We are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful, historic town, of Plymouth, MA. (Also historically known as Plimoth.)  It’s scenic, almost everywhere you look, and as homeschoolers, it’s a world of education.  I’ll be showing you more of these parts we live in soon, but this is one place we  love to go.  It’s a great place to take a long walk, completely away from any streets and traffic.

On one is the famous Jenney Grist Mill, which has a quaint tavern and ice cream shop. (At this point in time.) The mill is only turning when they are grinding corn inside, making corn meal.

Right across a drive way is a surreal little pond, that is just so quiet, it feels like it’s own little world. Quiet enough to hear the nature.  It’s full of wild life to spot. There are birds in flight everywhere, and a swan couple.  Fish, frogs, muskrats and turtles. There is also a bridge over it all.  This is where the herring are born, and come back to in the spring to spawn, by way of the lovely brook that runs through this whole park, connecting of course, to the ocean.

The kids spotted a turtle.

Heading back the other way out behind the mill, is where you can get a good look at the herring, during the spawning time of spring.   As they swim upstream, on their journey to the fresh water pond, they are abundant and easy to observe right here. Unfortunately, we were late going to take a look this year.  They come through mid-April to mid-May.  So they beat us this year, and had already been through, and gone, before we went to check it out this past week.  We’ve been in previous years though, and it is a sight to see!  Herring fish swimming and jumping on top of each other, everywhere.  If you look just on the other side of the slanted stone wall in the photo above, you can see the ‘fish ladder’, that many of the fish use to help themselves along.

We spotted a few fish, but the real active season had really past.

The kids still re-read the herring information board at the location.

They really do have such an amazing life cycle.

Continuing to walk along, it is just so peaceful and serene, following the brook all of the way, and going through a couple overpass tunnels, that  the kids love to make echos in. That part is less than peaceful, or serene. lol

I love this photo above.  I have no idea what the interaction was about between{J} and {O}, but it just strikes me as a moment full of love and tenderness between siblings.

Just beyond this spot, continuing in the same direction,  is a large park, with lots of walk ways, another quaint foot bridge, spreads of green grass, and nice little benched areas to sit.

But we headed back to the direction we came from, because it was time to go get some dinner, and we had a long walk back first.  It was a nice evening for a family walk, but I was kicking myself for waiting so long to go, and missing the herring season.  We’ll be back here many times before that season rolls around again, because it’s a great place to take a stroll on summer nights, and throughout the fall as well.

Next year though, we’ll be sure not to miss the herring again, and I promise to take lots of photos!!

Have you ever seen herring swimming upstream in the spring?

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