Category Archives: plymouth

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II with Kids

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In addition to visiting the Plimouth Plantation I would highly recommend continuing the adventure by visiting Plymouth Rock (Free… though… not as impressive as I was expecting) and the Mayflower II.

Plymouth Rock is a fairly small rock, I feel like my toddler could have climbed it, surrounded by a monument and a bunch of fences.  It about a thirty second tour and then you’ve seen it and there is not much else to be done.

On the other hand Plymouth Rock is located on the same beach as the Mayflower II, which is worth a tour.  The Mayflower II is a replica of the original ship (Mayflower).  It was also built in England and sailed to Plymouth.  The ship was tiny!  The original ship had 130 passengers and we learned that the pilgrims all had to stay below decks (100 or so of them) along with all the animals they brought (goats, chickens & dogs.) They ended up landing at Plymouth in December (brrr) and then dying off due to exposure.  Only two people died while sailing over, and half of all the passengers and crew members died after they landed. Yikes!  All in all they ended up trapped on the ship and below decks for 7 months, though sailing there only took 2 months… the rest of the hardship was finding somewhere to live and building shelters.

I learned (probably relearned since I’m sure my history teachers covered it along the way at some point) this from the actors on the boat telling their stories, which were fantastic.  The sleeping space looked awful and tiny, and I am shocked only two people died on the way over… I would have suspected a lot more murders with them being confined to that tiny space.

After we walked around the Mayflower II we decided to take a short walk up the city hill to the local cemetery.  Along the way we were able to see some of the original house and the cemetery was where the first pilgrims were buried.   We ended our tour with a quick run through the grist mill and then we all needed some time off our feet, trying to see the Plimouth/Plymouth Plantation, Mayflower II and Grist Mill all in one day is a fairly exhausting endeavor…

Things to Note:

1) Parking
There are free and paid areas to park, and you can ask where they are when you buy your tickets.  When we went to see the Mayflower II we ended up parking by the Grist Mill and walking a 1/2 mile or so to the ship.  We were happy to do it because the trail was really scenic and we were able to drop by Plymouth Rock along the way.

2) Pricing
There are a bunch of options for pricing depending on how many of the Plymouth attractions you want to see.  They range in scope from about $20 – $30/Person.  You can find out more here: http://www.plimoth.org/plan-your-visit/hours-prices

3) Stroller Friendliness
This part of the Plymouth experience was not very stroller friendly.  We took our stroller on the 1/2 mile walk from our car to the Mayflower II, but from there on you will need to either have someone stay behind with your stroller/young child or you will need to give your stroller to the people at the desk to keep an eye on and carry your child onto the ship.

4) Child Friendliness
Again this part of the tour was not super baby/toddler friendly.  Seeing a lot of the ship requires you to be able to move up and down some fairly steep/narrow stairways and your child/children will likely need a fair amount of help to do it safely.

5) The Experience
The Mayflower II is populated with actors portraying people that actually traveled on the Mayflower.  They spend the time going about their daily business, talk in accents, and answer questions as if they were actually there.  I thought it was a really fun way to learn more about the Mayflower and what conditions on board were like.  I also really liked talking to the woman on the ship and finding out that her parents sent her away on the ship to find a husband… and mostly to get rid of her.  It was both horrible and fascinating learning about that kind of culture.

Summary and Rating ★★★★☆

Four Stars.  This was a fairly expensive history lesson, but one of the best and most engaging I’ve had.  Being about the see people dressed from the time period and interacting with them was a blast.  I loved being able to direct this history lesson and learn more about the things that I though were interesting in the form of personal conversation, rather than reading similar things from a information card.  Again the Mayflower II allows children, and mine really enjoyed being able to touch things and walk around, but they are going to need a fair amount of supervision while on the boat.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Plimouth Grist Mill
6 Spring Lane
Plymouth, MA 02360

Plimouth Plantation’s Mayflower II
State Pier (across from 74 Water Street)
Plymouth, MA 02360

Phone: 508.746.1622
Website: https://www.plimoth.org/

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting the Plymouth Plantation with Kids

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Recently we headed down to Plymouth to see the Plimouth (original spelling) Plantation.  There they have  recreated the village to mimicked the original one, and they have actors who walk around talking like old English people and answering questions etc.  It sounded cool and we had heard lots of good things about it.

