Our first stop was to visit my very dear Aunt Eleanor. We attended church with her, then went to Longfellow's Wayside Inn. Wonderful place to visit. Dates back to the 1700's. (Actually, most everything here dates back to the 1700's.) Wayside Inn is fully authentic, which is incredible to think about--old chairs, tables, floors, etc.
Also on the property of Wayside Inn is a working Grist Mill (yes, I bought some cornmeal), a beautiful church, and the Little Red Schoolhouse.
First, the story behind the cornmeal. For our dessert choice, we could have apple pie, sherbet, or this stuff called Indian pudding. Neither Josh nor I would have chosen the latter, but on Aunt Eleanor's request we both tried it. Basically, Indian pudding is a mix of cornmeal & molasses, which are baked together, then a scoop of ice cream is added to the top. Not too bad.
The story behind the Little Red Schoolhouse is interesting. When Henry Ford owned Wayside Inn (he was the last private owner), he moved this schoolhouse in from Sterling (sp), MA. This schoolhouse is where the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb was written. Pretty cool.
Aunt Eleanor did not want to continue the afternoon with us, which is too bad, as we could have used a guide on the roads! But Josh & I continued to Concord, MA and the Old North Bridge, where the shot heard 'round the world was fired. Extremely nice national park here dedicated to the Revolutionary War. We stopped at a few other historical places between Concord and Lexington.
Although we experienced rain throughout most of the day, we couldn't resist walking to the observatory area to view the Old North Bridge and the monuments on either side. Notice the foliage that is just beginning to take color. Such vibrant hues.Along our journey in historic land, we ran across many famous author hangouts. I guess if a person was writing in the 19th century, this was the place of inspiration. Walden Pond is a recreation area--actually, it's bigger than what we consider a pond at home. Henry David Thoreau has his own street in Concord.
One place we stopped by was Orchard House, where the Alcott family resided. This house is said to be the place where Louisa May Alcott not only wrote Little Women, but also the house she modeled the March house after. Stunning, isn't it?
Finally, our journey of the day ended in a trip back to Boston. We like to call it our collegiate tour of Boston. Actually, we happened upon most of the places by chance. We drove into Cambridge and saw Harvard University. (Fun fact, in the early days, because the water in beer had been purified and regular water could have contaminates, Harvard students were served beer with their breakfast. That little ditty is courtesy of the Duck tour we took Saturday.) Anyway, we drove through Cambridge, saw the exit for Tufts and drove past Boston College's football field. Not too far from our hotel is U Mass. The sailboats are in the waters surrounding the university (also home to the JFK presidential library).More tomorrow (unless it's too late after the baseball game).
