When I was in elementary school, we went on a class field trip to the “Plimoth Plantation” (now called Plimoth Patuxet Museums). I remember it being one of my favorite field trips, and it was on my wish list this summer to revisit it. Last weekend, we finally had free time and it was the perfect weather to go! I wanted to share some thoughts and photos from our trip, and some places to eat in case you’re ever in the Massachusetts area and looking for something to do!
What I Wore
Before I dive into the details from our trip, it wouldn’t be a fashion blog if I didn’t tell you what I wore, so let’s get that out of the way! As I said before, it was the perfect weather that weekend – not too hot and not too cold. I wore a hand-me-down sweater dress with flats and a crossbody bag. I brought a black leather jacket just in case, but it wasn’t too cold, so I left it in the car.
Although the paths were sandy and rocky (and the floors inside the houses were made of dirt), I did just fine in flats. I might have gotten the tiniest bit of sand in my shoes, but nothing crazy.
Now let’s move onto the trip!
What is Plimoth Patuxet Museums?
Plimoth Patuxet Museums is a living museum that recreates the settlement established by English colonists, later known as Pilgrims, in the 17th century. There are 3 areas to visit: Plimoth Patuxet (which consists of the historic Patuxet homesite and the 17th century English village), the Mayflower II, and the Plimoth Grist Mill.
*Note: I shared a video of the inside of one of the houses on my Instagram, if you’d like to see it.
3 Types of Tickets
When I first looked into buying tickets for the museum, I was a little overwhelmed by the number of options. I assumed it was going to be like a zoo, where you buy one general admission ticket per person. Plimoth Patuxet Museums is divided into 3 areas, and you can buy tickets to see some of it or all of it.
- Pass to single area: Plimoth Patuxet, the Mayflower II, or the Plimoth Grist Mill. The 3 areas are at different locations, with Mayflower II and Plimoth Grist Mill being near each other, and 2.5-3 miles from Plimoth Patuxet.
- Combination Pass: Plimoth Patuxet and Mayflower II
- Heritage Pass: all 3 areas
Which Ticket Should You Buy?
The tickets can be a little pricey, with the most expensive being an adult Heritage Pass for $44.95. If you’re visiting from far away, and it’s likely the only time you’ll ever visit the Plimoth Patuxet Museums, I think it would be worth it to get the Heritage Pass and see everything. If you’re local, planning on revisiting, or just don’t want to spend that much money on a ticket and wondering which single area to pick, my vote is for Plimoth Patuxet.
Of course, this is just my personal opinion, but I feel like Plimoth Patuxet would be the most elaborate and impressive recreation to see, with the Mayflower II coming in second, and the Plimoth Grist Mill last. This is also the option we went with. I might be interested in coming back to see the Mayflower II in the future, but I didn’t have any regrets about not seeing it last weekend.
How Long Does It Take?
According to the museum’s website, guests should allot 2.5 hours for their visit. We arrived around 2:30 PM, waited in the ticket line for a few minutes, and then watched a short “orientation” video in a small theater room before starting the visit. We finished seeing everything around 4 PM, spent some time in the gift shop, and left around 4:30 PM.
So it took us about 1.5 hours just to see Plimoth Patuxet, but it can take longer depending on how much you’d like to interact with the roleplaying staff. One of the houses was designated as a children’s activity center where they could play with the items in the house and play dress up, so if you’re bringing kids, that can also add time to your visit.
We didn’t visit the Mayflower II or the Plimoth Grist Mill, but my guess is if you add those in, and time to browse the gift shops, 2.5 hours might be a little tight, especially if you have little ones.
*Note: It took 1.5 hours for just my husband and I to visit. We did not have any little ones with us.
Places to Eat
Although we didn’t check it out, the museum’s website says their Plentiful Cafe offers “food inspired by Wampanoag and English colonial traditions as well as a variety of modern-day options such as salads, burgers, and sandwiches.”
The area of town around the museum has a lot of food options as well, and we decided to stop by KKatie’s Burger Bar for lunch before heading over to the museum (a 5 minute drive away). I got a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with avocado, and my husband got a mushroom garlic burger, as they supposedly have award winning burgers and he needed to test it out. The verdict? Both were good, but neither was so spectacular that we feel the need to go back. The staff were very friendly though!
A few minutes away from KKatie’s Burger Bar, and a 9 minute drive from the museum, is a restaurant called The Blue-Eyed Crab Caribbean Grill & Rum Bar that we’ve been to in the past (see my post here). Their menu has a bit more variety to choose from, so I think I’d recommend them over KKatie’s.
So that was our weekend last weekend! I hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures of this beautiful living museum, and hope that some of you may find this post helpful.
If you enjoyed this post, please let me know by giving it a like or leaving a comment! Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog to get an email when I post something new!