Are Thee A Mayflower Descendant?

During the Fourth of July weekend, Andrew and I were trying to be good hosts for Camie and James.  We had some time to kill between eating lunch and heading to Manomet Beach, and at the request of C&J, we stopped first at the Plymouth House of Correction aka where Whitey Bulger is being held. Yes ladies and gentleman, we took our guests to a prison.  But in my defense, they wanted to see it!

After that, Andrew took us to a place tucked away in a residential neighborhood on a hill in Plymouth.

Have you heard of the Forefathers' Monument? Neither had I.

Suddenly, the road curves and standing there in front of you is a massive monument dedicated to the Pilgrims (also called "Faith" for the figure on top).

To give you a sense of scale, here's a charming shot of Camie doing her best sumo impersonation in front of the monument:

Want more Camie? Here's a close up of her doing her thing:

There are four figures seated around the base of the monument representing the principles that guided the Pilgrims - Freedom, Morality, Law and Education. The male statues representing the principles had amazingly life-like carved eyes but for some reason, the female statues didn't.

There are also carved panels that list out the names of everyone that came over on the Mayflower (although shame on the Pilgrim Society or perhaps the record-keepers of the time, because all the males were listed with their full names while many wives remain unnamed). While walking around the monument, I realized the boys were silent and hidden around the corner so I assumed they were reading the sides of the monument. Until I found Andrew and Phu and caught them doing this instead of enjoying the view.

I consider this monument to be a hidden treasure of Plymouth and well-worth the quick drive up - it is far more impressive to view than the Plymouth Rock.