From Falmouth to Plymouth

Sorry to have fallen off the Blog wagon mid-way through the trip. I'll pick up where we left off...in Falmouth.

After checking out of the "Inn on the Sound", we decided to rent bikes. There is a 7 mile bike path that runs along the ocean from Falmouth to Woods Hole. The path was once a railroad line. When the railway abandoned the route, the city paved over the line, and turned it into a bike/walking path. Here is a bit of the scenery along the path.

After returning the bikes, we headed for Plymouth. My guide book warned me that "Plymouth Rock" was not the looming boulder one pictures when thinking about the Pilgrim's landing. Somehow, I still expected a bit more than the "Plymouth Stepping Stone" we found awaiting us.

The original rock was 13 feet long by 3 feet wide. Evidently, someone thought it would be a good idea to move Plymouth rock. Somehow, during the move, the rock broke into two pieces and the executive decision was made to leave one piece behind. When the remaining piece was moved back to it's semi-original position in Plymouth, this my friends, is what was left.


And, here is a pic of the Mayflower II.

This ship was built in the 1950's. It sailed with a small crew to Plymouth rock and remains docked there. Now, the great thing about this ship, is that it really helps you to understand what the Pilgrim's had to endure in order to get here. The ship is much smaller than I expected. It looks like there should be room for approximately 30 people. In actuality, it held 104 people (half of which died during the voyage), as well as all of the provisions they would need for the 3 month journey.

The not cool thing about the ship (which is not the ships fault, of course) is that there is much more hype about "The Mayflower II" in Plymouth than the actual Mayflower that contained the pilgrims or the famous rock that they landed upon.


Two thirds of the displays and diagrams were about the Mayflower Jr (our new name for the ship), all of the magnets and postcards in the gift shop sported the words "Mayflower II" not, "Mayflower". I am sad to report that Plymouth seemed to be the Panama City Beach of New England. The poor Pilgrims would be disappointed.

Oh, one other cool thing. The weather on the New England coast was 20 degrees below average. The day we arrived in Plymouth, it was a lovely 52 degrees. There were sporadic showers throughout the day. It lent an authentic feeling as we toured the ship. The weather would have been similar when the Pilgrim's reached the rock.