I didn’t know about the American Museum. Yes, definitely a must-see! Thanks for the tip :-)

(BTW, we never figured out if it was Lie-den of Lay-den. What do you think?)

We visited the American Museum there. You’ve got to go. It is run by a very interesting and eccentric man — originally from Chicago, I think.

He was in two different jazz bands for the past 4 years. The last two years he had to play in two bands as part of the requirements of his old school. He got to the point where he just didn’t want to play anymore. I really hope he goes back to it because I think things like playing an instrument (like painting or any other way of expressing yourself) are great life long activities.

I had a small kernel of knowledge of the Dutch folks on the Mayflower because the church my family attended when I was younger traced its roots back to the Mayflower as well. Thanksgiving is a larger part of that church’s holiday culture than it is in most churches, I think–for the town’s annual Festival of Lights parade, held the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the church’s float is a Mayflower with children dressed up in pilgrim garb–and we learned at least as much about Thanksgiving in Sunday school as we did in elementary school. I didn’t know that the Dutch pilgrims originally lived in Leiden, though!

Too funny. ;-)