Burial Hill, Plymouth MA

My sister lives in Plymouth, MA. Once or twice a year I like to go down to "America's Hometown" and visit my sister's family. Plymouth is south of Boston and right before Cape Cod starts.

Where ever I go, I tend to run in the morning. So, I decided to run along Plymouth's waterfront, and through Burial Hill on this late October day.

Running through Plymouth, you really get an  understanding why the Pilgrims settled here. There is a harbor, a fresh water brook, and a commanding hill where one can see for miles.
Running in a historic town gives you a different perspective. It is nice to take in tourist attractions, like the working harbor, the Mayflower, museums and historic homes. As I run through the waterfront and up the first street in New England ( Leyden Street), and up to Burial Hill, I get a surreal feeling of history.

The burial grounds are a bit macabre with ancient trees and  slate gravestones of all different shapes and sizes. Its interesting to note that many of the early settlers lived long lives, and yet some had very short lives.  Many of the stones had illustrations of urns, weeping willow trees,  cherubs and skulls. I noticed that there was not one headstone with a cross on it. The early settlers of Plymouth were pious, but did not celebrate many religious holidays, or used many religious symbols like crosses.

It was great to see my family, enjoy a waterfront meal, and just be a tourist in "America's Home Town".