the education of henry

Day 13: Plymouth Rock and Mayflower II

2023-09-26

Today we left Boston (thanks to Mom's excellent navigation) and went to Plimoth and Pautuxet to see where the Pilgrims lived, and learn about the Wampanoag, people who were here before them. It was cold and windy and gray - but at least it wasn't raining! The museum and visitor center were very nice, but the real fun was outside.

Of course we started with breakfast! I still love waffles.

The Plimouth Pautuxet Visitor Center.

A model of the Mayflower.

And this is the Mooflower.

A Wampanoag boat.

This boat could hold twelve people. They made these by burning the log and then chipping out the inside. The biggest one on record held two rows of twenty people!

Learning about cooking and hunting practices.

Mom found a snake in grass!

This is a Wetu - it is covered by bark and housed several families. They would live in one of these for 8-12 years, and then build a new one in a different location.

This is the fort that protects the Plimouth village. It is a replica, as are all the huts. The real location is a couple miles up the road, where the actual town still is.

The view of the village from the fort.

Of course they had cannon. This is a saker, it only fired a three-pound ball.

The fort from the village.

Dad and I are peeking through the windows.

Walking down to the village.

Inside one of the houses.

Talking to one of the re-enactors. They never break character, so it was hard to talk to them - they were pretending it was 1627, so we couldn't talk to them about anything after that.

Mom and Dad participated in the militia training exercise.

They had to use pikes and march.

And then practice stabbing!

Most of the houses were similar inside - just different amounts of furniture.

I was so interested in the Wampanoag that I had to go back to ask more questions.

Then we went to see the Mayflower II, the replica of the Mayflower.

Sign about the replica ship.

Inside the ship. A very small space for 102 Pilgrims to live with the crew of the ship...and their animals - all on one deck. For reference, the fire code only allows 75 people in the space now.

The ship's bell.

Where some of the sailors slept.

Oh look, another cannon.

Then we went to see the rock. It was a little underwhelming. It's just a rock. (Yes, it is upside down in the picture - Dad couldn't get the image to flip the right way).

The pavilion around the rock was more impressive.

Then we drove to Rhode Island!

In Rhode Island we took a break from history and visited a local LEGO store, the Providence Brick Exchange. It was a surprise to me - and lots of fun. We took a few pictures here, too.

And then back on the road across the rest of Rhode Island (not hard - it's pretty small) and into Connecticut. Both states were surprisingly hilly and beautiful. Honestly, both were a lot nicer than Massachussetts from what we saw.

In Connecticut!

Today the roads were good and mostly not too busy once we got away from Boston. And once we left Massachussetts, we saw the sun again! That was nice.

That's it for today - take care!