Plymouth MA Archives |

America’s Hometown Parade & Thanksgiving Day- 2010

December 1, 2010 By Laura 6 Comments

With Plymouth MA being America’s Hometown, and where the pilgrims first settled, we have quite the Thanksgiving Parade every year, not to mention a historical culture to enjoy all year long.

For 15 years, hundreds of thousands of people have traveled to the historic Plymouth Harbor and Waterfront to experience a bounty of authentic Americana. The celebration of Thanksgiving becomes history-brought-to-life as Pilgrims, Native Americans, Soldiers, Patriots, and Pioneers proudly climb out of the history books and onto the streets of Plymouth. You’ll see some of that in the photos to come!

There is so much to enjoy this weekend. The festivities include not only the big parade, but a crafter’s pavilion, an educational Wompanoag pavilion, food vendors, kid’s activities, the New England Food Festival, and more. It’s a very interesting and festive event, so consider coming down in the coming years, if the trip is do-able for you and your family. And give us a call while you’re here!

We had a great view of the parade, as we sat on the hill pretty much right across from Plymouth Rock. That hill can be seen in the photo on the top left below. Afterward we did a bit of walking around.

I know Thanksgiving is over and everyone is ready to move on, but I thought I would just share with you a bunch of photos I took, so you can enjoy a little of this event with us. It was a beautiful, and fairly mild day. So use your imagination, sit back and enjoy.

Not much more chatting in this post at all. Maybe just a little.

Plymouth MA Thanksgiving parade America's Hometown Many of you know that Michael is a 2nd generation sign maker and letterer. Well Michael’s father used to hand letter the Hallamore barrel wagons you see in the photos above, pulled by Clydesdale horses. That was an interesting piece of family history to share with the kids.

Plymouth MA Thanksgiving parade America's Hometown Seeing so much live history, right before your eyes, is a thrill. We are blessed to see some of it all year long, around here. With the Plimoth Plantation so close, we can step back in time, anytime! Photographing it all is so fun. Aside from the modern-dressed people all about, it’s easy to imagine you are back in time. One thing we DID see a few times, that really cracked us up repeatedly, was the evidence of today’s technology, that not many can be away from for very long! To see pilgrims and indians, texting, was a hoot!! I wanted to get a photo of that, but never got one. A funny sight though, as I’m sure you can imagine. All in all, it was a wonderful and memorable family day together.

As for our Thanksgiving Day……..

thanksgiving-plymouth-ma-3 ….ours was simply peaceful and lovely. We do not have a lot of close extended family, so we have often spent this holiday just the 6 of us. In the past years, we have opted to cook a ham or cornish hens on Thanksgiving. But this year, we cooked our very first turkey! It came out….perfect. As you can see. ; ) Dinner was delicious, as were the pies. We played games, watched football, and played some football outdoors too.

thanksgiving-plymouth-ma The kids set a real festive atmosphere as always, with the creative decorations.

thanksgiving-plymouth-ma-1 Each turkey that the little ones made, displayed feathers that expressed some of the things that they were thankful for. “Reagan”, by the way (on the last feather) is our other pet: a Republican beta fish. : ) Yep, he’s red.

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I really loved {S}’s indian.

thanksgiving-plymouth-ma-4 We hope you and your families, had a blessed and memorable Thanksgiving as well!

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4th of July Weekend 2010 | Part I | Our Vacation Home | Plymouth, MA

July 15, 2010 By Laura 7 Comments

Plymouth, MA

We don’t really GO on vacation very often. Usually it’s not an affordable option for us anyway. Do you know most hotels only allow FOUR to FIVE people to a room, or else you need to book 2 rooms adjoining? They say it’s because of fire regulations. We’re a family of 6. So because we can barely afford one room, we then get into sneaking a kid in, which we feel guilty about, and then worry about a fire, where the firemen will only seek out five of us. The whole thing is such an irk, but anyway….OH MY GOSH….I wasn’t going to talk much in these posts, and immediately got off topic anyway.

