I grew up in the area around Lexington and Concord. The surrounding towns are developed now but still retain their small town charm. For houses people still prefer the Colonial architectural look and feel. It is definitely well worth a day to stop and visit the area. The green still exists in Lexington and you can still see a clean hole in a glass window from a redcoat shot. You will see the door frame of a house where a minuteman was standing and saying goodbye to his wife as he was ready to run out and take his position on the green. He never made it beyond the door.
In Concord, just a few miles further inland, you will see the North Bridge where the shot heard round the world was fired. The whole battlefield looks exactly as it did on that day, 235 years ago.
Reverse direction and head back towards Lexington, like the British did. Starting on the narrow dirt roadways in Bedford and then almost all the way back to Boston, Massachusetts Minutemen rallied behind stone walls and trees and extracted a terrible price from the lobsterbacks on that fateful day. Stop at the National Park visitor center to learn all about that great day and our heroic Massachusetts farmers. A lengthy section of the dirt road still exists near the visitor center where you can relive history. It is not be missed.
There is one more treat, Follow the Post Road out to Sudbury to visit the wonderful Wayside Inn. Some say it is old. Damn right it is old, it existed on the original Patriots day. George Washington stopped there for refreshments later that summer, 1775, as he came north to accept control of the Continental army. Anyway, stay there for a day or several days and enjoy the pristene setting just as it was in 1775. The floors at the inn are all wide pine planks and the stone fireplaces are truly grand. The food and refreshment are great and you will meet other like minded people who care enough to seek out a place such as this. A little known secret is that Babe Ruth’s Massachusetts house from his time with the Red Sox is about one half mile north of the inn on a quiet country road.
I lied about there being one more treat. Actually there is another one. When returning to Boston, be sure to take the short walk from Fanuiel over to Paul Revere’s house. It is still there just a few blocks away surrounded by today’s Italian neighborhood in the North End. Paul had something like 19 children by two wives in that house. Can you even imagine the sights and sounds Paul and his family observed from that house. He also became a very successful early industialist, branching out from his silversmith days. In retirement Paul moved to a family farm a few miles to the west and spent his golden years surrounded by many grandchildren and an admiring public. Let us hope that our current day tea party movement produces some bigger than life characters like Paul Revere.
Fantastic post, Sam... thank you! (#17)
Posts like yours above are what make FR a top priority for daily reading and correspondence. Thanks for the same!
I followed them a short distance to where they were dropped off and they quickly "disappeared" into the neighborhood. Making their way through woods and backyards they converged at Concord Bridge to re-enact the battle. I felt so lucky to be a witness to the events that day.