Plymouth with Vanda

July 2012

All Pages of This Report

Vanda recently visited us for a bit, on her way to Maine. We took advantage of her visit to go to Plymouth. You might remember that we went last year as well, when Francesco was here.

So you can get a good feel of historic Plymouth, I will put up most of the pictures. This means that I will divide this in to a few pages, since otherwise it would take a very long time to load. The first picture is us in the entrance area of the Mayflower 2.

Vanda and Paul standing together in the entrance area of the Mayflower II exhibit with a Pilgrim cutout figure behind them

The entrance area has a lot of information about the times. The Indian population in the Plymouth area had been hit hard by disease, from previous contact with Europeans, so the settlers were able to build right on an abandoned Indian village site. Here I am next to a Pilgrim cut-out figure.

Anne standing beside a life-size cutout figure dressed as a Pilgrim in the Mayflower II entrance area

The Mayflower II is an accurate reproduction of the original Mayflower. And let me tell you, I would NOT want to have been a passenger on it. 104 passengers, plus the crew.

Close view of the side of the Mayflower II showing the rope ladder and hull beside the water

The passengers primarily stayed below deck, along with the livestock that they brought over. The current ship has more openings to the outside. During the actual voyage, there were fewer stairs, and while traveling, the windows had to be closed and sealed. So it was dark there. The crew had the head for a bathroom. They think that the passengers probably used chamber pots, which would have been dumped in to a barrel and then overboard daily (or as the weather permitted).

Dark cramped below-deck space inside the Mayflower II with rough wooden beams, rope, and a hanging basket

Below-deck interior of the Mayflower II showing heavy wooden supports and structural timbers

This was taken without the flash. Remember, this is a lot brighter than it would have actually been during the voyage.

Dim view of the Mayflower II lower deck with rough beams and ship structure

Small ship's bell mounted in a wooden frame on the Mayflower II deck

Thomas played the part of a colonist who was helping out on the ship. Many of the crew and sailors got ill, with about half of the colonists dying over the winter. The date is always in March on the ship, as Thomas reminded me. I asked about the hat. He compared to using oven mitts to handle a hot kettle - the hat acted as protection between him and the sun. Personally, I'll stick to straw hats in the summer, and not wool knit caps.

Costumed interpreter on the deck of the Mayflower II demonstrating rope-making

He was making a hemp rope (or trying to, in between questions).

Close view of the interpreter's hands twisting strands of hemp rope on the Mayflower II

You might not be able to tell in this picture, but shoe lasts at this time - and indeed for the next couple of hundred years - did not differentiate between the left and right feet. Wear would eventually designate one shoe as right and one as left, or the wearer could deliberately swap them around for more even wear.

Close view of the interpreter's leather shoes and wool stockings on the deck grating of the Mayflower II