On the Trail of Patriots, Poets and Philosophers

How can you visit Concord without visiting Lexington? We couldn't, especially since we were staying in Waltham on the Club Deal. We had to pass through Lexington to get to Concord. We began our visit with a stop at the Museum of Our National Heritage which is an amazing museum covering a wide variety of aspects of American Life. From here we traveled through the scenic countryside to Lexington. As we parked to view the Minuteman Statue and the Green we noticed that Buckman Tavern was having a Christmas Open House, an unexpected but delightful suprise. Our next stop was the Minuteman National Park Visitor Center which, I think, is a must do since it puts all the events leading up to April 19th 1776 in perspective.

Our next stop was supposed to be the North Bridge but as we were traveling through Concord I noticed that Orchard House was open. This was home to the Alcott family for almost twenty years and its where Little Women was written. How could I resist?

I followed this with a visit to Authors Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and as darkness fell my weekend was complete. One quick stop for supper and we were homeward bound.

Quick Tips:

This is an area that deserves more than just a quick visit. One day is just not enough. We never did get to North Bridge, The Concord Museum, The Wayside, The Old Manse, Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial House, Walden Pond State Reservation, and The Hancock Clarke House, just to mention a few.

Both Concord and Lexington look like great shopping towns with lots of cute boutiques lining the greens. Unfortunately our schedule was so tight that we didn't have the time to do them justice. Next time.

I suspect that a trip in fair weather would be much more crowded but many of the places we didn't visit are not open in the winter months. Maybe two trips would be best, do the most popular stops in the cold weather and go back for any that weren't open.

Best Way To Get Around:

There are some great walking areas here. Minuteman Park has loads of walking trails and there are several places that can only be reached on foot. To get from one site to another though, you must have a car. This area covers several miles and for the sake of time must be done with a vehicle. I didn't see any public transportation but this may also be because it's late fall.

We had a king room on the fifth floor overlooking the front of the hotel. There really isn't a view from this hotel, since it is in a business area; however, directly across the street was The Naked Fish Grill, which I spied as I went to close the drapes... I will review it later.

Anne Marie, the receptionist, was very friendly and helpful. When I called from the Mass. Turnpike to get directions, she gave me directions that anyone could follow without a hitch. We had a message waiting on our phone from the manager, welcoming us to the hotel and wishing us a good stay, by the time we got from the desk to our room. I suspect this had more to do with the Travel Club than normal policy but it was a nice touch.

Our room had everything you could want: a large bed, a comfortable reading chair, three-way lamps both on the desk and on the nightstands, two phones, a coffee maker, hair dryer, iron and ironing board, and cable TV with movie options. Everything was very clean, and the room was of moderate size. The bathroom is very small, but the shower had good pressure.

This is more of a comfortable room than a luxury room, and I found it unusual that there were no extra pillows or blankets in the dresser. But when I called them to tell them that my husband left his camera in the room they were nice enough to Fed Ex it to us, so how can I complain.

The hotel also has an indoor heated (but not too heated) pool and a small fitness center. We enjoyed the fact that the fitness center has a snack machine with candy bars and potato chips, just in case you work up an appetite, I guess.

The one weakness we found was in the breakfast, and that, I suspect, was due more to the fact that the hotel was practically empty than to the quality of the food, but for eggs to work on a buffet, they have to be changed quickly, and these were dry and quite yucky. I wouldn't complain, except it's $12 and frankly not worth it, even if it was perfect. It included cold cereal, fruit (but no bananas), juice, plain bagels, muffins, French toast, really sorry home fries, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal. Our waiter was bored and none too friendly, but he made up for it later at the desk by giving us directions to the local church.

I would stay here again but skip eating breakfast at the hotel.

You just know your going to have a great experience when your hostess greets you with a smile and chats all the way to your table about the gorgeous weather. We came here purely by accident even if it was across the street from our hotel. The last time I was up here to visit the national Archives we ate at a very good place called Grassfields. I called them and they had a 45 minute wait so I called Naked Fish. No wait, no problem.

We had no idea exactly what to expect except the obvious that there would be seafood on the menu. Guess what? There is but its a Cuban Restaurant. What a wonderful suprise!

If you have read any of my other journals you can guess that somehow Al will find a steak and of course he did. A wonderful Cuban Sirloin marinated and served with Chimichuri sauce. Chimichuri is from my best estimation by tasting it a vinegar based shallot sauce. Not at all spicy. This was served with your choice of two accompaniments. Al chose garlic mashed potatos and sauteed mushrooms and red onion. Portions were generous and presentation was beautiful.

