Done with the Indian village, we walked through an exhibition hall full of 17th century replica pottery.
It was a bit odd. But there was a still…
And an 8 handed mug…
So that probably explains it. That, and the fact water was often polluted so they drank mostly beer and/or alcohol.
Onward to the colonist’s settlement….
First, the fort which commanded the high ground.
With it’s wonderful old cannons.
Then down into the settlement.
It was explained to us that all the employees would be playing the parts of characters based on the original inhabitants, wearing authentic clothing and speaking in the language of the period. We were encouraged to interact with them as such.
Before visiting here I was under the impression that the Pilgrims came to the new world to escape religious persecution. And while that’s true to an extent, it’s not the whole story. They actually fled to the Netherlands first, which explains all the windmills you see in this part of the country.
Read about it here.
The settlers in Plymouth were actually sponsored by England to colonize America. They were given ship’s passage and supplies and were expected to send back goods (mostly furs and pelts) to repay the investment. After 7 years of this, they were granted land… something working class people had no hope of obtaining back home.
Of course nothing went as planned. They were supposed to land in New York, but they landed in Massachusetts. They were supposed to land in September, but they landed in December.
They were supposed to fish for food, but there were no fisherman. They were supposed to build a town, but there were no trained carpenters.
Piss poor planning if you ask me.
Hell, a large percentage of them didn’t even live through the first winter.
But they’d brought some livestock…
And as we know, managed to survive if not yet thrive.
This fellow was trying to frame a window.
On the exterior of this house.
And if you think the Indians had it bad, imagine 15 people living and sleeping in here at a time.
Check out the slight list of the house on the far right. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the husband had a hand in it’s construction.
Personally, I loved the roofs…
Fashioned from rolled reeds, they begged to be petted.
In the next house we found this fellow, and the husband initiated a conversation.
I’m guessing the man had stage experience, because he was seriously deep in character.
Working there must be an interesting job.
River's world..... 
Looks reminiscent of Sturbridge Villiage.
https://www.osv.org
I last visited there when I was in 5th grade
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Similar….yes.
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It was actually for a class field trip (the learning type) we all had projects to do – even to mapping out (not to scale) the general layout. The “actors” are very good at what they do.
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Hubby and I watched a couple different shows on Amazon prime that remind me of this. Both had to do with historical recreations of how Brits celebrated Christmas. One was Victorian and the other was Tudor, but I can’t remember the exact titles. The people in it were more history geeks than actors, but it was still interesting.
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I’m a total history nerd. Love this stuff!!!
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The problem with how Plymouth Colony is presented is that visitors only get one side of the story (unless things have changed in the years since I’ve experienced such sites). Here is another side:
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/native-group-seeks-truthful-telling-of-pilgrim-and-indian-history/4666605.html
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The Indian village touched on some of that. Of course the English village was filled with English characters and did not.
( But we are just finishing up 2 weeks in Williamsburg , to include Jamestown and it’s much more devoted to the real history)
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Poor planning indeed! I’m surprised your hubs didn’t want to take one of those canons home, lol. 🤣
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He drools regularly at these historic sites…
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I had hope!!! The first picture was of dinner dishes–and what did we get??? Old men, old houses and canons!!
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It was Plymouth… what did you expect, old corn?
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Sure!
Old corn will work – unless you have some rocks
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I bet you don’t have many posts that include photos of chamber pots under the bed! Love the guy in the video; he’s good! I’m sure he loves it when visitors like your husband ask him questions, giving him a chance to playact.
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You’d be surprised how many chamber pots I’ve photographed over the years… 😳
But yes, he was the best character there. Totally into it!
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I keep seeing a lot of buildings that remind me of your baby barn.
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Coincidence…?
Probably not.
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No Fredfix on that listing house either I take it?
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I’m sure he would have tried, if we’d had the time…..
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yup~
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