Citizenship Week ~ Day 3

On Friday, two days after David became an American, we went to Plymouth, where, for those of us of European and especially English descent, it really did all begin. 

David enjoys just looking out over the ocean that brought his ancestors to this new land. Whether he came to America or not, I do not know. I do know that David's ancestor, Captain John Willis, was captain of the Cutty Sark (yes, think the ship on the front of your Scotch bottle). White Hat Willis himself!

It was also very important to dangle his feet in the water of the Atlantic, a first for him and he did it first as an American.

New England lunch. Fried clams and lobster rolls at the Lobster Hut.

Walking the breakwater.

Plymouth Rock

A very helpful and interesting park ranger told us again some of the story.

Not really impressive until you realize it used to be as large as the surrounding basilica. People chopped and chipped for souvenir pieces until it was finally rescued by the Park Service.

The harbor was shallow. The Mayflower was anchored further out and the people rowed to shore in little boats.

Mayflower II.

We were late in the day and there were no others on the ship. Chris, who was in character as the first mate, told us story after story of the crossing and of other crossings the Mayflower made. There were 102 pilgrims who started out. After two births (and I cannot imagine giving birth in the hold of that ship), 104 people landed at Plymouth. This was in November, 1620. Although it was a hard winter, they survived and in April when the Mayflower returned to England, they all chose to stay in the new world. We were also fortunate to encounter a staff person not in costume and character who took us below to where the passengers lived for the 90 day crossing. It is a very tiny space ~ everything on this ship is small when you think of carrying a crew and 102 passengers.

A proud, new American who relished the history we discovered this day.

And jumping forward 150 years, we closed the day by watching 1776, a favorite of Meredith's and mine and now a part of David's American heritage.