We continued our Massachusetts rode trip by heading down to Plymouth...at 4:30 in the afternoon...through Boston....If you are thinking why would we do that at that time of the day? I would only groan. Our hour trip took us more like two hours due to a few accidents. They have what is called a "Breakdown lane", which looks just like a shoulder on a California highway. Here, though, people can drive in it during rush hour only. Well, there were a few breakdowns in that lane and it slowed down the traffic headed out of Boston down to Plymouth.
I had to switch with Katrina and let her drive for the last part of the leg since I was getting one of my dizzy migraines and the lights of the cars were irritating my eyes. When we got off the main highway and onto some very dark wooded road, we saw a sign for swan crossings. Earlier in the day we had seen a sign that said "elderly crossing". Later in Plymouth we saw one that said, "thickly settled" and a slow speed limit of 20mph. Always interesting to see what different signs are in different states! Once Katrina started to drive, I took a brief nap which helped get rid of the thing.
We made it to Plymouth and the town had a cute main street with many cars lining it but oddly enough no people out walking around! We found the sign for Plymouth Rock and we jumped out and ran up to this large monument and found it surrounding this small little rock with the inscription of 1620 laying below in the sand. I had been somewhat prepared that it was a small, unimpressive rock, but Katrina was not. Yep, that's it. There was a little Pilgrim monument across the street and a long set of steep stairs up to a museum that was closed this time of the year. I tried to get a picture of the coast line, but it was really too dark to make anything out. Most of the restaurants lining the coast were closed and the place really looked quite sleepy.
We eventually found our way back to the main street and looked for somewhere to eat. I felt a pub was in order so we saw one and drove a ways down the street to find parking. We parked and walked past the cute stores and a few restaurants. Oddly though, inside each restaurant, there was a maximum of one group of people. Who did all the cars lining the streets belong too? All the shops were closed, the restaurants were empty. The pub we discovered was nothing but a smoky little bar with a bunch of men so we quickly skipped over that. The only restaurant that looked like it had clientele was one named "Sam Diego" - a Mexican food place. Not what I had in mind for eating in Plymouth! We walked into a health food store (one of the only places still open for another 1/2 hour) named Common Sense. After seeing the little there was in there, we asked for a recommendation and we were told there was a cute little cafe around the corner called Blue Blinds Bakery.
This place was really cute and did actually have people in there, so we decided to try their all organic food. They even had some live music - a guitar, cello, and percussion. Their was a cozy fireplace near the counter to order and in the other adjoining room, large murals of the Mayflower and pilgrims covered the walls. The people were an interesting mix - a group described as "mountain people type" sat at a table, some very hippie-ish, and then a hippy/intellectual/musical group played, and a beachy preppy type sat in the corner on his computer.
We were excited about their corn chowder and both ordered. I had a four seed spelt slice of bread that was quite good with my chowder. Desserts lined the counter and I am doing my best to stay away from sugar right now, so I held back, until I saw the pumpkin pie. I was in Plymouth...the start of the story of Thanksgiving, so what's more Thanksgiving-ish than pumpkin pie? I had to have a piece while I was in Plymouth! Katrina got a scrumptious dessert they called the "Plymouth rock" - a mound of carob, white chocolate, nuts, and cranberries! Our desserts were about the most exciting part of Plymouth!
I made a trip to the restroom which had walls lined with news articles. One article in particular was entitled, "God, save us from your followers". I read part of that, and they made some sad but true points about how Christians are not often known for their love but their divisions. Many of the other articles had some hippy reference. Definitely went with the feel of the place.
Our trip back to our car was uneventful in what we found was really a quite uneventful town. We still never quite figured out where all the people were who owned the cars that lined the Main street. Still, I couldn't come to Massachusetts and not say I had at least been to Plymouth and seen the rock, could I?
I drove back and made it fine until we actually got off the freeway into Boston. Our GPS was showing it's low IQ and telling me where to turn after we passed it or telling me to go left on a one-way street that went the opposite direction. I finally just started to drive the direction of the hotel after the GPS took us farther away. After several times of turning around, we made it to the hotel. Parking at the hotel was going to cost us $38, so I pulled into another structure that I thought said $24. The guard needed to search the car (apparently they search all cars in that structure) and needed us to pop the trunk. The trunk wouldn't open, no matter what button I pushed inside the car. I told the guy it was a rental and we were from out of town, so he gave up and let us go in anyway. We parked far below and then came out on a street not where we entered and walked awhile until we finally found our hotel which we had just seen as we entered the parking structure! It was certainly a night of confusing turns! But here we are, safe and sound back in our hotel and we can spot the parking garage from our hotel window...so I think we can find it again in the morning!
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