An Author's Abode

Mark Twain's former residence.
That is the conservatory there in the lower left. 

My sister and niece, Jaime and Edith, honored me with a visit this week. Their presence prompted me to get out of the house and see what Connecticut has to offer. Today we perused Mark Twain's Hartford house. I had always thought he was from Missouri and, therefore, spent most of his life there. However, this trip taught me that he actually wrote his most famous works in Connecticut. 

The front of the house



The house measures more than 11,000 square feet in size, and much of it has been restored to at least resemble what it may have looked like when he lived there with his family. In  fact, one of his daughters was still living when it became a historical site, and she helped the original restorers put things in their proper place to most closely resemble the house when she (and the famous author) lived there.

 

We chose to tour both the servants' quarters and the main house, but no pictures were allowed in either region, so I had to commit to memory what I could and rely on publicly available photos for the rest.

 

The back of the carriage house.



 

The servants' quarters seemed fairly typical. They lacked the ornate features found in the rest of the house, but the oven and stove were top-end, and the rest of the furnishings at least gave us an idea of what it might have looked like. None of the items in this portion were original, but the oven/stove was supposed to be the same model that Samuel Clemens had bought for his staff to use.

 

Behind the main house lies the carriage house. At the time, it housed not only the carriages, but also the coachman and his family (including seven children). It seemed to be a pretty good-sized building, but it is for staff only. We therefore had to settle on viewing it only from the outside.

 

 

The Carriage House

The rest of the house was fun to see. Most of the fine art never belonged to the Clemens family, but the museum has done their best to give visitors an idea of how the house was decorated. Some of the original pieces include a mantle purchased on a trip to Scotland and their bed, an item for which Samuel Clemens evidently paid entirely too much. The second floor included a schoolroom for his three girls. I loved seeing the little desks and chairs. I could picture my own little brood sitting there learning their lessons. The top floor holds the billiard room and Mark Twain's desk. He kept his manuscripts in a piece of furniture with cubby-holes. He would take a story out, work on it until he got stuck, put it back, and grab the next one. In this manner, he finished many of his famous books.

Of course, I could not have toured the house without the assistance of Jaime. She watched S and H for me so I could listen and learn about the former home of this talented man. What a sweetheart she is.

When we were finished with the tours, we headed out to eat and then home. It was fun to have a chance to visit a new museum and explore a small portion of history with my children. I hope that AJ and K remember what they saw and learned when we study the late 1800s in history this year.


Wait, I know that girl!

Tom Sawyer?

This guy is up to something.

Not quite tall enough

Standing with Lego Mark Twain. This was the best picture I got with him.

Blueberries for Salley

My mom came to visit us for a few days, so I decided to take her and the kids blueberry picking. Timo took S so I did not have to chase him through the blueberry fields, which was a huge blessing. It was a hot day, but we slapped on the sunscreen and headed out.

When we arrived at the field, we were surprised at how prolific the blueberries were. I had been resigned to the fact that we would not be able to pick that much since the berries are so small, but the sheer quantity available allowed us to pick quite a few in a relatively short amount of time. K was my berry-picking machine. She took my large bucket about 15 minutes into picking in exchange for her smaller one. We ended up with a little more than 11 pounds of blueberries, some of which we made into jam and muffins. I froze some as well, and I am looking forward to having those available for a while.

My mom had gone along to be a good sport, but she told me she enjoyed herself. So did I. I love picking my own produce and eating it as fresh as I can. I also have enjoyed learning to make different kinds of jam. This was an opportunity to do both, and I am blessed to live where we can participate in these activities.

Pilgrim Breakfast

My breakfast

Our last morning in Plymouth, we participated in the Annual Pilgrim's Breakfast. Set on the back lawn of the historical Harlow House, the atmosphere was enhanced by women spinning yarn and a group of "Pilgrims" singing old songs for the diners Women dressed in traditional Pilgrim clothing served us fishcakes, baked beans, scrambled eggs, thirded bread, and corn muffins. It was a fun way to eat colonial-era food, and it offered us a chance to tour one more historical house before we drove home.



