Another daytrip I took during last week’s vacation was to one of the oldest towns in the United States: Plymouth, Massachusetts. I live maybe an hour from Plymouth, but before last week’s trip I hadn’t been there in about 15 years! So, one of my best friends acted as “tour guide,” and we spent a few hours around the city’s downtown and waterfront district.
One pleasant surprise during this trip was Brewster Gardens, a small park on Water Street that combines urban environmental restoration with tributes to Plymouth’s history. This breath of fresh air and quiet was a lovely reprieve from the city’s busy streets, and I took a few pictures of my favorite spots there. Enjoy!
As for the first photo below… if you’re familiar with early American history, you’ll recognize it right away! 😉
Like with the Heritage Gardens post, feel free to click any of the photos for a larger view.
Plymouth Rock
The Immigrant Memorial, in honor of Plymouth’s immigrant settlers from 1700 to 2000
A stream branches off from Town Brook and winds toward The Pilgrim Maiden.
The Pilgrim Maiden, a bronze statue erected in 1922 in honor of the women of Plymouth’s founding families
A flowering tree and the footbridge crossing over Town Brook in Brewster Gardens
A lilac bush in bloom at Brewster Gardens
Another view of the footbridge, from the opposite side of Town Brook
A nature trail follows Town Brook upstream from Brewster Gardens toward the Plimoth Grist Mill on Spring Lane.
A backwards glance at Town Brook and the nature grail as we headed for the Plimoth Grist Mill
Town Brook passes through Jenney Pond at the Plimoth Grist Mill on its way to Brewster Gardens and Plymouth Harbor.
The nature trail continues past the grist mill for the entire length of Town Brook (1.5 miles).
Have you ever visited Plymouth, Massachusetts? What quiet, unexpected nooks have you found in cities and urban areas? Share your answers in the Comments section below.
Sara Letourneau 
Excellent captures, Sara! They each are worthy of a picture postcard. If the pictures are so good, how good the real garden must be! I loved the lilac bush and the nature trails the best.
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*blushes* Thank you, Zephyr. I don’t consider myself to be much of a photographer… But I’m also glad with how these photos and the ones from Heritage Gardens came out. 🙂
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So beautiful! I’ve been to Sturbridge Village, is that anywhere near Plymouth? I’m just terrible at geograpby. Anyway, I loved it. Looks like you had a relaxing time:-)
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Thanks, Tammy! 🙂 Yes, it was relaxing, and Brewster Gardens was an unexpected surprise.
Sturbridge is closer to Worcester (central Massachusetts) than to Plymouth (eastern MA, closer to Cape Cod). I’d guess it’s a 1 1/2 hour drive from one to the other?
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You can live in an area but never visit its nearby “touristy” spots your entire life until friends come to visit, ain’t that so true! Lovely pictures, Sara! I love American history sites like this, probably because I didn’t grow up here and never got to learn about all of this in school, so everything is new and fascinating to me.
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Thanks, Mogsy! And I totally agree with your first point. We’re so used to living near local historical areas that when we think of vacations or days off from work, we often think of getting out of the area altogether. There are still more things I’d like to do in Plymouth in the future, too, like an hour-long cruise around Plymouth Harbor. That would be nice. 🙂
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It looks serene there. For some reason, whenever I hear or read of Plymouth Rock it pops up as a huge boulder in my mind.
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Yes, Brewster Gardens is a serene spot. It makes you forget about the busyness of the city center, and it was nice to walk around and see what was there.
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Oh~ that’s a lovely place! I admit, I didn’t think Plymouth Rock actually had a special rock, haha. I don’t know why. 😛 Lovely picture. Love the bridges!
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*lol* If I remember correctly, it’s the same rock that the pilgrims docked the Mayflower against so they could get to shore. After they founded Plimoth, residents somehow brought the rock onshore to commemorate its significance in the town’s history. I might have some of the details mixed up… But that’s sort of the story behind Plymouth Rock.
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That’s really cool. Makes me wonder if there’s significance for other places with similar names ending in Grove/Place/etc. I’ll have to be more curious!
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I’ve been trying to decide where I’d like to go for a vacation this summer; and this post coupled with the Heritage garden is really making me consider Massachusetts! It looks so lovely and lush and green.
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Oooh? Really? 😀
Cape Cod in general is a wonderful place to visit during the summer. Very crowded, because a lot of people spend weekends or longer vacations there. But summer is when most of the attractions, hotels, and shops are open for that reason. Boston has a lot for tourists, too. I don’t know as much about Plymouth, though, apart from the waterfront and Plimoth Plantation.
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The nature trail looks beautiful! I think I visited there maaany years ago, but I should again some time. 🙂
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You should! My friend and I didn’t walk the whole route, since we had other places to visit that day. But it would be nice to go back and follow it to the end sometime.
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It would! Looks like it would make a nice bike ride too! Yikes, I need to get into shape better, I don’t think I could handle a long bike ride, lol. XD
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What a lovely place. It also looked very uncrowded…
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No, it wasn’t busy that day. A class trip of elementary school students (maybe 8 to 10 years old?) passed by at one point, and a few other adults were walking the paths. But we purposely went in May to avoid the height of tourist season; it gets pretty crowded in Plymouth during the summer. So I’m glad we went when we did.
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Well, it looks more or less deserted! The downside on living such a very densely populated island is that places like that become very crowded – and car parking can also become an issue. You are either miles away, or simply can’t get in…
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