So, back on track, we ask ourselves……”Really, where would we go anyway?” Because the truth is, in the area we live in, we feel like we’re always on vacation. Even at home, it feels like to us that we’re just living in a big beach house, and stay through the off season too. There is always wet towels and bathing suits hanging around, sand tracked into the house, the smell of the ocean in the air, sea gulls flying over head….and we’re surrounded by others here, on their ‘real vacation’.

Plymouth MA, America’s Hometown, is a fine place to live. And a fine place to vacation too! So when we want a vacation, we just work a little less, pay a little more attention to where we reside, and make the most of it all!

The waterfront is a glorious place to be, on any given summer evening. We spend a lot of time down there. Just as we did the 4th of July weekend.

The Lobster Hut has great seafood! People who vacation here frequently, or are just here for a visit, most always have to hit The Lobster Hut. So if you ever find yourself in Plymouth, and love seafood, try it out! And call us!! We’d love to meet up with you while you’re here! It would be cool to meet each other ‘in real life’. ; )

Right next door is Cabby Shacks, and that is a real hot spot too, with great food, and entertainment.

The fried clams and fish at the Lobster Hut are sooooo good. The kids love them too.
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Pixel comes with us to a lot of places, and she very much enjoyed the waterfront with us. She’s completely potty trained, so she’s a joy to take along.

Great food, summer evening in the air, the sound of sea gulls, boats coming in, laughing, chatting and hanging out…..

Pixel was a real hit down there. Everyone was stopping to see her…..wanting to pet her…..some were just really intrigued by her. “It’s a Hedgehog? REALLY?” “Really, really”, {A} always says.
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The road we live on, is named after Governor Bradford here.
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Yes, a cat on a leash. A patriotic one at that. Seemed like a normal cat. But the owner, uummm, well anyway, she was kind enough to let me take this photo.

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There is always great outdoor entertainment in the warm seasons, several nights a week.

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The kids, dancing on the waterfront green….

….the giggles evaporated into the night air, and floated out over the sea.
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Do you live somewhere that has a vacation feel? Do you have an area right near by, where you can go to and feel like you’re on vacation, even though you are so close to home?

We really love our vacations at home.

I also I really, really love not having to pack for our family of 6!

Thanks for virtually-visiting our hometown!

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A Surprise Birthday Trip for the Triplets – John Carver Inn

September 13, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

We are continuing to share with you here, our little celebrations we had for {J, O & S}’s 7th birthday. Michael and I had been planning for a month, this surprise overnight trip for the kids. It was interesting for me to try and secretly pack for us all! Especially for {A}, who I know would much prefer to do it herself! She likes to bring as much of what she owns as she can, and there are a lot of ‘musts’ as well. But I wanted to pack LIGHT. I thought, if anyone would realize we were going somewhere overnight, it would be her, and I would know that she knew, when I saw something she had, that I didn’t pack!

So after lunch, cake choices, and their surprise of MP3 players, we headed out on our trip. Michael managed to get the suitcase in the van without anyone noticing. Unknown to them, we were only heading across our own town of Plymouth, MA, to the John Carver Inn. This is a great hotel/inn in downtown Plymouth, that many of our guests who come into town to visit us, stay at. Especially those with kids. Because one of the greatest perks of the John Carver Inn is their Mayflower-themed pool and awesome slide . . . . . .

There’s a huge ship, with a really great water-tube slide!!

These stairs climb up to the ship, and the entry to the slide.

I knew they would love it, after swimming every day for weeks this past summer, and loving every water-filled-minute of it.

It was the biggest hit with {S}, who loves anything that goes FAST! I already worry about his driving years.

I always crack up, looking at him when his face is all wet, the way those crazy-long wet eyelashes of his, just stick to his eyelids all over the place.

He went down that slide again, and again, and again. I had this ridiculous need to take a photo of him coming out, every time.

{A} was swimming all over that pool. I was looking for her half the time, and she was often in the deeper end, on the other side of the ‘Plymouth Rock’ that holds the hot tub. I forgot to take photos of that.

But she loved the slide too. She always holds her nose still, going under water. My sister always did that.

{J} was the first one down that big slide, within a few minutes of getting there that afternoon, when I didn’t have my camera with me yet. : / He liked it, but he preferred to do other water-related things, so I never got a photo of him going down.

{O} has always been our water-bug, since birth. Very tactile.

