Day 4 - September 2, 2001 Last updated: 9/2/01 9:30pm EDT
Today we rented a car, that was our first mistake. We drove about 50 minutes south of Boston to Plymouth to see the Plimoth Plantation. This is a recreation of a 1627 Pilgrim village. There are actors in character as members of this 17th century farming community. Those of you familiar with the Bristol Renaissance fair in Wisconsin will know how weird this can be. These people will talk to you as if they are living in 1627, so when they ask, “and you kind sir, what is your trade”, and you tell them you write software for computers, good luck trying to get that dumbfounded look off their faces. Telling them I wrote instructions to make electronic machines do things wouldn’t have worked, so I ended up telling them I perform magic and they seemed content with that. We didn’t stay there long.
There is also a recreation of a 17th century Wampanoag village. There are people dressed the part in this village, but they are not in character, they are normal everyday people that just happen to be wearing the clothing of their ancestors. They are there to show you how the Native Americans lived and to answer any questions. This was a more normal experience. We only spent about an hour at this attraction.
Below is a picture looking out over the plantation and of the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower (which we did not go on).
After lunch we walked down to see “The Rock”
No not that Rock. This is the rock that the original Pilgrim settlers allegedly landed on. I’m not convinced this is “The Rock” since it wasn’t until 1741 that someone “identified” the rock as the landing site of the Mayflower. This is over 100 years since the landing! I’m skeptical. In 1774, the rock was accidentally broken in two while being moved to the Town Square, the bottom half was left in place. In 1834, the rock was moved from the Town Square to Pilgrim Hall, wherever that is. In 1880, the rock was moved back to where the base is located, and the 1620 date is carved on the surface, replacing the painted numerals.
The rock was moved again, temporarily to another site, in 1920 to accommodate construction of the new portico, which you see here. (The Sun was in an awful position to take pictures). (You can see the rock under the arch of the portico).
Plymouth was probably not worth the price of the rental car by itself, but we had other plans. We were going to Rhode Island to see the mansions (and we figured we could check RI off the list of visited states because we could not think of another reason to ever go there). This was our second mistake. We were headed to Newport, RI, home of mansions built by people like the Astors and other old rich people. Never saw any. Apparently, Rhode Island is so small, they don’t have room for parking spaces. The traffic into Newport was a total nightmare. All the parking lots and parking garages were full. The streets were in gridlock and the police were not directing traffic, they were sitting in it like the rest of us. (And more people were coming, as we saw by the backup on the roads as we were leaving). It took about 3 hours from Plymouth, MA to get to the tip of Newport, RI. (You can drive the whole state of Rhode Island, the long way, in 40 minutes – which we clocked as we were leaving). So that the trip wasn’t a total loss, we stopped in North Kingstown for some homemade ice cream.
Mistake number three really couldn’t be helped. We had rented the car from the airport because the rental places in the city and burbs weren’t open on weekends. We got a good enough rate from the airport and it was easy to get to by “T”. Driving back from RI, we got to experience first hand the Big Dig. I thought road construction in Chicago was bad. Yikes! I guess we could have rented on a weekday, but the rates would almost double compared to a weekend day. Based on the success of our trip, I’d say I’m glad we didn’t spend more money.
While I’m complaining, I’ll tell you about the rude person at the Alamo rental counter. Usually when renting a car, most agents just ask “do you wish to decline the insurance” that they price gouge you on. This one asked “which insurance coverage would you like”. When I said none, she snottily said “make sure to get a police report when you get in an accident”. A) I didn’t plan on getting into an accident (but I guess that’s why you need insurance) and B)I’d need a police report whether I used my own insurance or not.
Dinner was lobster, again (at Hennessy’s on Union). Yummy.