I had Myers Rum marinated sirloin tips served on a bed of saffron rice and sauteed spinich. For my accompaniments I chose grilled string beans and grilled asparagus. The grilled vegetables were wonderful, the asparagus young and tender, the green beans just the right texture. The tips were good but I couldn't taste any rum. But then maybe my tasted buds were dulled from my wonderful Havana Colada. This is in the Pina Colada family but mango is the main flavor. It was sinfull, served up in a prettty glass with the rim dipped in coconut. Shear heaven.

But the best is yet to come. Dessert. Let me explain, I checked out the dessert menu before our meal started , thats why we didn't have an appetizer. I needed room for the vanilla-orange creme brulee with strawberry colis. I can't even begin to tell you how scrumtuous this was. Creamy, crackly and the strawberries divine. A truely great dessert. Believe it or not Al's Cuban bread pudding with butterscotch sauce was even better. It was formed in a mold, so it was beautiful and loaded with raisins and rum flavor. The butterscotch sauce was to die for, creamy and rich with a burnt butter flavor.

The atmosphere here is very Cuba. There was Cuban music playing in the background and you expected Ricky Ricardo to start singing Babaloo at any moment. The lighting was low, romantic and relaxed.

Our waitress Jane was perfect. She was able to describe anything we asked her in detail. Her service was efficent but never intrusive. The timing of the food was perfect. And least I forget , the breadbasket has anise flavored rolls with raisins. What could be more perfect?

This is an American history museum that is very eclectic in its presentations. It was founded and is supported by the Freemasons. There is a very good exhibit about freemasonry in America. As you enter the exhibit, you are greeted by two gilded pine cherubim from 1890 in a display case; cherubim support the Ark of the Covenant, and the Ark is used in Masonic ritual degree work.

The exhibit contains two cases of silver lodge jewels made by Paul Revere Jr., momentos and other ritual items. There was also a display of furniture used in Lodge Ritual, one was called the Mystic Ladder. There were pictures of famous masons including Ben Franklin who printed the first Masonic Book in America in 1734 and George Washington. I liked an exhibit that showed Knights in their full dress with swords and then had the swords on display. Quite interesting.

The dairy exhibit was very nostalgic for us. They had a kitchen from the '50s which looked all too familiar; we both recognized the kitchen table as one we grew up eating at. The exhibit told a lot about dairy farming in the US and had a cow (fiberglass) that you could milk. There were photos, memorabilia and my favorite milk boxes with a question on top that you had to open to get the answer.

There was a fascinating exhibit on the banjo which had great banjo music playing as you walked through. Did you know that the banjo was brought to America by the African slaves? Me neither. The exhibit covered 200 years of banjo history and ended with Kermit and Steve Martin, both playing the banjo.

Lexington Alarm'd is really a great exhibit. It includes reconstructed rooms, a change to take your picture as a British soldier and the really excellent audio visual display in a mock church where you watch two televion screens -- one is the Boston Evening News, and one is the London Evening News circa 1775. It is a great opportunity to see broadcasting of the same events from the two different sides. It is well done, amusing, and right on historically. This is a permanent exhibit, and the banjo and dairy are changing exhibits. There were several other smaller exhibits scattered down three hallways.

This was an interesting museum. Not quite like any other I've seen. They have a very nice gift shop and a small snack bar.

Hours: Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sunday, noon-5pm

Orchard House was the family home of the Alcott family for almost 20 years. Bronson Alcott and his wife Abigail were the parents of 4 daughers, with 3 of them they moved into Orchard House in 1858 (Elizabeth had died a few months earlier).

This is a truly amazing family. I have always loved Louisa after falling in love with Little Women as a girl but I had no idea that she was not extraordinary in her own family. Her father was a very forward thinking philosopher and educator, her mother was the first paid social worker in the United States, her sister May had her art exhibited at the Paris Salon. Can you think of another American familiy who have as much celebrity in one generation?

So, the tour of Orchard House, and you must take a tour, was not as focused on Louisa as I would have liked but it certainly was eye opening about the rest of the family. You will enjoy the many photos throughout the house.

The tour begins in Bronson Alcott's study . Here we see his books and desk and a painting by May of a black woman. Our tour guide gave us plenty of trivia about Bronson's views on education and the trouble they got him into with a variety of school boards. He had a black student, which lost him the rest of his other students, he advocated exercise and fresh air and healthy living, radical in the 1860's. The Alcotts were vegetarians and grew much of their own food.

From the study we visit the bedrooms. Louisa's has the desk her father made her at the window(where she wrote Little Women), a painting on the woodwork of callalilies by May and also an owl on the fireplace wall. May's bedroom has sketches that she did on the wall and doors angels and mythological figures). She was really very talented and a friend of Mary Cassatt. There is a door to a back stairway in May's room that the girls used to get down to the dining room where they put on their plays for guests in the parlor.

