Captain’s Log…Day Four Continued ~ “You Can’t Close a Rock. How do You Close a Rock?”

One of the main things I kept telling the children before we started our journey was, “…and you’ll get to see Plymouth rock!!”

IF YOU HAVE X-RAY VISION…

and THIS is how you close a Rock.

fixed rock closed

This sign essentially says, “Closed for Repairs”.

closed sign

So, what’s happening is that they are repairing the portico that covers Plymouth Rock. It’s sort of darkly humorous that the portico was built in the neoclassical style to suggest permanence, stability and strength, and is falling apart. Perhaps, instead of a structure built to look like granite, but containing terra cotta tiles, mortar and other materials, it should have been built with say…granite? It’s just one of my crazy theories. I’m just throwing that out there.

I have to say that I’m a bit embarrassed that during my planning of this trip, I missed the fact that the rock would be closed during our visit. However, I would have made the stop anyway. So, I’m out nothin’ except a few bucks at the gift shop. DS#1 got a tiny Plymouth rock with 1620 stamped on it; DS#2 got an “hourglass”, a 60 second timer that he adores (glad he’s thrilled) and a bookmark with the history of his name (which is crazy because his name is just short for a much longer name and has nothing to do with the actual history). DD & I restrained ourselves and just bought some postcards. AND of course, we were there…and almost saw the rock. LOL

We did get to tour the Mayflower II. That was pretty cool. They had people who were dressed in period costumes and talked to you as if they had just traveled over on the Mayflower. It was very interesting. You really got a sense of how totally scary it must have been to sail on that small ship. Yes, it is small, especially compared to the many ships we’ve seen so far. Plus, they had over 100 people on board. Unreal. They must have been packed in like sardines. It was crowded just touring it with other people. We were reminded that fathers left their families and traveled to the New World. That almost made us cry when we thought of DH being alone on that ship, since he’s alone now. We “got it” a bit more than we would have if we weren’t already out of our comfort zones. Then we had to think of our whole family being on that ship and what that must have been like. Half of the people who came over died in the first year. Tough, tough stuff.

We looked up at the crows nest and tried think about climbing up there to look for land. It looks easy in the movies. Not so in real life. I barely wanted to reach over the sides to grab the ropes that you’d need just to get started climbing. DD was telling me what she would and wouldn’t have done back then. It was tough to get her to strip away our modern world and try and see their journey for the life and death adventure it was. She’s a smart girl, but let me tell you…you’re reading this on a computer. The world is too much with us most of the time. It’s tough to imagine our lives without our tentacles of necessity. I couldn’t even point to an area directly around us to prove my points of what they must have seen. It took imagination and a forgetting of our selves in this day and time. Tough to show when I looked about and saw helicopters, stores, tons of little boats and yachts, people from all over the world milling around, cars driving by…etc.

Plymouth Rock on the Left; Mayflower II on the Right

cape

 

This is part of how busy the Cape is…

 

cape

 

If you want to see photos of how the rock looks when it is open, follow this link. Yes, I see it shows the dates it’s closed. Don’t be a wiseguy.

 

I’ve gotta motor if I’m gonna get these kids to breakfast.

 

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One Comment

  1. ChuckDickson says:

    Sounds like you guys are having a great time! You are seeing a lot of history that the kids will never forget. Thank DGD for the card from Mystic! We all are really enjoying reading about the trip and can’t wait to hear all the stories first hand.

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