and Foundation offices. "Much of the cabling we have installed," said Carruth, "is IBM proprietary." Part of his future strategy is to replace it with conventional wiring for greater flexibility.

"This has been my first exposure to the IBM AS/400 technology, and I'm very impressed," said Carruth. This sentiment has unique implication in Colonial Williamsburg. "After all," he notes, "we have a lot of centuries invested in the AS/400."

April, 1699. By order of the royal governor, Middle Plantation shall become the capital of Virginia, and shall henceforth be known as Williamsburg. A celebration is planned and the colony looks toward the new century with optimism. But among us are the faint stirrings of sedition. The fields have been planted with the first stray seeds of freedom, and we know not when or if the crop will grow.

Williamsburg remained the capital until 1779, when Thomas Jefferson became the governor of Virginia and the capital was moved to Richmond, just a few miles north on what is now Interstate 64. Williamsburg then began a gradual period of decline until its resurrection earlier this century.

I had the opportunity to visit Colonial Williamsburg last summer. What stayed with me was not its colonial-chic facade, or even the historic substance so lacking on the West Coast. What intrigued and consumed me was the possibility of walking with the founding fathers; standing in a doorway that once framed the most remarkable man of a remarkable time: Thomas Jefferson.

Dining in a colonial tavern, reflecting on my personal obsession with Jefferson, I recalled an observation John Kennedy made during a White House dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners. "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House," Kennedy said, "with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Victor Rozek has 17 years of experience in the data processing industry, including seven years with IBM in Operations Management and Systems Engineering.