Pilgrim's Pride

Thanksgiving in Plymoth! Almost...Gretta visited Boston the weekend of November 21. The highlight of the trip was the 1627 Harvest Dinner at Plymouth plantation, but there were many other fun adventures, too. While the big kids were in school on Friday, Camille and Gretta hiked the African-American Heritage Trail with Ezra.
The trail led through upscale Beacon Hill, with its brownstones, window boxes, and cute dogs in sweaters. We also stopped at the Old Schoolhouse, where African children went to school in the early 1800s. A court decision in 1855 integrated Massachussetts schools. There were pictures on the walls of early heros like Frederick Douglas, born into slavery in the South, who taught himself to read and became a great author and orator. Jonny studied Frederick Douglas' books in college last year.We spent Friday evening at the Science Museum. Highlights included checking out the microscopes and the exhibit on Legends and Myths. The kids chose their favorite mythical beasts (stuffed versions) at the gift shop. Annie chose a unicorn and Gretta and Jono both chose dragons.

Gretta was badly tempted to add one more red dragon to her collection of table decorations for Chinese dinners.

A crowd of Cub Scouts was spending the night in the museum. We joined them for Dippin' Dots (a very strange sort of ice cream--frozen, tiny, round bits of cookies and cream). On Saturday afternoon, Jono asked, "Where do you think those Cub Scouts are now?" We assured him they had probably found their way back to their own beds by then, and were probably still sleeping off the experience!

Sophia and Gretta explored the new American Girl store at Natick Mall, as Sophia's birthday adventure. Sophia will turn four in December, before she sees her grandma again. Sophia chose a pink blouse and blue sweatshirt that exactly matched her doll's. Sophia also chose a strawberry ice cream cone with sprinkles.

We started our 1627 Harvest dinner with a visit to the Mayflower II, a reproduction of the ship on which Dave's ancestor, John Alden, had traveled from England.We climbed down into the cramped sleeping quarters where the Aldens would have been allotted one bed, which would have lurched with every wave.The settlers carried cannons with them, to protect themselves from unknown enemies in the New World.Next stop was Plimoth Plantation, for our dinner.All the recipes were adapted from dishes from the 1600s--lots of meat and fish, and big dishes of cabbage and mashed pumpkin, followed by real Holland cheese (the Separatists, or Pilgrims, spent a decade in Leyden, Holland, before traveling to America). Our favorite part of the evening was the entertainment--colonists wandering the dining room, telling us about their lives, and warning us about the loose-morals of the "minstrels" who sang 17th century love songs.And no trip to Boston would be complete without enjoying the many moods (and clothing changes) of cute Ezra.