New England - Plymouth

On the way from Boston to Hyannis, Cape Cod, we stopped by Plymouth, an important place in the America's history. On 26 December 1620, 102 men, women and children left Europe on the Mayflower to settle permanently in America. And it was in Plymouth that they landed.

We start by driving up to Burial Hill which is likely to be the oldest burial ground in America. From there we have a great view of the whole town.

The Courthouse

Kids enjoyed their morning hotdogs at yet another Farmer's market in front of the Courthouse

The Pilgrim's Sarcophagus - in there were remains of half of the pilgrims who died during the first year of their arrival

Statue of Massasoit who helped the colony survived after their arrival and he was ironically, a Wampanoag (native American)

The Pilgrim Rock - popularly believed to have been the pilgrim's stepping stone when they left the ship

All the walking sure tired us out. We took a break at a nearby park, took in some local performances, ate more hotdogs before we continued to visit more pilgrim sites.

After lunch, we visited the Mayflower II, a seaworthy replica of the 1620 Mayflower which was built in England and then sailed across the Atlantic in 1957. On board there were actors dressed in period clothing who would answer any questions as if they were the original passengers on board the Mayflower. We learnt how they went on board the Mayflower - basically they were the luck ones who managed to settled their affairs before the Mayflower set sail. We also learnt how they lived on board. The richer passengers had small wooden bed built. The bed, a space smaller than a modern day single bed would sleep mum and dad and a young child. Under the bed, a servant and the older children. The rest just scattered across the lower deck.

After Mayflower II, we drove a couple of miles out of town to visit the Plimoth Plantation. This is a place well worth visiting as it is a living model of the 1627 pilgrim's village. Once again there were actors "living" in the village and they would talk as if they still lived in the 1600s - with the appropriate accent (very impressive).

The village pastor

Tasha and the Mooflower