Last weekend, I took my first trip to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Oh, you know, where the Pilgrims landed! Plymouth is part of my indoctrination into becoming a New Englander. My friends from graduate school, Mary and Natrya, and I love to take historical field trips. They came with me for my day with Flat Stanley, too! We headed to the South Shore on a cold, overcast Sunday from the Riverside T Station and landed at Plimoth Plantation (haha) about an hour later. The three of us were able to get into the the historical site for a reasonable price with a library pass and a AAA discount (I'm so glad I joined last week). First, we watched a movie about what to expect at Plimoth, and I have to say I'm really glad we did. We started our journey by looking at an exhibit about the myth and meaning of Thanksgiving, which made me reminisce about my grade school education of the Pilgrims and Indians. Then we headed to the Wamponoag family site where Native Americans worked and talked (in modern day English; bear with me, this will be important in a minute) about life back in the seventeenth century, while a tourist lit his cigarette on the cooking fire and couldn't help himself from touching the sharp arrows, even when the nice women asked him not to. Some people at historical sites are really annoying. One time at a special event at Locust Grove, this uppity woman (who probably drove some kind of luxury car or SUV) brought her lapdog into the two-hundred year old home of George Rogers Clark and then tells me that I am rude for asking her to leave (very politely, I might add).
We continued our journey on the Eel Riverwalk to the 1627 colonial village, where we really met 1627 pilgrims (no, they were actors, but one guy appeared not to have showered for a very long time). They spoke in seventeenth century English and were well-educated in speech and common knowledge of the Puritan/Pilgrim. Considering the drab, cold weather, it really felt like we were there with the Pilgrims in 1627. I hope I get to go in the fall sometime, although I know it gets very crowded with schoolgroups and tourists. Other parts of Plimoth Plantation included a crafts center and a barn with heritage breeds from the seventeenth century. We saw some very cute goats. :)
My overall evaluation of Plimoth Plantation was good, although it was a little too real for me. Professor Green would kill me for saying this, but I sometimes like the "sanitized" recreation of history like it is presented at Old Sturbridge Village and Williamsburg. I hope that doesn't sound terrible. Please don't hate me, Prof. Green.
After we visited the plantation, we went to lunch in downtown Plymouth at The Weathervane, where we had some yummy seafood. It was still cold and rainy afterwards, so we didn't have the best tour of downtown Plymouth or of the Mayflower II (an exact replica of the original Mayflower built in 1957). The ship was really interesting and I can't believe that 102 passengers were on the ship together for so many months.
We attempted to get ice cream at a local place in Plymouth, but like many stores and museums that were closed until summer or for construction, it was also closed, so we all had wonderful sundaes and treats at Friendly's, a great New England staple. Then we drove to Parting Ways, which Mary is writing about for her research seminar, as well as Mary's very cool house, complete with lots of chickens, rabbits, cats, and dogs. It was very cozy and I bet it was a lot a fun to grow up there. On the way back to Riverside, we saw lots of very cool cranberry bogs, which are also a unique part of New England.
Well, I tried to publish this earlier but Mary beat me to the punch!
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