The past and the present

Enjoying a visit with Goodwife Howland

We spent a charming afternoon at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  It is a living history village with several well-developed components. 

The village had a dozen or more authentic homes, all inhabited and open to visitors

The actors/residents of the village were authentic, well-prepared in their characters and full of fun, educational, interesting conversation.  We did learn a lot.  My favorite chat was at the fireside of Goodwife Howland.  When I asked about taking a photo and she saw Essi, she said, "Oh!  A poppet!  I made my daughter a poppet."

We saw folks at work outdoors and indoors.  We enjoyed a craft barn and a farmer's market.  We ate a peascod for lunch: a hand pie with poultry, raisins, apricots and marmalade inside.  I didn't actually ask for the recipe, but it was pretty authentic.

Going about her daily tasks, but willing to stop for a visit

Shortly after our arrival, before we could buy our tickets, a large school group arrived.  We waited for them to get on their way, and...  another even larger, louder school group arrived.  I'm guessing both groups were fourth graders.  Lots and lots of fourth graders.  The estimate by the staff was five hundred.  Fourth graders.  On a spring field trip.  We enjoyed our time in the site enormously once all the kidlets had returned to their buses.

The Plimoth Plantation left me mostly feeling so grateful.  Here's a short list. 
I'm grateful
     1.  for the courageous, adventurous first settlers, their inner strength, and their faith.
     2.  that I live in modern times.  We have it so easy.
     3.  for the freedoms that were born in these early settlements.
     4.  that I'm retired and NOT teaching mobs of kids any more.

We found our way into Plymouth proper and visited Plymouth Rock.  It's a rock.  In Plymouth.  Someone has engraved 1620 on it.  But it holds meaning for all of us.  It was a very good, long afternoon. 

We found the Nauset Light on our drive along Cape Cod.

We are now settled into our campground on Cape Cod.  We have an entire end to ourselves at the moment, with a path through the woods to the ocean.  We took a couple short detours on the way up the Cape.  We'll enjoy, explore, drive out and return, sleep late...  and not leave until we feel like moving on.