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Jul. 4th, 2008 09:37 pmOther Kenjari and I celebrated the 4th of July by getting out of the city. We reserved a Zipcar (a Mini Cooper! It was so cute!), grabbed some food at Whole Foods, and headed out to Concord to walk in the woods and picnic at Walden Pond. Unfortunately, it was too cold and gray for swimming. However, I think the somewhat un-summery weather did keep it from being overly crowded, so that was a good thing. We took a walk all the way around the pond, stopping about halfway to eat our lunch sitting on stone steps that lead down to the water, which gave us a lovely view out across the pond. After lunch, we took a look at the site of Thoreau's cabin. It's a bit closer to the pond than I imagined from my readings of Walden, and on more of a hill. It's also a lot closer to the railroad than I had thought - no wonder there's an entire chapter of Walden devoted to a discussion of the railway.
We next went out and drove around the general area for a while. We were driving along the Minuteman historic park and Battle Road area when we saw a sign that caught our attention: "Paul Revere Capture Site". We said to each other, "Paul Revere was captured?!". I don't remember hearing about that part in America History. So we found a place to park and took a look at the stone marker and plaque. By the time Revere reached the Lincoln/Concord area, he had met up with two other men, Dawes and Prescott, who were also out alerting people to the danger of the incoming British. The three of them ran into some British soldiers who detained them for questioning and took them back towards Lexington. Prescott was able to get away because he was from the area and knew the surrounding terrain. Revere and Dawes were released near Lexington.
Then we returned to Concord. We walked around the quaint historic district, window-shopping a bit. We also looked for Thoreau's grave, which involved checking out a couple of small old graveyards before finding our way to the much larger Sleepy Hollow graveyard. Sure, we could have just checked in at the visitor's center, but that would have been much less fun. Sleepy Hollow is a lot like the Mount Auburn or Forest Hills cemetaries in Boston - large and beautiful grounds, many attractive 19th century tombs, and several notable people buried there. Thoreau and his family are in an area known as Author's Ridge, because the Hawthornes, Emersons, and Alcotts are also up there. Thoreau has very small headstone near to the larger family monument. Someone had left a bouquet of pink roses there, and there were also several branches of greenery and some stones as well. Louisa May Alcott's headstone (also a small one placed near a larger family monument) had plenty of offerings, too, including a handwritten letter weighted down with a stone. Emerson's grave had only a couple of things left, but one of them was a ballet shoe. I wonder what the story behind that is, but it will likely remain a mystery.
At some point, perhaps in the fall, we will have to go back to Concord and do a more thorough visit.
We next went out and drove around the general area for a while. We were driving along the Minuteman historic park and Battle Road area when we saw a sign that caught our attention: "Paul Revere Capture Site". We said to each other, "Paul Revere was captured?!". I don't remember hearing about that part in America History. So we found a place to park and took a look at the stone marker and plaque. By the time Revere reached the Lincoln/Concord area, he had met up with two other men, Dawes and Prescott, who were also out alerting people to the danger of the incoming British. The three of them ran into some British soldiers who detained them for questioning and took them back towards Lexington. Prescott was able to get away because he was from the area and knew the surrounding terrain. Revere and Dawes were released near Lexington.
Then we returned to Concord. We walked around the quaint historic district, window-shopping a bit. We also looked for Thoreau's grave, which involved checking out a couple of small old graveyards before finding our way to the much larger Sleepy Hollow graveyard. Sure, we could have just checked in at the visitor's center, but that would have been much less fun. Sleepy Hollow is a lot like the Mount Auburn or Forest Hills cemetaries in Boston - large and beautiful grounds, many attractive 19th century tombs, and several notable people buried there. Thoreau and his family are in an area known as Author's Ridge, because the Hawthornes, Emersons, and Alcotts are also up there. Thoreau has very small headstone near to the larger family monument. Someone had left a bouquet of pink roses there, and there were also several branches of greenery and some stones as well. Louisa May Alcott's headstone (also a small one placed near a larger family monument) had plenty of offerings, too, including a handwritten letter weighted down with a stone. Emerson's grave had only a couple of things left, but one of them was a ballet shoe. I wonder what the story behind that is, but it will likely remain a mystery.
At some point, perhaps in the fall, we will have to go back to Concord and do a more thorough visit.
