Today did not go as planned. I had to do some significant apple pick up in the back yard which took quite awhile. I also didn’t finish the job. I also had a DVD to watch that was due back today and I had to clear out some DVR space in preparation for the numerous Mayflower inspired programming in the next few days. I’m actually pretty excited to see that the History Channel has taken on the task of giving a pretty thorough and accurate representation of the events. That hasn’t happened before. I wish it was an actual movie, but it sounds like it’s basically a movie happening in the background. Its first airing is on Sunday evening. I read Caleb Johnson’s review of the advance copy he received and it got me pretty excited for it. I know I’m a freak.
But back to the word counts. It wasn’t until this evening that I actually started writing anything, which takes away from that whole plan of using the weekend to get way ahead. I finally managed to eek out 1855 words by the closing minutes of the day. I’m now 269 words off of my target pace, and still 1691 words behind of the 30 day pace. Maybe tomorrow… but there is fantasy football and mayflower history to worry about too. Ack!
Uh-oh, I’m falling behind. That can’t be good. Luckily I don’t think I have nearly as much to say about the last two days, so I think I can do it.
Let’s see… How can it be so hard to remember what I did just yesterday? That’s why I write these things when I travel. OK, time to reference the pictorial evidence…
Ah, I remember now. My main game plan for the day had been to go to Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. It was going to be <2 hrs to drive there, so I decided I could do a little bit of stuff in Plymouth in the morning before heading out. So, the night before day four, I’d looked on google maps and noticed the word “Cordage” appearing. I zoomed in further and noticed a “Cordage Park Circle”. That was a very promising thing for me, especially when I noticed nearby were Spooner St and Bourne St and Ropewalk Ln. All of these things led me to believe that this was the original location of the Plymouth Cordage Company founded by my GGG grandfather Bourne Spooner. I drove over there early, and sure enough, there it was. The building was more recent than his era, but it still had the name etched in the building, even though it now houses many other business instead. The theme for the day, though, became the history of the company.
I also made a stop back at Vine Hills/Oak Grove cemetery. Again, I drove around and around and around. The office still wasn’t open. I kept seeing some of the same things over and over. At one point, I took a turn, looked to the left shortly thereafter and saw the name SPOONER at the bottom of an obelisk. Much glee ensued. I parked the car and started filming as I went up to it. Here’s the link to the video.
Then, I felt I’d wasted enough time, so I headed east toward Mystic. Going to Connecticut also means driving through Rhode Island. So, that was two more states. Mystic is on the SE coast of Connecticut. This meant I drove through RI diagonally. I’m kind of surprised how long it took . Mystic Seaport is the current home of the original ropewalk of the Plymouth Cordage Company. I was really confused about that when I first stumbled upon that bit of information. I now realize it makes sense since the Seaport attraction covers all things related to maritime industries. Regardless, I’m glad it still exists. Well, a part of it anyway. It’s only about 1/4 the original length. It was still really long, so that’s hard to imagine. I was then planning to go do part two of my reason for going to Mystic Seaport, visit their research library. According to the website, they have basically all of the historical records of the Plymouth Cordage Company in the manuscripts division available for research. It is inside the park, and requires you to pay the admission to the park to get there. The park is open 9-5, 7 days a week this time of year. I was a little surprised when I arrived at the library to find that it is closed on the weekend. And very disappointed. Had I known that, I would have gone there on Friday and done the stuff I did Friday on Saturday. That stuff was all available both days. But here’s the Plymouth Cordage Company video.
Since I was basically out of stuff to do and it was much earlier than I’d anticipated, I eventually made the decision to go to Vermont. I knew it would be a long drive, but I also knew it would bug me if I missed it. Luckily, there were more fall colors on this part of the trip than I’d seen in my normal stomping grounds on the trip. I went via Hartford, CT, and Springfield, MA, and eventually made it to Brattleboro, VT. I wanted something small to eat, so I went through a Burger King drive through for a 6 piece chicken fries. The guy running the drive through was very amusing to me. He had enormous hair and acted like he’d done way too many drugs, in that really confused with life sort of way. When I got to the window to pay, he was kind of looking around everywhere then asks if I know how much he said I owed. I told him it was $1.84. That was interesting. It just made me laugh.
By the time I got back to Plymouth, I was completely exhausted, so I pretty much was ready to call it a night. But I wanted food. All I had found available at around 7 PM on previous nights are Papa Gino’s where I can get take-out (did that twice), or the two expensive sit-down places with dress codes on the harbor (did that once). I wanted something different though. I discovered there was a BK on the other side of the highway. It was connected to a gas station, which I usually avoid, but at that point I wasn’t picky. I went through the drive through and was on my way back to my hotel when I realized I drove away without my food. Gah! I knew that would happen someday. I think I really was tired. Went back. Got food. All was well.
This morning, I didn’t have much else to do, so I went to get a few more pictures that I hadn’t taken previously around Plymouth including the Forefathers monument. Then I returned to South Duxbury to visit the burial site for John and Priscilla. That was way easier than my other burial site hunts.
With even more time to kill, I decided to return to Salem and visit some of the museum stuff that I hadn’t had time for before. I went to the Salem Witch Museum. It was pretty cool. It was more presentation than normal museum. The first part covered the history of the 1692 trials. They had these life-size, kind of dioramas around a dark room that would light up as they told the story. It was pretty cool. Then in the second part, they covered the perceptions of “witch”. They had 9 pictures of “witch” including a Wizard of Oz image and a fairy tale image, and a Bewitched image, etc. Then they kind of went through a history. The first “person” was a pagan midwife who had all of the healing knowledge and was a highly trusted and powerful member of the community. Then the stereotype witch that kind of was formulated because of that power, and covered that history. There was then a comparative time-line of Western and Pagan related events. The third “people” were wiccans explaining current belief and practices. The end.
Returning to the airport from Salem also helped with the navigation bits. They had told me that the directions for returning the car were incorrect for returning from the south because of the tunnel being closed, and I had no faith in remembering what they had told me. It’s at a very confusing location. The instructions from the north include two pictures to make sure you don’t take the wrong turns, which would be pretty easy to do.
The rental car company shuttle took me directly to the T station after dropping off the others at their airport terminals. I bought my ticket and took my first trip on the T. I even answered a navigation question for someone while waiting for my transfer. I exited the station and walked to my hotel easily. I checked in dropped off my stuff, cooled off for a bit (It’s really humid and fairly hot here. It should cool off right after I leave…), then decided I’d get a head start and head down to Faneuil Hall tonight. The Cheers replica location is in Quincy Market. I decided to go in, get a drink, and watch the half-time update of the football games.
Now I’m back at the hotel, resting, updating. Taking it easy. Watching the first episode of Amazing Race.
. Mystic Seaport is the current home of the original ropewalk of the Plymouth Cordage Company. I was really confused about that when I first stumbled upon that bit of information. I now realize it makes sense since the Seaport attraction covers all things related to maritime industries. Regardless, I’m glad it still exists. Well, a part of it anyway. It’s only about 1/4 the original length. It was still really long, so that’s hard to imagine. I was then planning to go do part two of my reason for going to Mystic Seaport, visit their research library. According to the website, they have basically all of the historical records of the Plymouth Cordage Company in the manuscripts division available for research. It is inside the park, and requires you to pay the admission to the park to get there. The park is open 9-5, 7 days a week this time of year. I was a little surprised when I arrived at the library to find that it is closed on the weekend. And very disappointed. Had I known that, I would have gone there on Friday and done the stuff I did Friday on Saturday. That stuff was all available both days. 
But 
