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Visitors to the Mayflower II and the Rock never had far to go for a souvenir of their visit. Now – pending the acquisition of the necessary permits and renovations – they’ll be able to get a beer, too.
The Parson family has operated a business on Water Street, across from the Mayflower, since the end of World War I in 1918.
That business grew into two gift stores and an ice cream shop.
At one time, there was a Howard Johnson’s next door (now the Pebbles restaurant) and the roof of the John Alden Gift Shop once featured an oversized plaster head of John Alden, himself, looking out at the historic harbor.
In the late ’80s, though, the head was removed (first by high school kids as a prank, then by the owner) and later John Parsons moved his entire family to Florida as the business climate changed on Water Street.
Parsons retired but kept ownership of the two gift stores and, most recently, a family member has managed those stores. But now that that all his children have grown, Parsons is hoping to return to Plymouth and lay the groundwork for his family’s future by transforming the Mayflower General Store.
Tuesday night he was scheduled to appear before the selectmen seeking an All Alcohol license so the souvenir shop can re-open this summer as the Pillory Pub.
It will share an entrance area with the John Alden Gift Shoppe, have a ramp and a wheelchair lift and a working model of a pillory (the stocks in which Colonial miscreants were publicly embarrassed), where tourists can pose for a photograph before or after their meal.
For townies, this will mark a major change in the waterfront. But as they drive by they may not notice, at first.
“Long-time town residents won’t notice much of a difference in the exterior,” Parsons told the Old Colony Monday as he and his son began preparing the building for renovations.
“We’re going to take 10 feet off (the north end), to make a common entrance for both businesses, but other than that the Water Street side will look pretty much the same,” he added.
Inside, though, the changes will be obvious.
In the former General Store, instead of rows of inexpensive mementoes of the town’s history, there will be a dedicated dining area, a small bar and two restrooms.
Visitors to the Mayflower II and the Rock never had far to go for a souvenir of their visit. Now – pending the acquisition of the necessary permits and renovations – they’ll be able to get a beer, too.
The Parson family has operated a business on Water Street, across from the Mayflower, since the end of World War I in 1918.
That business grew into two gift stores and an ice cream shop.
At one time, there was a Howard Johnson’s next door (now the Pebbles restaurant) and the roof of the John Alden Gift Shop once featured an oversized plaster head of John Alden, himself, looking out at the historic harbor.
In the late ’80s, though, the head was removed (first by high school kids as a prank, then by the owner) and later John Parsons moved his entire family to Florida as the business climate changed on Water Street.
Parsons retired but kept ownership of the two gift stores and, most recently, a family member has managed those stores. But now that that all his children have grown, Parsons is hoping to return to Plymouth and lay the groundwork for his family’s future by transforming the Mayflower General Store.
Tuesday night he was scheduled to appear before the selectmen seeking an All Alcohol license so the souvenir shop can re-open this summer as the Pillory Pub.
It will share an entrance area with the John Alden Gift Shoppe, have a ramp and a wheelchair lift and a working model of a pillory (the stocks in which Colonial miscreants were publicly embarrassed), where tourists can pose for a photograph before or after their meal.
For townies, this will mark a major change in the waterfront. But as they drive by they may not notice, at first.
“Long-time town residents won’t notice much of a difference in the exterior,” Parsons told the Old Colony Monday as he and his son began preparing the building for renovations.
“We’re going to take 10 feet off (the north end), to make a common entrance for both businesses, but other than that the Water Street side will look pretty much the same,” he added.
Inside, though, the changes will be obvious.
In the former General Store, instead of rows of inexpensive mementoes of the town’s history, there will be a dedicated dining area, a small bar and two restrooms.
Parsons believes it’s the right time and place for a business of this sort.
“Right now, along this part of the waterfront there’s no place to get out of the weather and sit down for a meal and a drink,” he said.
But Parsons is adamant that the establishment they have in mind won’t be a nuisance.
“We want this to be a family establishment, where tourists can have a drink and something to eat, not a rowdy bar with loud music.”
Parsons said he has spoken to the neighbors, assuring them of his good intentions, and he expected things to go well at the public hearing for a liquor license and other permits.
