My northeast coast road trip, and incidentally the last one my old little car would make, began with a drive to Boston! I went with my friend Rosie and we were lucky enough to stay a few days with a couple that she knew. Love having connections :)
Our first day in Boston, we toured downtown. Rosie had never done the Freedom Trail and it'd been a few years since I've done it, so off we went. Other than the fact that is was crazy hot, it was a great day!
We saw lots of fun historic sites, learned new facts-like the angels by the organ were stolen by privateers and given to the church in the 1700's-and enjoyed the winding, history filled streets :)
At one point we came to these little water fountains, and it was so hot that a nice dip felt really good :)
We even managed to find the restaurant Naomi and I had gone to when we were in Boston years before. Still just as good as before! We made it all along the trail from Boston Commons to Charleston and Bunker Hill. Long day, but so amazing!
The next day was Sunday and after attending church near Harvard (I feel so smart just saying that!) we journeyed literally across the street to the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It had, even before Henry's time, been a temporary headquarters of General George Washington, and that presence could definitely still be found in the house :)
It was awesome seeing the surroundings of the man who penned so many familiar verses. I hadn't realized until this trip what a bastion of education and knowledge was found in the area, as it was home to such names as Thoreau, Emerson, Longfellow, Hawthorne, and others. How awesome would it have been to live here in that time!
That afternoon we jumped back into Revolutionary history by visiting first Lexington and then Concord.
It was inspiring to be standing in the places where the "shot heard round the world" sounded so many years ago.
The minuteman statue on the Lexington Green helped me imagine it even better....plus he's really cute :)
This man stands at the head of the North Bridge in Concord where the colonials first began to drive the British soldiers back to Boston that fateful night/day in April 1775. So the Revolution began, though I don't really think they knew what their actions there that day would cause in the generations to come.
Standing on the north bridge, it was interesting to imagine pursuing the British across the fields and away from town. Love history!!
We left Revolutionary history then, but didn't leave Concord. We went up the road and found the cemetery where many notable poets were buried. We found Emerson, Thoreau, Louise M Alcott, Hawthorne, and others.
On the way back that evening, we spied the Boston temple from the freeway, so we decided to drive in and walk around. Very beautiful!
On our last day before leaving the Boston area, Rosie and I headed back to Concord to have a literary filled day. We started with a tour of Louisa M Alcott's house, on which the book "Little Women" is based. It was amazing to feel how real it felt to me just because I was familiar with the story. She truly wrote her story.
A picture of me outside their house.
Rosie and I on the bench where Mr Alcott (Louisa's father) would talk with passing guests, like Emerson and Thoreau. These were Louisa's tutors. No wonder she wrote so well!
Our last stop was Walden Pond. I doubt Thoreau imagined that in years to come his private place of solitude would be turned into a lake used for swimming and hiking :P Still, we enjoyed a few of his nature inspired quotes while laying on the beach and wading in the water and I suppose that's what really counts :)
Stay tuned for the post about our next stop in Maine!
