Road Trip USA: Plymouth

The more I learn on this trip, the more I realize that I pretty much know nothing. 

Thursday morning we drove less than an hour to visit Plimouth Plantation, a re-creation of the original Plymouth colony about 3 miles south of where the pilgrims landed (they spell the name differently to distinguish between the two sites). The plantation is divided into four areas: the visitor's center, the Wampanoag Indian camp, a crafts building, and the Plymouth village. 

We started with an orientation video in the visitor's center with a large school group of upper elementary kids. We all got out together and headed down the path to the Indian camp. When we got to the Indian camp, the school kids ran around wildly. Aubree commented, "If I've learned anything on this trip, it's that school groups are annoying." After a moment of self-reflection, she continued, "I went on a few field trips in public school. I don't remember being annoying, but we probably were."

We did our best to avoid the crowds and loved our time learning about the Wampanoag Indians. In this area, authentic Native Americans (some Wampanoag and some from other tribes) dress in clothing that would have been worn in the early 1600s, but speak and answer questions from a modern perspective.

These women were doing chores, crafts, and beadwork that their ancestors might have done, but they also told us about where they grew up, what tribes they belong to, and how much native language they can speak (not much).

One of our favorite parts of this area was learning about the types of houses the Wampanoag Indians used. We visited a Summer House and a Winter House. Both were amazing, but the Winter House is rather mind blowing. The model they had was only a fraction of the size of many of the traditional winter homes, and it seemed quite large.

We got to go inside and learn all about how over 100 people commonly shared winter homes, what their daily lives and chores might have involved, how they slept and ate, and what happened when they "retired." I really think Mark and I could have stayed there for hours listening and asking questions.

The crafts area had modern day craftspeople working on period-specific artwork such as ceramics and head-dresses. Again, it was fascinating to be able to ask questions and see people in action. I didn't realize that headdresses were made from dyed porcupine hair. The kids were most interested in watching the pottery be made. They learned that getting a college degree in ceramics generally isn't a very wise decision, although it did work out for these two ladies.

Finally we made our way to the Plymouth village, which was a whole other kind of interesting. Here, there are actors pretending to be actual Plymouth residents, and they steadfastly refuse to break character.

So, as you wander in and out of homes, you meet different characters who speak to you in old English (lots of "mayhaps" and "ayes"), look completely confused if you mention modern items, and are going about their day as if they really lived in 1630 Plymouth. 

Thane and Graham learned how to play a game called "Stool Ball." It's simple, but pretty fun. 

The village didn't interest the kids quite as much as I'd expected (it didn't help that a cold front rolled in, and they got chilly), but they claimed they liked it. Bryce led the way in herding us out. He said he was getting bored with houses.

On our way out, we looked around the visitor's center a little more. The kids were tickled by the "Mooflower."

We ate lunch in the car on the 3 mile drive to see Plymouth Rock. We'd been warned it was tiny, and boy oh boy, they weren't kidding! It's really just a medium sized boulder. 

Still, the kids were glad to be able to say we'd visited the smallest National Park, though they were disappointed there wasn't an associated Jr Ranger badge.

Since we'd finished at Plymouth earlier than expected, I tried to be spontaneous and visit another National Historical Park - the Adams Home.

That ended up being a mistake. If I'd had time to do a little research, I would have learned that this park involves a trolley ride and a two hour tour of the homes. By the time we arrived, the next tour didn't leave until 3:15, which would have gotten us to our friend's home that evening way too late. Bummer! Double bummer because the tour sounded really interesting. 

Boston traffic reminds me of Seattle rush-hour traffic (and not in a good way), so it took us a while to get to Emily's. Emily is a friend from college. Even better, she was in our ward when Mark and I were dating. When I was planning this trip and doing a little crowd-sourcing on places to stay and things to do, Emily reached out and offered to let us stay at her home outside Boston even though they had just moved there from Canada.

I'll write more about our time with Emily and her family in the next blog post, but for starters, let me say that Emily went out of her way to make sure we felt completely at home in her house. On this first night, she made homemade chicken potpie with homemade apple pie for dessert. It was just as delicious as it sounds. It had been 18 years since we last saw Emily, but she's the kind of person with whom time doesn't matter. She's completely real and open and wonderful.