Field of Dreams Tour - Plymouth
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Sunday was our chance to totally play tourist and head back in time with the pilgrim experience. We're in Plymouth, Massachusetts - famed in song and story as the first settlement in America. In truth, it wasn't - not only had the disastrous Roanoke and Jamestown settlements passed a decade earlier, but the English settlers at Plymouth found native Americans reeling from a recent devastation by bubonic plague brought to the by European fisherman and fur trappers in Maine.
The Plimoth Plantation is nice recreation of the original settlement, representing both the experience of Native Americans (the Wampanoag's) and the English settlers (half of whom were "The Puritans"). There is both a Wampanoag village and an English village to visit, each populated by actors who speak to you in character. The Wampanoags are actual native Americans from the local tribes. They speak to you in character, but both about life as a native in the 17th and in the 21st while the actors portraying the Pilgrims speak to you strictly as inhabitants of the 17th century. They're good actors, who are well read on history and provide a marvelous teaching experience. When you ask them difficult questions (like kidnapping and enslavement of natives), they give great answers and politely handle all manner of ignorant, difficult and rude tourists in surprisingly deft fashion!
We met our friends Mike, Betsy and Hannah Lee at the Plantation. Cherie and Mike worked together eons ago at Oracle - back when our computers were powered by dinosaurs on treadmills - and we've all been friends for a long time now. Mike and Betsy live in Wellesley, only about a half an hour from Plymouth. Hannah is the same age as Zack and the three munchkins enjoy each other's company immensely (Mike and Hannah were just out visiting with us over the 4th of July). So, it was not only a chance to do Plymouth and learn a lot, but have a leisurely and casual day with friends.
After completing our tour of Plimoth Plantation, we had lunch in town with the Lee's and said our good-byes until the next day - they had a late afternoon engagement and we were heading out to spend the day with them on Monday as well as go to the Red Sox game together. We then headed down to the waterfront and saw the rest of the whole touristy Plymouth experience. "The Rock", monuments Massasoit - the Wampanoag sachem or chief; the sarcophagus containing the remains of many of the settlers who made the original passage on the Mayflower; and, of course, the Mayflower II, the replica of the original ship built in 1957. As impactful as Plimoth Plantation is, touring the replica ship really drives home what the Pilgrim experience was. 100 passengers force below decks in a space barely five feet in height and no bigger than a living room for sixty-seven days. Oh joy. Zack ate it up with a spoon and spent a long time listening to and querying a sailor in character who discussed the folly of the Pilgrim's adventure from the perspective of a European non-settler. Zoe particularly enjoyed the part of the exhibit where she was interrogated by Wampanoag custom officials about whether or not she intended to practice slavery or had brought bubonic plague with her.
Tomorrow is our last day in New England. We'll spend it hanging out with the Lee's and then heading into Boston for a Red Sox game at Fenway!