Sept. 09, 2013

Plymouth or Plimoth or Whatever

We have again been without WIFI for several days so blogs are backing up.

First, a picture I neglected to include in the Sept. 4 blog about Cape Cod.  The picture was taken at the far north end of Cape Cod which is the eastern end of US 6.

And we aren’t even through going east yet.

 

Yesterday we went to an Elks lodge in Smithfield, MA.  We parked and then went to see a JV football game at nearby Bryant University.  Sue’s cousin’s son (who is also a cousin I guess) is attending a prep school in Maine and playing football.  Turned out we could be close to their first game (away obviously) so we set our schedule to make it happen.  Good game for teams that had been together for a little over two weeks.  Cousin’s team lost by two points but there were some fun moments.  There was a post game tailgate party with lots of food.  Didn’t need dinner.

Today, a quick trip to Plymouth, MA.  Parked at another Elks and off to see Plymouth.

Most think of Plymouth, MA as the site of the first Pilgrim settlement and home of Plymouth Rock

In Plymouth there is a living history museum called Plimoth Plantation.  There are several spellings attributed to this area.  The museum creators chose the spelling used by the first governor of the colony.

Plimoth Plantation is pretty cool.  There are three areas: a native American village, a craft center, and a Pilgrim village/stockade.  There are enactors in all sites.  In the native American village the enactors (all members of local tribes) demonstrate the day to day life and skills of their ancestors.  They interact with tourists and describe what they are doing, day to day life in earlier times, and draw you in to the life of the ‘Indians’.  Descriptions are full and questions are fully and informatively answered.  Demonstration of how it was but discussion is also on a current time scale basis.  (this will make sense in a bit).  One woman in full native garb and demonstrating several native skills had her son playing nearby dressed in jeans and tennis shoes.  He was demonstrating being a kid .

Bundling reeds for drying to weave into mats.

Canoe making.  Interior is burned out.

Winter home made of bark.

Interior of bark home with enactor/historian.

Summer home made of reeds

More reed bundling and something with the fire.

Reed mats.

Bark slabs held in place by limp held tight from within. 

The craft building was supposed to demonstrate several of the crafts of the 1620’s; pottery, carpentry/woodworking, beading, sewing.  We were a bit disappointed with this area.  Having just come from Mystic Seaport where everything was done the old way (nothing modern) this was a bit of a letdown.  The potter(who was not in attendance that day) used electric motor driven potters wheels and electric kilns. They did have a display wood heated kiln but did not use it.  The woodworking area used many hand tools to shape wood including a treadle driven lathe but also had modern tools such as a highly accurate metal framed miter saw. The woman doing beading impressed as a disinterested person doing her craft thing using contemporary tools and materials.  The sewing area (not active) very prominently featured a high intensity sewing light (electric and pricey). 

The Pilgrim area was different.  Village area surrounded by a high fence with several gates.  A deterrent of sorts for the time.  Inside are many homes, each with small plots of land holding gardens or corrals.  Other areas devoted to crafts and other needs of settlers.  Every house is open and fitted with tools, furniture, bedding, cook ware, etc, of the time.  It is like walking into 1620 New England.  The cool part is the enactors.  They live the parts.  They greet you as a visitor to their town andt all actions and interactions are as if it is 1620 and they are going about their daily living.  There is no ‘how it was done’, rather it is ‘this is what we do’.  No reference to any time after 1620’s.  We were talking to one man who was telling of the uses of split logs (fencing, siding for houses, etc).  Don’t recall the subject at the time but Sue made a comparison to one of his statements to a more contemporary situation.  He was very confused and had no idea what she was referring to.  These people are GOOD and do the roles well.  I know they drove to work in cars but when on ‘stage’ they are totally in character.

Charcoal making pit.

 

Fort at top of village.

 

Lower floor of fort doubles as meeting house.

Upper floor of fort.

Village viewed from fort.

Most interiors had a similar look.

 

Village residents

 

Splitting logs.

Preparing to bake bread.

Demo of wall construction.

From Plimoth Plantation we drove a few miles to Plymouth Harbor.  First a stop at Plymouth Rock.  Much storied, much traveled, broken and repaired, and to me much hyped.  Rock sits at high water level on a beach.  It is surrounded by a wall and a grate on the seaward side and ‘protected’ by a large temple like structure over it.  Attempts at repair are obvious.  My questions regarding the rock:  Why chose to step on to a rock when leaving a boat when there is stable beach next to it and only a few inches lower?  Why would all who landed use the rock?  The beach this rock is on is otherwise bare.  Why choose a rock to head your boat toward?

 

Nearby is the Mayflower II.  A replication of the original.  Interesting to see where 104 people (plus crew and animals) spent 66 days at sea.  The boat is not very large.  I sure wouldn’t wait for a rock to get on land.  A bit sad to see the ship.  Signs of aging and weathering are everywhere.  Maintenance need is constant and underfunded so lags greatly.