Seeing PLYMOUTH… Where it ALL BEGAN!

July 18, 2019

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We made a day trip into Plymouth, Massachusetts yesterday and learned soooo much about the early beginnings of AMERICA and also found a few NEW PLACES that needed to be explored. If you will follow along with the numbered pictures I will tell you a little about each one of them. Are you ready for a QUICK TOUR of downtown Plymouth? Here we go:

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1. SURFSIDE SMOKEHOUSE was a GREAT place overlooking Plymouth Harbor to stop for lunch. They allowed us on their covered open-air patio because we were in a covered stroller but I’m not sure if they allow doggies who are just on a leash. This stroller REALLY DOES come in handy sometimes. ??? The food was soooo delicious (Mummy and Daddy reported, but we had none of it… they brought a few of our snacks and we had those instead). Mummy had the lobster quesadilla which was so good she said she almost cried!!! The owner stopped by our table to say hello and tell us about her own RESCUE DOGGIE who came all the way from Puerto Rico! It was a really nice place to cool off because it was sooooo hot outside, like 92 degrees, but there were only outdoor ceiling fans for circulation and a slight breeze from the water so it was still pretty hot… but at least it was COVERED!

2. CUPCAKE CHARLIE’S has been voted “The best cupcake in New England” and won lots of other awards. They have 4 or 5 other locations here and also in Rhode Island but they are ALSO KNOWN as the RUNNER UP on “Food Network’s CUPCAKE WARS!” They always have 16 varieties of freshly made cupcakes to buy, and BOY-OH-BOY our parents said they were GREAT. We didn’t get any so we will take their word. They chose the GRANNY’S CARROT CUPCAKE and the VANILLA ON VANILLA CUPCAKE but if they see another location they will try MORE!      ?❤️???

3. The IMMIGRANT STATUE is located in the lovely little Brewster Garden area next to the Town Brook. It was designed by artist Barney Zeitz and dedicated in 2001. The 6 faces of men and women represent America’s 1st immigrants and were designed to reflect the different backgrounds of people who have immigrated to the USA. The eagle at the top is a reminder of the freedom that immigrants are looking for when they come to our country. ❤️

4. PLYMOUTH ROCK … Everyone has heard of this rock but we were ALL SHOCKED at the information that we learned here. It is a LOT of stuff so I am going to give you the CLIFF NOTES on it. First of all, Plymouth is NOT where the “MAYFLOWER” originally landed. They landed in Provincetown, Massachusetts and came over this way a little bit later. Days or weeks or something. Also, I was expecting to see this HUGE ICEBERG of a BOULDER, you know, like what hit THE TITANIC… but sitting below at water’s level under a covered monument sits a BIG SMOOTH STONE engraved with 1620, which the Pilgrams most certainly did NOT engrave. Soooo…. this big rock originally sat at another location on Plymough harbor and it WAS a lot bigger, but NOT TITANIC BIG. The original rock used to be 3 times bigger than what we saw today, but whatever. It’s still a BIG ROCK and I wouldn’t be able to pick it up!!! Back in 1741 people decided to move it to a more prominent location due to its “suspected” significance. This was over 120 years AFTER the Pilgrims had landed and no one had even SUGGESTED that this was the ACTUAL ROCK that the Pilgrims put their buckled shoes upon, and there was no mention of it in any of the Pilgrim’s diaries. But someone said it was “the rock” so everyone climbed on-board and the big move was planned. As they were moving the rock it broke, so they moved the chipped off part, instead of the larger part they intended to move. Many more years passed and more new people decided to MOVE IT BACK to the water where it HAD BEEN, and there it sat… until more new people realized that vandals and tourists were chipping away pieces of the rock! Yet again another move was planned to the nice covered spot where it sits today, several feet below visitors, down near the lapping water and behind an iron fence. When the tip of the stone was being moved, it cracked IN HALF… OMGOSH, THIS POOR STONE HAS HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH!!! They superglued it back together (you can see the seam) and here it sits today. The Historical Society (you know, the same people who don’t let doggies into the “cottages” up in Newport ???) say this about the stone:

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It is the fact that they landed – and remained – that matters, not where they landed. Yet it is no bad thing for a nation to be founded on a rock. – Rose T. Briggs

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The first winter in the New World, only 53 of the 102 passengers and 1/2 of the 30-man crew, had survived. The rest had died from malnutrtition, disease or exposure to the harsh New England winter. Plymouth Rock today is seen as solid, steadfast and everlasting and is an icon for the birth of a nation. ?❤️??

5. The RICHARD SPARROW HOUSE was built in 1640 and is said to be the oldest house in Plymouth. In 1633, Richard Sparrow, his wife Pandora, and their son Jonathon arrived in New Plimoth. As a freeman he was given a house tract of 6 acres in 1636. He was required to build a house on the land within 4 years. The original house had only one room on each floor and was considered very nice for the time. It is open for tours but we were just strolling around the town and didn’t try to go inside so I don’t know if they will let doggies peek in or not. I think you only look inside the one room downstairs and the house is attached to a gift shop.

6. The PLIMOTH GRIST MILL was built in 1636 by the Pilgrims after more than a decade of grinding corn by hand with a huge wooden mortar. This mill is a reproduction of the water-powered mill built by the Pilgrims. You can tour the mill and watch them grind the organic corn into cornmill, and they sell bags of the product too! If you aren’t in the area, you can go to their website and have some shipped to you. Since we didn’t get to visit the inside of the mill, Mummy will order a bag to make her famous CORNBREAD RECIPE that is in my COOKBOOK… and if you haven’t tried it, she says YOU WILL NEVER, EVER EAT A BETTER CORNBREAD!!!

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WHEW! I know that was a LOT of reading but there is a LOT of history here, and we barely touched what Plymouth has to offer. We were all VERY HOT and ready to cool off at The YORKIE EXPRESS so we called it a day and headed back, to talk about Pilgrims and rocks and ships and DINNER! ??