But she preferred to practice her hand-stands over going down the slide.

And also having piggy-back rides with Daddy through the waterfall > another great feature at this pool!

They all wanted rides through the waterfall……

LOL!

When {A} was little, she used to be really big on piggy back rides. Now, she’s just really big! Those long legs are ridiculous.

There are lots of perks of always being the one behind the camera. And one of them, are the days you are wearing a bathing suit. ; ) I was there. I swam. I went through the waterfall. I had lots of fun. But I did not go down the slide. Or have my photo taken. : ) I know; I should have. I need to, a lot more. It really is important, and I realize all of the reasons why.

Anyway, we made great memories at the John Carver Inn, and we had a wonderful dinner that night, at the Hearth ‘n Kettle Restaurant, which is downstairs in the hotel. The kids love that place. So cozy, with a little old-time feel to it. The food is great, too. The kids ate every bit of their meals (as always-they love to eat!), and really, really loved the sweet-potato fries!

We did more swimming the next morning before checking out. But that one night as we all crawled into our 2 Queen beds in our hotel room, with girls all in one bed, and boys in the other, I noticed {A} snuggling up to that nightie she sleeps with every night. Mine. The one she confiscated. The one I nursed her in, many, many summer nights in the first year of her life. The one she still has me wear again just once, after she has it washed, so it smells like me again.

The one…I didn’t pack!

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Off to the Farmers Market – Photography

August 15, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

One of the very best things about the summer and early autumn months around here, to us, are the Farmers Markets that are held in town, down near the waterfront, twice a week!

With local growers who set up their stands, selling their abundance of farm fresh fruits and vegetables, and crafters with their beautiful and unique goods not often seen in stores, it’s the perfect place to be on a Saturday morning. With a camera in one hand, and the hand of your husband in your other hand, who has a wallet in his back pocket, that hold’s a little cash-you can’t help but love every second. The kids love going just as much, not only to walk around, but to express their hopes that we might pick up some of their favorite things. It also brings me joy, to buy healthy and delicious foods, that our kids are really looking forward to eating! We are blessed in that they truly love fruits and vegetables of all kinds.

The colors, the scents of ‘just-picked’, and the endless possibilities of some grand planned meals for the week!

We long for these seasons the rest of the year, when we are faced with less than appetizing choices of produce at our local grocers, that are not as colorful, not as tasty, and certainly not as fresh. The Farmers Markets always inspire me to cook some really great meals for my family, with all fresh ingredients–or to just kick back barefoot on the deck with them, and have some great big slices of watermelon that afternoon!

On the way down the walkway towards the market, as we walked from the van, the sweetest music on the air grew louder. Stepping onto the court green where the market is held, I was expecting recorded music being played. But it was actually this performing duo, called The Harper and the Minstrel. The style of music is not what I normally listen to, but I really did enjoy it while walking around the market!

They are both obviously very musically gifted, playing multiple instruments. You can hear some sample of their music here. They seem to have several cd’s out as well, that are available at the links above.

Walter’s Specialty Foods is one of our favorite stands! Selling all kinds of hot pepper sauces, BBQ sauces, rubs, jams, jellies and more, we want to buy and try it all!! This guy is always behind his stand, with a quiet and welcoming smile that pulls you over there to his stand, as much as what he’s selling does!

Mr. Philemon Walters makes all of his goods himself, and is always helpful in suggesting various ways to prepare meat using his rubs and sauces, or different ways to enjoy his jellies and jams, if you just ask.

We bought 3 items from him, even though we wanted one of everything else too. But we know where to find him, about twice a week. ; ) Plus, he lives and makes his products in the town right next to ours, so we can always get more of his good stuff. Visit Walter’s Specialty Foods web site to get a better look at what other goods he is selling here. We’ll be sharing which of his specialties we picked up from him, coming up in a great cooking post in Vittles very soon. We can tell you, the items we bought at this stand had most everything to do with the perfect summer evening dinner we just had—and I took photos. ; ) It was all-SO-good!

