Battle road, Boston to Concord

  Today is Sept. 24 and we are flying home to Vancouver, oh but wait, we have a few hours before the plane leaves.    We have time to visit some historic sites of the revolutionary war.   From the main road into Concord, MA you can see the

“battle road”   during the 1775 war this is the road the settlers and the British used and homes and taverns are along its side.   This road stretched all the way from Boston to Lake Champlain.  Reenactments of the first battle are performed to show tourist the life and events of that first day.    We went to a national visitor center and watched a very informative movie.   

Then on the road we went.    The Meriam house was close to the road for the British and an historical home that they broke in to to see if any rebels were hold up in there.  Our last stop was the house that Nathaniel Hawthorn lived in while he lived in Concord,MA.   He bought the home from another author family “the Alcott’s” The Alcott family called this home their “Hillside” home.   When the Hawthorn’s lived in the house they called it the “Wayside” We had a fantastic time on our trip, and now it’s a memory.   When we returned to Vancouver,WA Verne was set apart as the Bishop of the Fairway Village Ward.

Thanksgiving for FALL

 

 Friday Sept. 23, 2011, the first day of Fall.    What a perfect day to visit a Pilgrim village so we drove to Plymouth, MA to “Plimoth Plantation”  This was a really nice recreation of the life in 1620’s when the Puritan’s of England came to America.     Of course the Puritan’s had chickens and Verne followed a rooster to get a good view.   We saw the assembly hall/fort with cannons.   We drove a little farther to the ocean area where the “rock” is.   Of course it is the rock where their ship  “Mayflower” landed.   We went on board and talked with the crew.     Well here is our last Lobster meal.   What, “2”?   I think Verne over did it by “1”.     Can you have too much lobster?   YES, says Verne. Back on the road to Salem, MA to “The house of the Seven Gables” This was the house Nathaniel Hawthorn wrote about.    He authored the book even though he did not live in this house  his cousin did and she told him the history of the house which was built in 1668.     I guess he liked the story and he wrote this beloved book in 1851.  

We had a fabulous  tour of the house and also the house he was born in which was moved to this property from another location down the street.   Laurie and I had another …

“literary moment”.

Listen My Children………

  We’re in Boston.   We drove to a transit center and got on the subway to get to down town Boston.  (FUN)  We started our tour at the museum of science to board an amphibious army vehicle.  Our driver gave us a great look at the city and the “history” of the area.   We saw the state house, but Verne needed a haircut first.   The tour also  took us into the Charles River.  What a fun look at the skyline of the city.  

After the tour we took our own tour following the “freedom trail” marked in red along the sidewalks and roads. (2 1/2 miles)    During the walk we found ourselves at a delicious pastry store where we treated ourselves to a “cannoli” Boston boast of very good Italian food and next to the pastry store was our Italian lunch.YUM  Back on the trail we came to the Paul Revere home.  The next stop was the famous Old North Church, where the two lanterns were placed in the belfry tower.    Revere and 2 friends road to Concord,MA from Lexington,MA when Revere was  captured, one went back to Lexington, and the third (Prescott) continued to Concord.

“The 18th of April in 75”        Walking back to the subway Verne shared a bench with a famous coach of the basket ball team “Boston Celtics”

Casey, I hope you now who he is????  This is Bunker hill where the bloodiest battle of the revolutionary war took place. The American soldiers of 500, held off 4000 British soldiers for 3 days. The Americans finally had to quit and run because they ran out of ammunition. We lost only 2 soldiers. They had heavy casulties. The last stop of the day was a real highlight.   We toured the U.S.S. Constitution.    Built in 1894 under the direction of Pres. George Washington.   The ship was beautiful and is the oldest commissioned war ship in the world.   We were so tired and hot when we got back to the motel we showered and went to bed.   We had a very full day.