On 05/23/2012 we traveled to Outdoor World Gateway To Cape Cod Resort in Rochester, MA. We visited Plymouth, MA on 05/27/2012 to see the Mayflower II, Plymouth Rock, and Plimouth Plantation. Visiting the ship Mayflower II is an extraordinary experience. The original Mayflower that sailed to Plymouth in 1620 no longer exists. Plimoth Plantation’s full-scale reproduction, Mayflower II, was built in Devon, England and crossed the Atlantic in 1957. The details of the ship, from the solid oak timbers and tarred hemp rigging to the wood and horn lanterns and hand-colored maps, have been carefully re-created to give you a sense of what the original 17th-century vessel was like. Come aboard and learn about the 1620 voyage of Mayflower, the perils of maritime travel, and the tools of 17th-century navigation. Explore the cramped quarters of the ship’s passengers. Peer down into the lower level “hold,” where the food, clothing, furniture, tools and other items necessary to start a colony were stored. Admire the “spacious” Master’s cabin, and compare it to the wet and windy accommodations of the common sailors. You will also hear the tale of a modern Englishman’s dream to build and sail Mayflower II as a symbol of American and British unity after World War II. The picture is of the Mayflower II.
Pilgrim Memorial State Park is one of the most heavily visited parks in the state parks system. Nearly one million people a year come from all over the world to visit the town where in 1620 Europeans first made a home in New England and to see Plymouth Rock. This simple glacial erratic boulder on the shore of Plymouth Harbor has become a world famous symbol of the courage and faith of the men and women who founded the first New England colony. A landscaped waterfront park provides scenic views of Plymouth Harbor. The Mayflower II, a replica of the ship that brought the first Pilgrims to Massachusetts, is anchored at the park. The picture is of Plymouth Rock.
The 17th-Century English Village is a re-creation of the small farming and maritime community built by the Pilgrims along the shore of Plymouth Harbor. In the Village, the year is 1627, just seven years after the arrival of Mayflower. The Museum selected this year for re-creation because it is well-documented in the historical sources and shows the plantation (a word that was used interchangeably with the word “colony” in the 1600s) just before the colonists began to disperse beyond the walled town and into other parts of what would become southeastern Massachusetts. The English Village brings colonial Plymouth vividly to life. Here, you will find modest timber-framed houses furnished with reproductions of the types of objects that the Pilgrims owned, aromatic kitchen gardens, and heritage breeds livestock. Engaging townspeople are eager to tell you about their new lives in Plymouth Colony. The picture is of the Town from the lower part up to the block house.
We drove to the Boston Area on 05/30/2012 and stayed at Minuteman Campground in Littleton, MA. We visited the USS Constitution in Charlestown Navy Yard and Bunker Hill National Historic Park in Charlestown, MA on 06/01/2012. USS Constitution was developed and built in response to the threat of Barbary corsairs, which threatened American merchant shipping off northern coast of Africa. Following the American Revolution, the United States’ Continental Navy and disbanded, leaving the new nation without a credible sea power to defend its interests abroad. Signed into law on March 27, 1794, by President George Washington, the Naval Armament Act called for the construction of six frigates, to be built at shipyards along the eastern seaboard. The 44-gun USS Constitution, built in Boston, was launched on Oct. 21, 1797. Following the American Revolution (1775-1783), the United States was a neutral and successful maritime trading party with England and France, countries that had been at war with each other since 1793. The British imposed embargoes and trade restrictions on America’s merchant fleet to limit trade with France, and, desperate for sailors to man her 600-ship fleet, impressed (kidnapped) more than 5,000 American sailors suspected of being former English subjects and forced them to serve aboard her ships. Also, territorial disputes over the Canadian border and America’s western frontier strongly contributed to the onset of the war. As many Americans rallied around the slogan “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights,” President James Madison declared war on England on June 18, 1812. At the outset of the War of 1812, the USS Constitution had already won all of her engagements in two wars: the Quasi War with France (1798-1801) and the Barbary Wars (1801-1805). During the War of 1812, to the surprise of both the Americans and the British, she defeated four English warships, earning each of her three captains a congressional gold medal. Upon returning to Boston from each victory at sea, the ship and her sailors were honored with parades and public adoration, and her legend grew into the national icon that “Old Ironsides” remains to this day. The picture is of the USS Constitution (Old Iron Sides).
