Plymouth and Its People

Yesterday we headed into Plymouth for our first adventure. The air was warm and the people were friendly everywhere we went.

Plymouth is a cute little walking town with street names like Winslow Street, Chilton Street and Howland Street. These street names serve to honor the earliest white settlers who came on the Mayflower.

Other street names acknowledge the places from which the English settlers came including Leyden Street and Sandwich Street. Leyden (or its modern spelling Leiden) is a city in Holland where many of the English Protestants lived between 1609 - 1620, prior to getting on the Mayflower and heading to North America. Interestingly enough, Leyden Street in Plymouth is considered the oldest street in North America, and is the site of the original settlement of permanent houses in Plimouth Colony. Many of the houses have signs on them acknowledging the construction date and the people who first lived there.

Commemorative plaque on Leyden Street
Plymouth, Massachusetts

This house sits on the top of Leyden Street overlooking the harbor. The commemorative plaque is situated on its north wall (on your right side).

Although this is clearly a tourist town, the locals were cheerful and friendly. As we walked and took photos along Leyden Street, the homeowner of this house

 --Jim --  struck up a conversation.

During the course of our discussion he allowed me to take a photo of him in the entry room of his house. He was quite proud of his heritage home.

Darlene at the Cornerstone Cafe

Another friendly local that we encountered was Darlene at the Cornerstone Cafe on the corner of North and Court Streets. Along with the tasty food (I had a delicious Mediterranean Salad with hummous, sun dried tomatoes and olives), Darlene's family-run restaurant is significant for its location as the former residence of Mercy Otis Warren, who is the 2nd great granddaughter of the wife of my 10th great grandfather. Really.

More importantly, Grandma Mercy (we are on a first name basis) is also considered the "muse" of the American Revolution because of her friendship with some of the luminaries of the 18th century including John Adams, Elbridge Gerry, George Washington and her own husband, James Warren. Apparently, Mercy Otis Warren wrote lots of letters to the men who were constructing the Constitution. As a result, scholars have found that some of the wording from her letters made their way into the Bill of Rights.

Hope and the Cornerstone Cafe signage
Plymouth, Massachusetts

Nancy Rubin Stuart recently wrote The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation. This was the last book that I read before leaving California and it captured the events of Mercy Otis Warren's life quite nicely. Aptly, I ate and drank to Mercy Otis Warren's contribution to my freedom of expression. Cheers, Grandma!