Massachusetts

I confess… I don’t remember many details regarding American History from having gone through school. I bypassed 4th and 5th grade when I moved to the US. In middle school, I was learning English and didn’t find US history interesting or understand much of it. Come high school, I had other things on my mind besides The Pilgrims and The Revolutionary War! I learned more US history while homeschooling my girls and took more interest in it. I think it’s because I’m an adult now, and the older I get, I feel like I find more interest in things I never cared about before.  We have learned so much by visiting Massachusetts. The history of the US started here, and you can see it everywhere you go.

Home where Nathaniel Hawthorne lived while visiting his cousin, and wrote House of the Seven Gables. He is also the author of The Scarlet Letter (You remember reading it in high school, right?)

 Being in the old historical buildings, statutes, and homes that are hundreds of years old, stepping inside them gives one the feeling of stepping back in time and into the life of that person, be it a writer, a solider, or even a “witch.”

I have to say my favorite tour that we did was the Plymouth Plantation. I would highly recommend this to anyone planning on visiting MA.  Plymouth Plantation is basically a living museum. It’s incredible in that people are dressed as they were in the 1600’s when the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, MA. They “live” in this village that is a replica of what a village would have looked back then. You can go inside their homes where they are doing their daily chores, taking care of their animals, gardening, sewing, carving wood, etc… You can ask them questions regarding their journey on the Mayflower from England, their way of life here, their daily activities, and anything you can imagine reading in a history book regarding these pilgrims.

A pilgrim was showing us how he uses his carbine.

One of the men was watering his garden. He was so full of information. He told us it took them two months voyage of the Mayflower, another six months of living on the vessel before they could come on land and build their homes because of the winter months.

A typical house and garden in the village where people grow their food

Inside of a house

Woman sewing cloth dolls for her children

Plymouth Plantation

Visiting Massachusetts was the perfect trip this summer, since my daughters just finished 5th and 8th grade where they were studying US history. I feel we were able to see all the things they learned about and it was an amazing experience.