Boston Vacation, Day 6

This somewhat overcast, off-and-on sprinkly day started out with us leaving Taunton, Massachusetts, and heading out toward New Bedford, Massachusetts, where there is/was big whaling industry.  We began with a walking tour from the National Park Services'  historical building.  (We have discovered on this vacation in particular that the NPS give very good tours.)

This was a type of boarding house for sailors.  It still basically is, but it has been closed for a couple of years for repairs and renovations, but we were told that up until the point where it closed it was still renting rooms for $10 to folks who could show their seaman's papers. 

This is the Seaman's Bethel, or house of worship....still in use for nondenominational services.

I just liked these views from near the harbor in New Bedford...it looks like I had pictured New England area to look like. I also like on top of this building, the weather vane does not have a rooster, but a whale....

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From New Bedford we traveled to Falls River, Massachusetts; it was a fine enough little village; and then moved on to Newport, Rhode Island. It was the first time that any of us had been to Rhode Island. What I didn't know, that Bruce did know, was that Newport is known for it's "Mansion Row"...there are many, many turn of the 20th century (late 1800s, early 1900s) mansions still standing, and many of them utilized as museums now for tours. 


Which one to go to? We were going to try to find the Astor-Beechwood (I've heard of the Astors), but we ran across one that pointed us toward one called "The Breakers", which was the "granddaddy" of them all, I guess.  It is part of the Vanderbilt family history.  Below is "The Breakers".

We have toured many old home and mansions on our travels around the U.S. (one of my favorites in Charleston, SC), but this was one of the largest I must say, but also the most expensive one to get in to tour, I would think.  But on the upside, it was a self-guided walking tour, but with audio so we all had headphones, and for kids 8-12 there is a "Family Tour"...Allison and I took that one.  It was actually very good, and Allison got a kick out of it.   When we were finished, in fact, she asked if we could go back and do it again.  

The bottom two pictures (above) are, believe it or not, of the children's playhouse in the side yard.  Yes, the children had a playhouse that could very well pass of as a small residence in some areas of the country. :)  It was very cute inside, too.  What fun!

We are, tonight, in the Providence, Rhode Island, area, preparing to look around here in the morning, and then progress back up to the Boston area for a late afternoon flight back to Kansas City. I'm fine with coming home, it's probably time. Bruce on the other hand is starting to pout, and it's not a lot of fun being around him when he's like this.  

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Grandma,don't get too nervous! :)

While in Plymouth, Massachusetts, there was a festival in the park area to the side of the Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II.  I think it might have been to benefit MDA.   There were primarily food vendors and a few jewelry and fiber craft tents, and this one "ride" or activity.  We stood looking at it for a few moments, and Allison said something to her dad that I did not hear.  I asked Allison if she thought she would like to do this, thinking she might not want to, and Bruce said she was trying to talk him into letting her do it. (It was $7.)  I told her if she would go on it, I would pay for it.  I have spent a lot of my adult life especially being afraid of doing this and that, and I don't want Allison to have those fears.  If she would do it, great!    Well, she did; she marched herself right up there and waited her turn in line. When she was finished, she came walking over to us, and she said, "THAT was SO MUCH FUN!  Can I do it again!?!?!?!?"  I asked her if she was getting nervous or scared in line, "Oh, no, mom!"




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Boston Vacation, Day 5

So, where to go today?  Well, I LOVE History, and here we are in the documented oldest historical area in the "New World" (not counting the Native Americans who were already here), but the area where the Pilgrims came to settle. So, of course I wanted to go to Plymouth, Massachusetts (Bruce said to please not tell anyone that he went to a 'tourist trap'....oh yeah...geesh.)

In deciding where to go for the best experience in Plymouth, we chose to go to "The Plimouth Plantation"...I still don't know why the plantation is spelled "plimouth" and the town is "Plymouth" but I'm wanting to find out. 


"The Plimouth Plantation" is a replica of what the Wampanoug Indians would have been like, as well as an English settlement/village.


Inside the Visitor's Center at the beginning there is a small replica of the Mayflower ship, but this one is called the "Mooflower"...we thought that was pretty cute. 

The first 'leg' of the plantation was the Wampanoag area...in my opinion, it was the best part.  It was very interactive, and provided an insight, interesting insight, and hands-on.

There was a young man burning out a small log just like they would do for a larger log to burn out a boat. 

These guys were showing how to make cornhusk dolls, and people could sit down there with them, and make them too. 

Allison and I each made one; she made a girl doll and I made a boy doll. 

A lady was cooking up a bunch of different food items over a fire...soups with different fish and mussels and vegetables and spices and herbs. 

The fish wrapped in cornhusks were interesting concept to me....

Grinding some corn....

Inside some of their homes....

This was a hoot...   The man on the left was demonstrating some different games and activities for the kids, etc.  The guy on the right was the one making the boat. He came over and they trash talked and stuff and played this "Hub, Hub, Hub" game with white/black disks. When they were finished, Allison says, "Can I play?" so the guy shows her how to play the game. Now I should interject here that the guy has been winning all of the games that we were sitting their witnessing.  

Well, guess what?  Miss Allison beats him! :)   She LOVED the fact she beat him, and he played it up that he couldn't believe she beat him, etc.  It was funny!

After a walk down a path and up a bunch of stairs, we came to the English Village.  The buildings were about what I thought they would be like, a little older and worn down, but I was surprised by all the weeds, but Bruce assures me that they probably would not have had time to keep it cut back and neat. I don't know. 

The village, too, had folks around to answer questions, but didn't really do anything hands on for the visitors. There were ladies in the gardens behind the houses, but there was nothing for the people to experience otherwise. 

Back in the visitor's center, there was a children's exploration room, and Allison, of course, enjoyed this room. 

Outside in the courtyard while we were there, two actors with the Summer Shakespeare company demonstrated staged play sword fighting. Allison didn't even want to go watch it at first, but then talked into watching it, by the time the guys were asking if there were any volunteers who wanted to come up and learn how to sword fight, Allison was up there learning, too. :)

Upon leaving the Plimouth Plantation, we then went to an area bout three miles away that was in conjunction with the plantation.  It was where the Mayflower II was docked.  The Mayflower II is a replica of the original Mayflower ship that came over from England in 1620 and brought the men and women and some children to settle in the New World for the King of England. The Mayflower II was building in 1957.

We were able to go aboard the ship, and I simply cannot imagine being at sea for two to three months on this cramped little compartments, stuffy, with people getting sick, etc.  There were like 130 people cramped in here.  ICK!

Plymouth Rock seems to be somewhat of a joke in this area, but it still draws the tourists to view it and take a picture (like us, huh?).  They do at least admit that they don't KNOW it's the rock the Pilgrims stepped on when they arrived, but it is to commemorate this area. 

They find it so special they built a special building around it to keep it protected from further damage from the elements, as best as it can. Pretty fancy, huh?

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