I’m hiding out in the 17th Century until news in the 21st Century improves. The Stephen Hopkins Family make a marvelous distraction. They traveled to Plymouth, MA on the Mayflower in 1620. Stephen and Elizabeth are one of the more famous and fascinating couples among the eighteen couples aboard. On this trip to North American Stephen traveled with his second wife, Elizabeth Fisher Hopkins, and three children. Elizabeth was pregnant with a fourth child when they […]
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Pandemics and Protests
Can you believe we’ve been in pandemic mode for two full years and still aren’t completely clear of COVID-19? Ya, me either. It’s been like one unrelenting April Fool’s trick. “It’s over. No, it’s not. It’s safe to go out now. Maybe not.” Pandemics and protests are part of human history. Both are part of the Pilgrim story. A 17th Century pandemic brought the Pilgrims and the Pokanoket people together to work out a treaty. That […]
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The Mayflower: A Nautical Miracle
I prepared the March articles before Russia invaded Ukraine. Let me add, #StandWithUkraine. The Mayflower is arguably one of the more famous ships in nautical history. The fact we know anything about it 400 years after its famous voyage is a nautical miracle. Had it not carried the Pilgrims across the stormy north Atlantic back in 1620, it would have likely faded away with little fanfare. Such was the fate of many other ships of […]
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Harriet Tubman
I’ve known about Harriet Tubman for years, but did not realize she had a farm in Auburn, NY. We hadn’t planned to stay in Auburn, but we did plan to take Route 20 across the state to visit the finger lakes region. An Inn in Auburn had an opening at a price we liked, so we booked a room there. Driving into town to our Inn, I saw the signs for the Harriet Tubman Home. […]
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Pilgrim Hall
As I revisit Plymouth this week to soak up the history of the town’s role our country’s history, one important stop is Pilgrim Hall. Today Plymouth is a thriving community of around 60,000 people. In 1620 the population had been reduced from 102 Mayflower passengers to the fifty-one who lived through the first grueling winter. These English survivors established their new Plimoth Plantation on the site of an abandoned Patuxet village. A pandemic had swept through […]
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