Sadly we left Rhode Island this morning, and the paradise home of our family. Thankfully they were able to join us in Massachusetts today at Plimoth Plantation.

This was especially up my alley. I love talking to people. Talking to the costumed interpreters who have spent time and effort to research and learn about the time period is awesome. 

We started at the Wampanoag encampment. There was a Native American (from the narganset tribe) burning out a canoe. The kids engaged in the activity, and I was able to ask questions. In the same area there were women cooking and beading. I was interested to talk about how Canada treated its native population, and about eugenics in the NA population in the USA. 

Then we moved on the the watchtower and village. There were a number of period interpreters as well as houses to walk through, and one specially geared for kids to play in, including outdoor toys. 

The nagging question I had as we walked through was why plimoth? It isn’t the oldest settlement. It isn’t even the oldest English settlement. So why is it we emphasize this one so much? Why every American child knows about it. First I asked a costumed interpreter, which didn’t work out, because it was 1624 and there wasn’t much emphasis either way yet. Then I asked a docent. Then I looked it up. 

The most I could gather is that plimoth had pilgrims. These people embodied “the American spirit.” They came here searching for freedom to be themselves, to practice their own faith, and were do-it-yourselfers. Jamestown (the first English settlement) was founded for profit, with many intending to move back to England.

The part that sticks in my craw a bit is the religion aspect. We revere these pilgrims, but they weren’t seeking freedom of religion, they were seeking freedom to practice *their* religion. There was one church, one faith, one preacher, and you were required by law to attend, even though there were people of two different beliefs in the settlement. 

It has planted a seed of thought about the religious undercurrent in our society. Don’t get me wrong, I *really* appreciate being able to have my freedom of religion. But I’m not sure that it is as free as we like to think it is. I think there is still a lot of prejudice about what is the right or wrong belief. That isn’t true freedom to me.

We did have to say our goodbyes to the cousins at the end of the day. I sure will miss these folks! We finished with lots of laughs at chilis for dinner.

After dinner my family headed over to a couple of the historic sites. We walked the old burying grounds (which is the location of the original fort), which has graves dating back to 1681, and pilgrims who came over on the mayflower.

Plymouth Rock, which I wasn’t disappointed with bc I remembered it was small.