Isabelle has been coming home from Kindergarten for the last couple of weeks schooling me on facts about the Pilgrims, Mayflower, and Native Americans. Clearly, they are in full blown Thanksgiving prep mode in school and never to be outdone I thought I would blow her mind today and take her to the "real" Mayflower (or a replica made in 1955 - details, details). Of course, knowing I had this great idea, Mother Nature decided to give us a huge cold blast this morning but that didn't stop us. Plymouth, home of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, and other historic landmarks, is only about 45 minutes from our house so we bundled up and headed out for a girls' adventure.
When we arrived at the waterfront it was so cold - like freeze your buns off cold. We headed for the Mayflower first and the windchill in the teens scared off most other people so we had the boat largley to ourselves. They had several "pilgrims" on the ship to answer our questions and tell us stories. After the Mayflower, we walked over and checked out Plymouth Rock. By then my face was stinging from the wind and I had tears pouring down my face so we walked to the car and drove to the Pilgrim Hall Museum which was a couple of blocks away. They had lots of cool artifacts, historical information, and a fun scavenger hunt that Isabelle loved to do.
I actually learned quite a
lot today. Although I knew the history basics and had been to Plymouth a
bunch of times when I was younger, there were lots of new facts I
picked up today that I didn't know or had forgotten. I think as an adult
I also have a greater appreciation for the story and the struggles. I mean these people sailed on the boat for two months and then continued to live on the boat several more months while the colony was built in the WINTER. It was close quarters, bumpy, cold, dark, and wet. It's no wonder that half of the Pilgrims died before the first Thanksgiving. So my main takeaway from today is that I would have been one of the first Pilgrims to die. Did I mention how cold I was? There's no way I could have handled it.
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| Pink Ladies on the Mayflower |
