Road Trip Day 1-2: Maine to Sturbridge, Mass

After packing all of our stuff up and saying goodbye to Hirundo and the Shelter were finally headed west. Our first stop on our 7-day trip was Sturbridge, Mass.  The ride wasn't long only about 6 hours. 

Of course, on our way south we stopped in the original L.L. Bean store in Freeport, Maine.

In front of the Giant Boot!

LL Bean was a good opportunity to get outfitted with some rain pants, for our next archaeological excursion. Our upcoming trip into the Absoroka Mountains, WY will be 8 days of camping and hunting for high altitude sites :) !! But first we had to make it out West.

We got to Sturbridge Massachusetts in the early evening, so we just checked into our cute Bed-and-Breakfast rather than going over to Sturbridge that evening. We went to Picadilly's Tavern for dinner, for some good colonial New England fare: Chicken Pot Pie and Blueberry Mojitos (believe it or not, blueberry mojitos are wonderful. They just mash up the blueberries at the bottom of the glass). 

The next morning, we woke up fairly early, loaded the car and went over to Old Sturbridge Village. Old Sturbridge Village is the oldest Living Museum created. It is a wonderful recreated colonial village, "a journey through time to a rural New England town of the 1930s". They have 40 buildings with "history interpreters" dressed in period clothing carrying out the daily activities throughout the village. 

We arrived on "MUSTER DAY" so the village was packed with Militia Men and Fife and Drum bands. 

Unfortunately the weather was pretty dreary and wet. The rain kept most of the other tourist crowds away which was nice.

We got to see the militia drilling and musket and cannon firing.

 

One of the guides told us that the animals in the village are all "Back bred", which means that the livestock is bred to be smaller and hairier, like the animals of that time would have been. We saw sheep, roosters, cows, and a striped pig (the stripes were painted on)!

Baby Lamb 

 Among the demonstrations we got to see were print making, blacksmithing, shoemaking, tin smithing, saw milling and pottery making.

Outside the Bank

Outside the Glass Shop

I thought I was posing as the lady... Thanks Matt.