Field Trip To The Great House At Rose Hall

Last Friday, we went with Nathan on his first field trip from Montego Bay Christian Academy. The trip took us out to the Great House at Rose Hall which is about twenty minutes outside of Montego Bay. The Great House sits on what use to be a sugar plantation. Although the house itself has been mostly restored and is beautiful with a spectacular view, the story line and the tour was not very "kid friendly." It was also obvious that Natoya, our tour guide, was use to adults that were attentive to her and not a large group of elementary age school children.

We drove separate from the buses because it was way out of our way to go to school and then out to Rose Hall. As soon as the buses arrived, Nathan, found the one with the first graders in it and they all lined up and walked with their finger over their lips to where we were to meet our tour guide.

Somehow, he always manages to be the line leader. As I'm sure you can guess, it wasn't long before the fingers came off of the lips and they began to sound like a bunch of irritable first graders.

When the tour finally began, we climbed the steps of the Great House and gathered on the outside porch for our first tidbit of history. As Natoya began to tell the story of the plantation owners we realized that it wasn't real appropriate for the smaller kids. Annie Palmer murdered three of her husbands. She strangled one in his sleep, poisoned another and I think she pushed the third one out a window. For her entertainment she would watch the slaves be punished by beating or decapitation.

So, I didn't concern myself when I noticed the kids weren't paying much attention. They were more interested in getting a drink or finding a snack in one of their lunch boxes.

This is the view from the front porch.

As we entered the house, Natoya, warned the kids not to touch anything, not to sit in any chairs and not to cross the ropes. (Yeah, right!)

Needless to say, during Natoya's speech one of the kids knocked over one of the wooden poles that held the divider ropes and it made a very loud crashing noise as it hit the wooden floor. She was very annoyed by it and didn't try to hide her irritation.

The library didn't have many books in it.

Just about the time we got to the third room which was the dining room, Nathan made his way over to me and said," Mom, I don't want to go on the field trip anymore." I wanted to tell him that I didn't want to either but we moved on and endured.

This painting was really neat. Natoya did not know who the people were in the painting but, the artist painted the eyes of the girl in the red dress to appear as if her eyes follow you as you walk by it. And, it did appear that way. It was cool.

After walking past the painting six or seven times, just to see if what Natoya said was true, we went upstairs and went through several bedrooms including the guest room and a sitting room. Then we went downstairs to the dungeon and the tomb area where Annie Palmer is buried.

Annie Palmer's bedroom.

Stairs to the dungeon.

This picture speaks for itself.

Annie Palmer's tomb.

The kids were thrilled to get to this part of the tour because they could climb on the tomb, which of course Natoya did not like, but the tour was officially over so I think she was as glad as the kids were.

Jovanna, Nathan, Ashton, Jaleel.

Ashari, Nathan and Jovanna.

All in all, it was a good day. The kids got a break from school work and got to spend some time together and have some fun. After the tour we all loaded up and went to Burger King. I enjoyed getting to see the kids that Nathan comes home and talks about. Nathan says he likes Ashari because she plays Power Rangers with him and the boys after lunch and because she gives him pencils. Jovanna just likes Nathan and stayed near him every chance she had. But, then again, who wouldn't want to be around that smart, handsome boy of mine!?