On the plantation you start by visiting the Indian Village and I was a little hesitant about this part, not because I didn’t want to see and learn from the Native Americans, but because I was afraid it would seem… I don’t know, exploitative and wrong somehow. The Native Americans were dressed in traditional garb, but they didn’t speak like actors, instead they told us about what life used to be like for their tribes and it was really cool.

These Native Americans were part of a matriarchal society, the elder women got to decide when someone was old enough to be married, and that was based on their ability to do the chores and other things that needed to be done.  Once they were established as old enough the woman would go out and pick a husband and bring him back to her village.  Food was said to be plentiful and they only needed to work around 3 hours a day to maintain their lifestyle, the rest of the day was for them to do whatever they wanted, which didn’t sound too bad to me…

Then we walked over to the pilgrim village.  The village was fairly big and all of the houses were both open and furnished, so you could walk in and sit on a rough feather bed, and pick up a brass kettle… which meant our son was trying very hard to play with all the ceramic pottery… eek.

We went in early September and the bad part about the village is it was dry and so so hot.  It felt like walking through a dessert.  The baby was hot, we were all sweating, and it was hard to plow along for long periods of time.  We met up with one of the actors and got to ask her some question.  My husband said her expression was priceless when I asked I could take a photo with her, you could see her not knowing how to respond while saying in character.  Anyway, she let me.  The village was cool, and it was a lot of fun to be able to direct the history lesson and experience it in such a hands on way.  

Things to Note: 

1) Price

So if you’re going to make the trip to Plymouth you will probably want to see more than just the plantation.  In a near proximity to the plantation there is also the Mayflower II (patterned after the Original Mayflower that you can climb on and ask actors questions about) and the Gist Mill, where you can see how flour and the like was ground.  You can buy a ticket to see any one of the attractions or a ticket to see any two or even all three of them.  For all three the tickets run about $30/person, two of the three is generally about $20/person.   You can view more specific details here: http://www.plimoth.org/plan-your-visit/hours-prices
2) Parking
Parking is free at the Plantation and there is nice big lot.  They also offer golf cart rids to those with mobility issues, which makes for a pretty fantastic family visit with the old and young.
3) Stroller Friendliness
Yes!  This is mostly an outdoor attraction and there are trails and paths everywhere, as well as lots of walking involved.  Bring a stroller is your child still uses it. 
4) Child Friendliness   
Perfect for children.  Lots of big open spaces, plenty of space to run around in and hands on exploration.  Kids can climb on the beds, sit in the chairs, hold the pots, visit the farm animals and interact with the actors.  My son was only 1.5 years old at the time and he loved it, everyone I’ve talked to with older kids said they also had a fantastic experience.

Summary and Rating ★★★★☆

Four stars.  It was a little bit expensive, but I thought this place was a blast.  We went during the off season, but I’ve heard that there is even more to do during the on-season… and probably a few more actors populating the villages, when we went there were only five or six and the village is quite big.  There is a lot of open space for kids and it’s really fun to be able to talk to the actors, ask them questions, learn about why they did the things they did etc.  I also thought it was really fascinating to be able to compare the lifestyles of the early pilgrims to those of the Native Americans, it would have been nice if they could have picked up a few tips from the Natives who seemed to have life pretty well figured out.   I would highly recommend this trip, it was one of the most engaging and interesting history lessons I’ve ever gotten to experience.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Plimoth Plantation 
137 Warren Avenue
Plymouth, MA 02360

Phone: (508) 746-1622
Website: https://www.plimoth.org/
Hours: 9am-5pm 7 days a week