Plimoth Plantation is a "unique" place. First of all, it's not in the actual location where the first Pilgrims established a town. Because duh, that's where modern-day Plymouth is. So the plantation has been recreated a few miles down the road from Plymouth. After checking into the John Carver Inn and surveying our cheap digs (but passing on the Pilgrim-themed indoor pool), we headed to Friendly's for lunch and experienced our first taste of New England. After all, we hadn't gotten out of our car since getting gas about 350 miles back. Hearing our waitress's heavily-accented English definitely signaled that we had crossed some sort of invisible line. The restaurant was filled with octogenarians, undoubtedly "the regulars" who actually live in the town, but I bet it fills to the brim in the summer with tourists like ourselves.
We drove down to the Plantation, paid the first of what was to be many entrance fees over the course of a week, and prepared to travel back in time. But it was a little bit of a letdown. The place was nearly deserted, save one school group and a few other history-lovers like ourselves. We were the only ones in the entire theater watching the introduction video! And that's where I learned the most, since the rest of the plantation wasn't exactly educational for me, due to the fact that you have to *interact* with people to get any info out of them. What a chore! M and I quickly discovered that we are not the type of people who enjoy chasing down role players and asking childish questions ("Soooo, what are you making there?") in order to elicit some small gem of information. I quickly resigned myself to taking pictures of scenery and animals and vowing to watch that PBS Colonial House series again. We first visited the Wampanoag homesite, where the people are NOT, I REPEAT NOT, role-players. They choose to work at the plantation, continuing their traditions, in order to educate visitors about the people who lived on the land when the Pilgrims first landed. One thing I did appreciate about the plantation was that they didn't gloss over any of the conflict between the Wampanoag (and other tribes) and the English. There was conflict. It existed. And the relationship was complicated, to say the least. The romantic picture of a joyful Thanksgiving where the Indians and the Christians broke bread together in thanks and friendship is just a child's fantasy. Even the plantation's logo represents this awkward coexistance very well--the Wampanoag man and the English man are presented in profile form, facing away from each other. In the video, this logo comes to life, as you see the two men walk toward each other and then pass each other before being frozen in one instant in a small frame. You get the feeling that interaction between the two was necessary and inevitable, but it was never comfortable. The uneasy cohabitation of the land wouldn't last long--someone would end up on top. And we all know how that story ends.
For a while I blended in with the school group, since then I didn't have to ask any questions due to those darn inquisitive children doing the work for me, but they were moving soooooo slooooowly that we had to move ahead. After pausing to snap a few pictures of turtles sunning themselves on a rock, we moved on to the English part and the role players. Maybe they were short-staffed, or maybe they just don't hire a lot of people for the off-season, but the Pilgrim role players were pretty scarce. We found one guy applying some kind of mud to a roof, another guy walking with a goat, and two men sitting on stools along the main drag (arguing with some kids that the new year started in March, not January), but that. was. it. The place was abandoned. But it was very scenic, and I got to witness some very cute baby goats at close range. In the gift store I picked up a booklet of bread pudding recipies as well as a biography of Anne Hutchinson, the woman who stuck it to the Puritans. Truly an amazing person! That book was my favorite souvenier of the trip. 
Next we drove back to Plymouth and toured the Mayflower reproduction that's docked in the harbor there. We walked past Plymouth Rock, but it is currently being renovated, so we couldn't see anything. The Mayflower was interesting, and there were role players there as well, but this time they were much more talkative. Below the deck, it is hard to comprehend that hundreds of people crammed into such a small space for such a long journey. I can only imagine the horrible stench that must have inhabited that place. All for what? To have the freedom to practice their religion how they wanted. It is sad and ironic that then certain groups who enjoyed this freedom turned around and denied it to those who believed differently than themselves. And yes, I am aware of the difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans.
We sat by the water and enjoyed the afternoon for a little while, then walked back to our hotel and had dinner at the restaurant in the John Carver Inn, the Hearth & Kettle. My expectations were fairly low for this place, but I was pleasantly surprised, and my nut-encrusted cod was quite tasty, as was the Sam Adams that accompanied it.
Stay tuned for Part 2: Quincy
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