The picture is of Abigail on one of the USS Constitution’s Cannons.
“Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” This legendary order has come to symbolize the conviction and determination of the ill-equipped American colonists facing powerful British forces during the famous battle fought on this site on June 17, 1775. The battle is popularly known as “The Battle of Bunker Hill” although most of the fighting actually took place on Breed’s Hill, the site of the existing monument and exhibit lodge. Today, a 221-foot granite obelisk marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution. The Battle of Bunker Hill pitted a newly formed and inexperienced colonial army against the more highly trained and better-equipped British. Despite the colonial army’s shortcomings, it was led by such capable men as Colonel William Prescott, Colonel John Stark and General Israel Putnam, who had experience fighting alongside the British in the French and Indian War. Although the British Army ultimately prevailed in the battle, the colonists greatly surprised the British by repelling two major assaults and inflicting great casualties. Out of the 2,200 British ground forces and artillery engaged at the battle, almost half (1,034) were counted afterwards as casualties (both killed and wounded). The colonists lost between 400 and 600 combined casualties, including popular patriot leader and newly elected Major-General Dr. Joseph Warren, who was killed during the third and final assault. The first monument on the site was an 18-foot wooden pillar with a gilt urn erected in 1794 by King Solomon’s Lodge of Masons to honor fallen patriot and mason, Dr. Joseph Warren. In 1823, a group of prominent citizens formed the Bunker Hill Monument Association to construct a more permanent and significant monument to commemorate the famous battle. The existing monument was finally completed in 1842 and dedicated on June 17, 1843, in a major national ceremony. The exhibit lodge was built in the late nineteenth century to house a statue of Dr. Warren. The picture is of the Bunker Hill Monument and Museum.
On 06/03/2012 we visited the Capitol of MA in Boston, MA. The capitol is referred to as the State House. Boston architect Peter Bullfinch spent months studying Greek and Roman temples. Then he adapted their forms for this new State House, designed rows of columns, and most daring of all, planned a large dome. At the very top he placed a gilt pinecone as a symbol of the forests that made it possible for the early settlers to survive. Governor Samuel Adams, assisted by Paul Revere, laid the cornerstone of the new State House on July 4, 1795. The building was placed on a hill in John Hancock’s cow pasture — Beacon Hill. Dome was made of wood and covered in copper by Paul Revere. The dome was first gilded in gold in 1861. Two marble wings, on either side, were added in 1917. During World War II, the dome was painted gray to disguise it as a landmark. The dome has been gilded with 23.5-karat gold leaf twice since 1948. The picture is of the MA Capitol’s South side.
The next day, 06/04/2012 we visited the Minuteman National Historic Park in Concord, MA and Lexington Green in Lexington, MA. The decade-long political feud between the British government and the American colonists, determined to retain their rights as British subjects, came to a devastating climax as British regulars clashed with colonial militia and minute men on April 19, 1775 at Lexington, Concord’s North Bridge and on the long, bloody road back to Boston. The fighting that began that day soon grew into a war for independence that lasted more than eight years. Many years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson used the phrase “the shot heard round the world” to describe the significance of this event. The story of Minute Man is more than just the events that took place at the North Bridge and along the Battle Road in 1775. Minute Man is also the story of an evolution of the ideals of freedom and liberty, and new notions of cultural independence and citizen responsibility which led to a revolution in American literature the following century. The ideals of both revolutions continue today and serve as an inspiration to people throughout the world. The picture is of North Bridge in Concord, MA
