Day 11:
We started Sunday morning with an early Mass with Dave’s sister and her family. The children were very well behaved, despite the early hour, and his sister was totally shocked that we were able to get everyone up and dressed and get to Church before the start of the service. Practice, honey, practice.
After Mass we went to Plymouth, MA to visit Plymouth Rock and the surrounding sites. The rock was…well, a big rock! That’s it in the picture of us, the rock surrounded by the wall. Not much else to say about that one!
After Plymouth Rock, we explored a full-scale model of the Mayflower, which was built in England and a few years ago sailed across the Atlantic to be moored in Plymouth, MA. This was very spacious compared to the three small boats that were used to transport the Jamestown colonists to Virginia. We all decided we would have preferred the Mayflower to the Godspeed.
We walked down the boardwalk to the town of Plymouth, where we had lunch at a waterside restaurant called the Weathervane. It was a good break in the day.
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We then went to Plimouth Plantation, a historic recreation of the Pilgrim settlement and a Native People settlement (they no longer go by Native American there, it’s either Native People or Native Nation in Plymouth). Real native dress-watch out!.
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As a native Virginia girl that grew up across the “rivah” from Jamestown, home to the Jamestown Settlement, I was very interested in what the Plymouth Plantation was going to be like, would they live up to the wonder of Jamestown? Yes, Yes they did! Their reproduction villages, Native Nation and settlers, were truly great! The people there were wonderful. Not only would we have preferred to ride over in the Mayflower, but life seemed a little nicer here in Plymouth as well, at least more spacious! I love that our kids were able to see both places during our trip (and me too!), how cool is that? No, we were not just going to read about them and look at pictures, but we went to the settlements – walked the dirty paths, sat in the assembly buildings, chased the chickens, got into the canoes. So fun – homeschooling has it’s ups and downs, but this is definitely one of it’s greatest privileges.
After the historical visit we paid a visit to Dave’s cousins in North Andover, MA. They had 5 children, all of which showed up with their families, as they still do every Sunday–what a great family tradition! My family did this also when I was growing up. Every Sunday we would gather at my grandparents for dinner. I don’t think I appreciated it then as much as I do now!
TIPS:
1. Visiting places with full scale remodels is almost always a winner with kids. The explorability, the dirt piles, the real-life situations are all such great ways for them to really learn – or to be easily entertained while you learn.
2. The short films that most of these type of destinations have for viewing are good times to nurse/feed a baby, change a few diapers, or take a moment to cuddle with a little one (or a big one!).
3. We had to make a choice today to see less of the Plantation so that we could get to our friend’s home in time for dinner. It’s almost always a good choice to put friends/family over sites and places. True treasures are in relationships!
