Traffic Jam!! (Day 17) 9/25/09

Today, we woke up to do some driving and visit Plimouth. We hustled out of Providence, eastward towards Massachusetts.

Plimouth plantation is the site where the settlers who had the 'first thanksgiving' settled. We first watched an orientatoin movie, and then headed towards the Wampanoag village. This was a period correct village that featured several canoes, a firepit and a shelter that resembles a longhouse of sorts. The natives who were there did not pretend to be from that period, and they answered our questions in normal language. They were very informative.

The next stop was the English settlement, which included actors who pretended that they were in fact from the 1600s. They explained the tasks of the day and we got to watch a blacksmith forge metal into staves. There were a couple funny moments, like when one actress from the english settlement was asked for a picture by a tourist. She replied 'Pitcher? The pitcher's on the table. Would you like some water?'

Our last stop at Plimouth was the Mayflower II. This is an accurate representation of the Mayflower, staffed by both modern day and period-correct actors. We went to this, learned a bit (It finally stuck for me that the poop deck is named for the old french world for 'highest', and not for practical reasons). After, we left for Hartford.

We drove back through Rhode Island (picked up a postcard) and then drove to Connecticut. We unfortunately got stuck in an hour long traffic jam on 95. Thankfully we were assigned Johnny Tremain on tape so we had something to do. After what felt like a lifetime, we finally made it to the bridge that was causing the delay. It always amazes me how when just one lane is closed off, you get stuck in it's traffic for sometimes a dozen miles.

Finally, we arrived in Hartford at the Courtyard Marriott. We quickly checked in and left for Sara's House (Dad's friend from High School) to visit. Her kids are are 13 (Julian) and 9 (Emma) and we spent the night playing guitar and Guitar Hero. Julian also plays classical guitar, as is just a couple months younger than me, which is a pretty nice coincidence.

We left, and went to bed. Another fun driving day, except for that darn traffic jam.