“ The Greatest Rock in America ”
Second Place
Isla Del Carlo 5th Grade Mrs . Hannon
St . Catherine ’ s School
“ The Greatest Rock in America ”
If I could take a trip to any of America ’ s National Monuments , Historic Sites , or National Parks , it would be to Pilgrim Memorial State Park . Plymouth Rock , which is in the vicinity of the park , in particular . I have always been interested in the history of America ; I think it ’ s fascinating . What better place could there be for me to learn about it than the place where , in a way , it all started ?
One of my favorite topics of American history is before it became America , when the settlers first arrived . Plymouth symbolizes the spot where the Pilgrims landed and started the first New England colonial settlement . It inspires me that a group of men and women who left their homes to gain religious freedom , were thrown off course and landed in a strange place , yet kept moving forward . If you think about it , these men and women were probably some of the most courageous people who ever lived . Without them , we might not have been here today .
Aside from the rock ’ s meaning and what it symbolizes , I am intrigued by how it looks today . It started out a vast boulder and today you could most likely pick it up ! There are many reasons why this happened , but the one that interests me the most is that people just like you and me took little pieces off of it when they visited to take home as a souvenir . As I said before , these people are just like you and me . When I heard about this I thought why would someone do that to a historical place ? This made me think that maybe when you see the rock in person that it just feels different than when you look at a regular rock because it has a design that you favored . I ’ ve experienced things like that . They look like ordinary objects , objects you have seen every day for your whole life but it just seems different in real life . That is my favorite feeling in the world , however , it ’ s also a very rare feeling .
Amongst the many reasons I have for wanting to visit Pilgrim Memorial State Park , indeed the strongest reason , is that I want to learn more about Plymouth Rock and the park . Some information you can find online or in a textbook , such as the rock has grown smaller over time , the rock represents the Pilgrims and their journey , the rock wasn ’ t the location where the Pilgrims actually landed , or that the Pilgrims formed their own government outlined by the Mayflower Compact . All of those facts do interest me , but a textbook or computer can only take you so far . If you go to the Pilgrim Memorial State Park , you ’ ll find similar information , however , it will be more in depth . For example , when you visit this historic site , you can see the original Mayflower Compact document as well as get a copy of the famous document .
Another artifact you could see that you most definitely cannot see anywhere else is the physical rock itself . Yes , you can see pictures of it , but that is not the same thing as seeing the rock in person . A camera can only capture certain things . The saying , “ the real magic happens off camera ” certainly relates to this .
Initially , I thought that Plymouth Rock was just a boring rock with nothing interesting about it , but then I realized that it was much more than that . There is definitely more than a rock at Pilgrim Memorial State Park . There are original documents , replicas , the actual Plymouth Rock itself , and much more . A lot of things only keep me interested for a small period of time . Although the more I read about Pilgrim Memorial State Park , the faster my interest in it increases . I am constantly trying to find more information about it . The more I find , the more I want to visit the park . It draws me in like one of the most interesting things I have ever encountered .
To summarize , the above information , there are multiple causes of why I seek the chance to visit Plymouth Rock : the rock itself , the original documents , replicas , and other reasons stated above . If someone asked me where I would visit if I could take a trip to any of America ’ s National Monuments , Historic Sites , or National Parks , I would , without hesitation , choose the Pilgrim Memorial State Park , specifically , for Plymouth Rock , because it is within the rich historical park itself .
THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP P Morgan Hill Freedom Fest 2015 13