Plymouth, MA

Plymouth Rock is housed in the bottom of that pillared canopy.

We finally circled back around to this site! (Daddy was injured when we first moved to New England, and a day trip with lots of walking didn't sound like fun.) Our first stop was the Pilgrim Hall Museum, the oldest public museum in the country and home to the largest collection of Pilgrim artifacts. It was a small museum, but very well done.

The canopy isn't a good spot for a photo op, but the girls realized
that if I stayed above, and they climbed onto the beach, we
could get this fun photo.

The girls had a "treasure hunt" to complete throughout the museum--half a dozen pages with photos of artifacts to find and check off and questions to answer, pictures to draw, etc. It made for a much more fun and interactive visit! We got to see artwork inspired by the Pilgrims' story (including a huge, 190 year old painting undergoing restoration), examine objects they brought with them or made once they got here, take a look at important documents like their patent for colonization, and watch a video retelling their story.

After lunch we visited, Plymouth Memorial State Park, a lovely landscaped park on the waterfront that includes Plymouth Rock itself, along with several memorial statues and sculptures. Usually the park also features the Mayflower II, a replica of the Pilgrims ship open for tours. It's currently under repairs in Connecticut. We were very disappointed.

The girls make sad faces about the missing boat, while fighting back giggles
about taking a picture with something that isn't there.

One of them asked a question about why all the statues
were of Pilgrim men, then we rounded a bend and found this:
Memorial for the Pilgrim Maidens.

 We happened to be there at low tide, and the girls also managed to find a way down to the beach. They had a great time running around on the beach and rock scrambling before we climbed into the car again.

On the way home, we passed a number of strange-looking, dark fields that we figured out were cranberry fields. This, of course, led to a brief science lesson in the growing and harvesting of cranberries.