K enjoying her breakfast

Timo and S

Pilgrims serenaded us



A brush for the wool

The old spinning wheel

Some sort of device to wind the yarn

An old horn book

Cookware



Unground flint corn

Corn ground using a mortar and pestle

The huge fireplace





Just Another Day in Plymouth

The kids had been begging us to visit the local splash-pad and the beach, so this morning, we decided it was best to oblige and avoid mutiny.

We chose to drive down to the splash pad simply because then we would not have to carry everything from the hotel. It was only half a mile away, but we wanted to take lawn chairs, towels, the camera bag, and extra sunscreen. This proved to be a poor choice since we were unable to find a legal parking spot in the parking lot. We parked illegally next to another car (as many cars had done), unloaded, and walked to the splash pad.

Timo took the kids into the water while I sat in the shade with our stuff and enjoyed the fresh air and peace. When the kids grew tired of the splash pad, Timo and I carried everything over to the beach, where everyone seemed to enjoy themselves even more.

Starting the sand castle



AJ building

Working hard

Enjoying the sand and water

Construction workers

Cutie

 The waves were small, and the water was shallow for a long enough distance that the kids could safely wade without worries. S especially enjoyed sitting at the edge of the water and playing in the sand. The older kids worked on a sandcastle with Timo for a while, then they decided to build a wall in front of the water to keep it from going any farther. That kept them occupied until it was time to leave.

Meanwhile, S grew tired, and he came to me to nurse and fall asleep. I put him down in the stroller and waded into the refreshing water for a while to cool off a bit. It is amazing how much cooler one is when one can merely put one's feet into the water.

Starting the wall

When the sand wall had been completed, I chose to walk back with still-sleeping S so we did not have to wake him up to put him in the car seat. K and AJ chose to walk with me, and Timo took H and most of our gear back to the car. When he arrived, he found a parking ticket waiting for him. Maybe we should have walked there after all.

When we arrived at the apartment, we ate lunch. Then K and I hurried to Burial Hill for a presentation on some of the historical figures from the Revolutionary War. We arrived a little late, but we enjoyed the speech and history lesson we received.

James Warren

James and Mercy Warren -- Apparently, Mercy was quite a gal

When the presentation was over, K and I went off on our own to explore the cemetery. We had learned that William Bradford is buried there, and we wanted to find his grave. Sure enough, we found it. He is buried next to his son of the same name. This is fortunate since they would not have known otherwise where the ex-governor of Plymouth lay since his grave was not originally marked. His son had requested to be buried next to his father. For this reason, we know where the famous Pilgrim found his final resting spot.

Gov. William Bradford's son's grave

Grave marker for William Bradford



Thomas Cushman's grave

We also found Thomas Cushman's grave, but we were unable to find William Brewster's grave. We know he is buried there somewhere, but we were hot and tired. It was time to go home. Before we left, though, we found a sign indicating where the first fort had been built. That was fun as we were able to picture it based on what we had seen at Plimoth Plantation.

This was fun to find

After we returned to the apartment, we cooled down with some ice cream, and got ready to walk to the Pilgrim Hall Museum. This museum houses some of my favorite historical displays. They do not allow pictures, so I started writing down a list of what I saw. William Brewster's sea chest, WIlliam Bradford's Bible, John Alden's Bible, Miles Standish's razor, William Bradford's standing cup, the Pierce Patent from June 1, 1621, the Bradford/Warwick Patent, Edward Winslow's chair, William Brewster's great chair, Mary Chilton's doll, Josiah Winslow's baby shoes, and William Bradford's great chair were just some of the items on display. These items were touched by the people we learn about in the history books, and they serve as a sort of time machine to bring the viewer back to that moment in time, to connect the viewer with the original owner and bring them to life in that wonderful thing we call the imagination.

