Weather: Partly Cloudy, 66/82F
Route: From Newport 56 miles NNE on RI-24 N, US-44 E.
Population: 58,271 (2010)
Nickname: America's Hometown
History: When you're a child the landing of the Mayflower is taught as somehow the beginning of America - even though it wasn't even the first English settlement - Jamestown was settled in 1607 - 13 years before the Mayflower landed. The Mayflower Compact is seen as a predecessor of the constitution - the first "Thanksgiving" supposedly happened here etc. The pilgrims are seen as enjoying some kind of relationship with the Native Americans that benefited both sides. The truth was that a plague killed off close to 90% if the Native Americans in the area in the decade before the Mayflower landed - so those who remained couldn't put up much of a fight - and luckily for the puritans there was plenty of farm land that was going unused. Even the "Rock" is a little disappointing if you visit. As a child I imagined Plymouth Rock as some impressive piece of granite jutting out into the bay. Instead it's a small boulder that you can put your arms around. Of course real histories are always more complicated than what we learn in grade school - but it is interesting how this one has stuck so deeply in our subconscious.
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