Plymouth Off The Beaten Path

One of the best ways to see Plymouth by land and sea is the Splashdown Duck Boat Tour. Located next door to the Governor Bradford Hotel, this tour is a lot of fun for everyone.

The big kick is to see the Plymouth Rock location from the water side, and the water ride past the replica of the Mayflower. Close your eyes as you pass the Mayflower replica and you can feel the riggings blowing in the wind of your own 2 masted schooner. Ahoy!!!

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One hundred and eighty acres that surround Little Pond on the west side of Plymouth.

The park offers: four supervised beaches for swimming and wading; picnicking areas both up the hill and along the pond; paved walking/jogging routes; raw nature trails for hikers and birders; restroom facilites.

The best part of the year to visit is in the summer when there is some nice cool breeze to ward off the heat of july and august.
The springtime is very swampy and the pond area often overflows into the lower picnic grounds.
The brochures show trail-skiers in the winter and a frozen pond that is quite beautiful in its austerity.

to get there:
exit off route 3/ US44 on to Summer Street and head west about 1 mile and see the park entrance signs. Be careful when driving in the park because the roads are very narrow and joggers often use the edges of the pavement.

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The General Society of Mayflower Descendants was founded in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1897. My grandfather always wanted my mom to prove that we were descended from the Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower, so she told me about the Mayflower House Museum. The museum is around the corner from Plymouth Rock, so we could walk to it from where we parked, but I don't think we went in. The house itself was built by Edward Winslow, the great-grandson of Edward Winslow, third Governor of Plymouth Colony, and was purchased by the society in 1941.

There are tours of the house, which I think are free, and there is a library for genealogical research on the grounds. The statue of the Pilgrim Mother is also here.

This equipment is used to get the berries from the water to the trucks (thru a chute) to haul the berries to a processing plant for shipping and juice making, etc. It's pretty chilly out there and the men are in high boots out in the water up to their knees.

Did you know that cranberries grow on vines? I didn't. They are delicate little upright vines...which grow in sandy soil...with trenches all around them in order to be able to flood the bog. The trick is to wait until it is cold enough for them to turn red...but don't wait so long that you catch a frost and lose the entire crop. OUch!
Here the berries are harvested into a flooded area, where they are "corralled" and will later be vaccumed up into a truck to take to a processor.

Altho I've lived in New England most of my life, I had never visited a cranberry bog with a good tour guide. It was fascinating to see the bog up close...and have them explain the harvesting process..dangers of frost...and when they might do a different...dry...pick. That is when they sell whole berries as opposed to making sauce or juices.

Not exactly off the beaten path, but not quite on Cape Cod is Plimoth Plantation (http://www.plimoth.org/Museum/museum.htm) , near Plymouth. It's the best historical recreation site I have been to (and I've been to a few). There are two areas: a native American area, where the people dress in theme, but are not in character, and a Pilgrim Fathers area, where they are both in costume and in character. This was particularly interesting for me since I come from Boston, England, where the Pilgrim Fathers were imprisoned before setting off for America. I was able to talk to 'some of the original' Pilgrim Fathers from the Mayflower. We discussed Boston, and the people there. While I wasn't trying to trick them, the staff showed a remarkable background knowledge of the period and of the countries of their 'origin'. I was very impressed.

Herbs and vegetables are grown in raised beds....sea shells mixed in to provide lime..a little sand for drainage. Seeing this village in the fall is so perfect, just before Thanksgiving. . just around harvest time.