Wednesday, September 3, 2014

9/3/14: Visiting Plimoth Plantation, Mayflower II, and Plimoth Grist Mill

I love taking the kids to places that are fun to visit but there is also learning involved.  The perfect place for this is Plimoth Plantation.  Over Labor Day weekend we visited with The Heritage Pass which allowed us admission to Plimoth Plantation, Plimoth Grist Mill, and the Mayflower II.  My kids couldn't wait to explore and I couldn't wait to return as I had not been since I was a kid.
We started at Plimoth Plantation at the visitor center.
I love that you start your tour with a short video.  This gives you a good sense of what you will see and explains that many people will be acting out parts in the Plantation.  There are also some crafters in the Visitor Center as the Craft Center was under renovations.
After leaving the Visitor Center we ventured in to the Wampanoag Homesite.  
 The staff here are not role players, they are Native People either Wampanoag or from other Native Nations.
 You can ask them any questions you might have.
 Evan was trying out one of their boats.
 You can enter their wetu and learn more about how they lived.
 The kids enjoyed walking around and seeing the different wetus and imagining what it would be like to live there.
 Then we headed to the 17th-Century English Village.
The year is 1627 and all people are costumed role players that portray an actual resident of Plymouth Colony.
 It is interesting asking them about how they live as the act out how people lived in the 17th-Century.
 You can see how the slept.
 How they cooked.
Their belongings.
 Even how they built their houses.
 Here you can see the house he is working on.
Lots of chopped wood ready to go.
There is even some livestock running around.
Here are some more ladies who interacted with the kids.
 You can take your time and walk around.
 There are some beautiful views.
 Here are the kids manning the cannons.
We then headed back to the Visitor Center and ate lunch.  It appears soon there will be a new Craft center and Artisan Bakery.  Here you can see the construction going on there.
 We then headed to Nye Barn.
 We got to see a Llama there.
 Next we headed to the Plimoth Grist Mill as it is a part of the Heritage Pass.
 This is a working corn grinding mill that operates twice a week.
 When we went they were cleaning.
 Here are the kids playing around with a waterwheel.
 Lauren being silly.
The last stop was to the Mayflower II.
It is such a cool place to visit.
The original Mayflower that sailed to Plymouth in 1620 no longer exists but this is a full-scale reproduction.

The kids couldn't wait to get on.

The kids got to swab the deck.
 Plus through a container over the side to get water for cleaning.
We got to look all around.
 This ship was built in Devon, England and crossed the Atlantic in 1957. 
 It was so beautiful to see.
We visited all of these places in one day.  I highly suggest you go and visit Plimoth Plantation, the Plimoth Grist Mill and Mayflower II.
Find them online:  http://www.plimoth.org/
Twitter: @plimoth
Disclosure:  I received the Heritage Pass for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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