Since we were already in Plymouth, we decided to visit the famous Plymouth Rock, where the Pilgrims legendarily landed in the New World. I was a little disappointed to find that it’s just a small boulder with a year carved into it. And it may not even be the actual rock. In fact, according to the sign, there may not be an actual rock. But at least there was no admission fee to visit the rock.

The other major attraction in Plymouth that we visited is the Plimouth Plantation (spelled with an “i”), which has recreations of the early settlements of the Pilgrims and a nearby Native American tribe. It was interesting to see the difficult living conditions of the early settlers, but probably not interesting enough to warrant the high admission cost.

Next, we went to the town of Quincy (pronounced Quinzy) to visit Adams National Historic Park. For only $5 per person, we took a bus and walking tour of the various homes of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams and their descendants. The rangers did a spectacular job describing the homes and the life and times of the Adams family.

Since we needed to drive through Boston anyway (I hate driving through big cities), we decided to stop by MIT and Harvard in the neighboring city of Cambridge. The old brick buildings of Harvard are what I’d expect from an Ivy League school. The MIT campus was a mix of old and new buildings, each bustling with students and faculty. I’m really glad I didn’t attend either of these schools; it’s just too cold.

While we waited for rush hour traffic to subside, we picked up some slices of pizza from Ottos near Harvard Square for dinner. It was tasty, but I wish they had more indoor seating so we didn’t have to eat outside.