Having left Amsterdam on Thursday, we set off to go "far" north – to the town of Enkhuizen which was on the Zuiderzee until the 1930’s. That’s when the Dutch government apparently tired of the frequent flooding, and built the first of the two huge dikes that changed Enkhuizen from a sea coast fishing town to a town on a fresh water lake. Much later in the century, arrangements were made to use a number of old buildings that were scheduled to be demolished and set them up as an open air museum, illustrating a way of life that is gone. It is similar to museums in the U.S. – Mystic Seaport, for example, or Plimouth Plantation. We spent a lovely day there.

The museum was both an open air and an inside museum. The outside part consisted of buildings from three very pretty typical Zeeland towns – each with slightly different architectural styles. Some were from the 18^th century, others from the early 20^th. The "residents" were dressed in the clothes suitable for their time and class and spoke only of matters true to their "residence". Everyone did speak English, of course, but those who were of earlier periods wouldn’t admit to it. A lady in an 18^th century house asked me (in Dutch) where I came from. When I said "America" she seemed very impressed at how far we had come. They also had a great collection of beautiful Dutch round-stern-and-bow sailboats with leeboards (huge boards that are let down into the water to provide stability when the boat sails).

The harbor was full of huge boats of this style, as well as a huge marina filled with all kinds of sailboats. Going back to the museum entrance by ferry proved to be a lovely boat ride.