I have to admit…going to the Farmers Markets, to take photos, is half the excitement for me. But to leave there also, with a bag or 2 of fresh locally grown goods, or creations by a local, and purchased at such reasonable prices…..well, lets just say I’m a happy camper. Of course, with our own gardens going this year, we don’t need to pick up as much in the way of vegetables. But the fresh corn alone is worth the trip! Boy do we love fresh local corn in the summer. There’s nothing like it! But if they didn’t have corn, I’d still go to take photos.

Who might this lad be? Living in Plymouth, we see frontier people like this often enough that we hardly look twice. We don’t stare, with a puzzled expression, like that little boy in the background there in the blue short. lol. I think he’s so cute, and chuckled when I noticed him in my photo. I guess he’s not used to seeing this yet.

There was a crafter there today with some very interesting furniture pieces made of sticks, limbs and large pieces of rough wood. Very ‘unfinished’ and rustic….which I love. I spotted this little chair right away, and knew it would be great for some of my child portrait work! I’m hoping I’ll be able to get it, or something like it, at some point soon. But today wasn’t the day.

I grabbed a card, and it turns out they have a simple web site called Rustica, that shows some of this woman’s other creative wood pieces. The artist’s name is Susan Grose Rioff, and she donates all of her proceeds made from her furniture sales to help the Boston Minstrel Company, which sings in Boston area homeless shelters and prisons. That’s obviously another wonderful passion of hers.

I saw a piece on the site that would make a lovely gardener’s table near my gardens! There was also these pieces below at the market that I thought were really nice too:

The Farmers Markets are just a happy place to be.

These photos are dedicated to my good fellow-photographer friend, Gina, who was as excited to see my photos, that I took at The Farmers Market this morning, as I was to take them! May they inspire her to lug around her camera, a little more often. : )

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Sail Plymouth – 2009

July 5, 2009 By Laura 3 Comments

This weekend, our town held a 3 day event called the SAIL Plymouth 2009 Festival.

The festival was kicked off with the Welcome Sail of the Amistad & Peacemaker ships into Plymouth Harbor, on Thursday night, to their docking location by Plymouth’s Mayflower II. To learn more about the history of these ships, you can click here.

On Friday night, in honor of our visiting ships, they had a Parade of Boats! It sounded like a fun and exciting event, and we thought the kids would really, really enjoy it. So we joined the crowds of people along the Plymouth Waterfront, to watch. I’m not the best night-time photographer yet, but I dentid my best to capture the beauty of these decorated boats, for the event.

The kids were SO excited. It really was a perfect and beautiful night for the event. The kind of summer nights we just eat up!

Sail Plymouth 2009

Here’s a good handful of some of the boats in the parade. The boat owners were to do their best to make their boats look the most festive, by using lights, music or other noise makers, etc. They were judged by 3 judges, one of whom was Peter Arenstam, author of ‘Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale‘, among other titles. (Nicholas is the first chapter book our 6 year old triplets read, this year, and I very much enjoyed it myself, as I’ve blogged about! Peter, we learned, is a resident here. )

I really loved this one.

The paddle wheel boat was pretty cool looking too.

Uncle Sam aboard here, cracked us up. But I did think the American flags, waving off the back, was a very nice touch.

Once some boats reaches the end of the route, they looped back. So soon we had boats passing by each other.

It was a really nice crowd of people down there, and we really enjoyed ourselves. When we got home, the kids watched a great display of firework, right from the school room window, as they do every 3rd night of July. The 3rd of July gets pretty crazy around here. Not on our road, but there are bonfires, fireworks and parties for miles along the beach shores. It’s an annual tradition. Although we do have deeded beach rights to a private beach that we enjoy quite a bit year round, and the beach is within walking distance, this particular night it is just too crazy down there to be a safe or nurturing environment for the kids. But they were quite happy with the boat parade, and the fireworks they see this night is a just a neighbor somewhere back there, who sets them off every year. The view is perfect from our school room windows, so the kids pull up a bench and enjoy the show! Then, it is bedtime, and a very late bedtime for them.

We had a full weekend ahead already, but the SAIL Plymouth Festival continued through the weekend, with a carnival, blessing of the fleets, fireworks (the latter 2 being annual events), and a Farewell to our visiting ships! It was a summer night to remember, that kicked off a weekend of celebrating for us!

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