On the way back from New Hampshire we stopped in Concord, MA. Concord is an old, affluent town close to Boston. It's known for being the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War and for the number of authors that resided there. Clark dropped Janelle and I off @ Louisa May Alcott's house. We took a tour of her house which I expected to be like a lot of tours of homes I've done. Usually the tour guide would talk about the family and point out furniture that is just from the time. This tour, however, was refreshingly different.
The Alcott home has been a museum for over 100 years and looks identical to when they lived there. Some of the rooms still have the original wall paper and all of the furniture actually belonged to the Alcott's. I got to see Louisa's room and desk where she wrote Little Women and I learned about her sisters and which characters in the book they inspired. For example, in her sister May's room (Amy from the book) there were original sketches all over the door frame and around the window. It was really cool to see their personal touches in their home, which is something you don't always get to see in a house turned into a museum.
Clark picked us up and we swung by the Old North Bridge, which was closed off because of the government shut down. Even though it was "closed off" it was still very accessible so Clark got to see it and take some photos. Then we stopped off @ Sleepy Hollow cemetery to see the graves of all the authors of Concord.
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| Nathaniel Hawthorne |
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| Henry David Thoreau- There was a big Thoreau family stone to the right. |
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| Ralph Waldo Emerson- Everybody should just have a huge rock for a headstone. |
Drive into Boston, eat dinner @ an Italian restaurant in the North End, drop off the rental car downtown, get picked up by John and go home to Rhode Island.
And here's what actually happened...
- Drive into Boston and get stuck in some traffic
- Couldn't find a parking spot on the street so paid for an over priced parking garage. While parking in said garage hit a pole and damaged driver side mirror.
- Walk to the North End for dinner. Restaurant we wanted to eat at was packed with a line. John was on his way so we settled for an empty restaurant that was not that great.
- Get back to the car and realize we need to get gas. Since we parked underground the GPS could not find the satellite signal. Even after an hour it never found the signal.
- No worries Jackie has a smart phone... that is dying. Crap! Clark's phone was dead. John was waiting for us @ the rental car place and his phone was also dying. We needed gas, but there is none downtown.
- We ended up driving around downtown in circles and we all went back to Rhode Island frustrated and with the rental car.
While we wandered Boston my sister Katie arrived at my house. Katie, Seth, and Tommy drove into town because Seth went to a conference in New York City. The next day we all (minus John & Seth) drove to Plymouth to see the Mayflower.
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| Plymouth Rock, just in case you didn't know. |
We all drove in separate cars because after Plymouth we were making attempt #2 of dropping off the cursed rental car. My cousin Lis and her husband Bryan also offered to take us sailing on the Charles River that afternoon.
We drove into Boston and got stuck in Friday/ 3 day weekend traffic. It was bumper to bumper, going fast is 20 mph traffic. We missed sailing and driving in downtown Boston in traffic is the worst! Pedestrians everywhere, confusing lanes, horns honking. It was a nightmare! When Clark and Janelle found the rental car place Bryan picked them up because I bailed and went to Cambridge seeking refuge @ Lis and Bryan's house. When they were ready to be picked up I dreaded going out there again, but Bryan was so nice and saved me from going out into the mayhem again. After that we headed back to my house, so excited that the next day we did not have to leave Rhode Island.
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