K and AJ experienced the museum with the aid of a scavenger hunt check-list. The museum provided them age-appropriate lists of items to find as well as questions regarding those items. I have seen more and more museums do this sort of thing, and I think it is fantastic. It provides the children with purpose in what they are seeing, and it enriches their experience.



My sweetie pie

We stayed until the museum closed, and then we walked back to the apartment to figure out our dinner plans.We decided to walk around a little to find a restaurant, and we ended up at one that served Greek food as part of their menu. I ordered some stuffed peppers, which were delicious, but very filling. I was only able to eat half of it. I also got to sit next to my sweet AJ while we ate. Isn't he handsome?

My dinner

After dinner, we walked back to the apartment to pack up our bags so we could be ready to leave in the morning. It was a full trip, but there was still so much we did not see. The Mayflower II was not in port as it is under repair, so we might return after it does. Then, perhaps, we can finish viewing all the sites in this historic city.

A Day in 1627

Today we ventured out to explore Plimoth Plantation. I was unsure as to why it is spelled differently than the town name, but I learned that they spell it the way that William Bradford spelled the name of the town in order to differentiate between the living history museum and the modern day town of Plymouth.

On our way, we stopped by the National Monument to the Forefathers. It is a large statue that commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims, but there is not much to do there except look at the statue and take pictures. From there, we drove on to the Plantation.

We arrived at the main building, and commenced our tour with a short video that provided a brief history of Plymouth as well as a brief overview of the grounds. From there, we walked down the trail to the Wampanoag village, where we talked to some of the modern-day Wampanoag people as they explained some historical and modern-day aspects of their people.  We learned that the best time to build their houses was in the springtime when the sap is running.  That would allow the bark to be easily peeled off for the exterior of the houses, the saplings to be easily bent for the frame, and the fibers to tie it all together to be easily pulled off and wound into ropes.  K also got to try out the mortar and pestle to grind the corn into meal.

From the Wampanoag village, we walked down to the craft house for a brief look at the methods used for weaving cloth and furniture making. Then we headed to the 17th century village where actors portrayed the real people living in Plymouth during the year 1627.  They spoke with  both the accent and vocabulary used during that time, and addressed subjects with the viewpoint of the people of that era.

The first part of the village we encountered was a meetinghouse/fort, with several cannons upstairs.  I thought that was pretty cool, and I attempted to photograph the three oldest by one of the cannons. Lets just say that's my kids like to mess around in front of the camera and leave it at that.

The best shot I got with the kids by the cannon

From the fort, we walked down to explore several houses and speak with their "inhabitants". The size of the homes was really very humbling as we realized just how little they survived with, both in space and possessions. We talked to the lady who cooked for William Bradford, and even the house of the governor was very humble. It was fun to walk through the gardens and see the animals grazing in the village.

It was also humorous to listen to another visitor trying to explain that he is an electrical engineer to people pretending to not be familiar with electricity and only understanding an engineer as someone who might build bridges.

It was hot outside, and everyone was hungry and thirsty. We decided to walk back to the main building, where there was a café and bathrooms. More importantly, it was air-conditioned. S fell asleep on the way back, and he slept while the rest of us enjoyed our meals in the cool air. I had ordered a Pilgrim Sampler, but they were out of the peasecod, so I ended up with turkey slices instead. I was sorely disappointed as I like to try new foods, but at least I was fed.

After lunch, we stopped at the Family Center, where there were trunks of Pilgrim clothing for the children to try out. There was also a boat and a little "kitchen" with play food and a fake fire. The kids played there for a while so S could sleep in peace. When he woke up, Timo took him to get some lunch while I got the older kids ready to go.

My Pilgrim sailors

Cooking and cleaning

After S ate, we stopped by the Nye Barn, where we saw some goats. Then we headed back to our apartment. We experienced a relatively quiet evening, with the kids playing in the grass before and after dinner. It was a fun day, but we needed the down time. After all, we still had more to see the next day.