In the parlor the ghost of Jo, Amy, Meg and Beth with Marmie is felt the most. It looks exactly like you would expect. Louisa wrote Little Woman in response to her publishers request for a book for girls and she based it loosely on her family, the rest of course is history. On the couch is a pillow that Louisa used to signal her mood; -up good, down-bad, evidently she was quite temperamental and guests needed to be warned.

Orchard House is a House in the process of restoration. The kitchen was unavailbale and there was scaffolding on the exterior.

The gift shop here is wonderful and worth a visit on its own. Lots of interesting books and other small gift items.

Entrance is $7 . Hours vary so call ahead.

Sleepy Hollow Cemtery was established in 1855, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was on the cemetery board and gave the consecrating address, urged designers to make the 7-acre cemetery a place for both the living and the dead--a place where people could come to walk and contemplate nature. There are several versions of how it came by its name, but there is no doubt it is related to Washington Irvings famous work.

This cemetery became the final resting place of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Alcott family, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. They are now all resting on what is called Author's Ridge.

The grave stones run the gamut from Hawthorne's simple stone, with only his last name, to Emerson's large, unshapen piece of granite. Thoreau's is a second replacement, and Louisa's is also quite simple.

The cemetery is well signposted as you drive in. They get you to Author's Ridge but then leave you to flounder on your own. Emerson's was the hardest to find. It is also a steep climb up and worse down. Not for anyone with walking difficulty.

We got there at dusk, just before it closed, so we didn't get the full effect of the beauty of the setting, but it is certainly a pilgrimage worth taking.

The Visitors Center is the best place to begin your visit to Minute Man National Historical Park. There is a large parking lot with a boardwalk that takes you back to the visitor center. It is about a 5-minute walk from the parking lot.

There is a park ranger on duty in the visitors center and also there are displays covering the events of April 18 and 19, 1775, including a 40-foot battle mural. It takes about 10 minutes to look at and read all the displays. There is an audiovisual presentation every half-hour, so if you have time, you may want to visit the shop now or just wander around a bit.

The show is the highlight of the visit. It is called The Road to Revolution and is narrated by Amos Doolittle, or his modern counterpart. The door in the front of you is actually a screen, and Amos appears in the door and tells us the story of what he found when he came up to Lexington from Connecticut about two weeks after the confrontation at North Bridge.

Through a series of audiovisual affects, we become part of the events. We follow Paul Revere out of Boston, as well as Mr Dawes, the other rider who left by a different route at the same time. Both of them made it to Lexington, where they were joined by a young man from Concord who actually ended up being the only one to reach Concord to warn them. I never before quite understood 'one if by land, two if by sea'. It is very clear to me now.

I never knew either that the first killings were on Lexington Green, where an overzealous English soldier killed two Americans. Nor did I know that after the battle at Concord's North Bridge, the worst killing was yet to come on the march back to Boston. Altogether, 273 British Soldiers and 95 Colonists lost their lives in this 24-hour period. It was much more serious than I ever suspected.

I wish I had had some children with me; heck, I wish I had come here when I was a child. It was very interesting, and the visual effects kept it that way.

There is a small but well-stocked shop with lots of books and brochures and other small souvenirs. The visitors center also has nice, clean bathrooms, always nice to find.

The center is open all year and from November to April; the hours are 9am to 4pm. Entrance is free.

NARA stands for National Archives and Records Administration. NARA's Northeast Region is located in Waltham Ma. in the Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center, 380 Trapelo Rd. Phone 781-647-8104.

If you have ever thought about tracing your family tree or are in the process and have roots in the northeast, this is the place to start.

Among their many holdings, which are open to the public for free, are the US Census Returns on microfilm from 1790-1920 for the full United States. Also included are the indexes for the 1880,1900,1910 and 1920 Census. Census' are a great place to start finding out about your family. Depending on the year of the census, they include occupation, number of years in the US, weather or not they are a citizen, family relationships within a household, education, country of origin and even more. In case your wondering why the 1890 census wasn't indexed , it was largely destroyed in a fire and unfortunately all the information was lost before it could be microfilmed.

Canadian Border Records, sometimes called the St Albans records are also here on microfilm and cover the years 1895-1954. This can help if your ancestor came first to Canada which is the case with many Irish immigrants from the famine era.

Passenger Arrival Records for the Port of Boston 1820-1874 and 1883-1936 and also for other New England Ports. Don't get too excited over this one however, there are some glaring gaps especially around the famine time 1845-1848. I know my ancestor came through there but I'll be darned if I can find a ship that is recorded on the date he says he landed. If you can find your ancestor though, its amazing how much information may be there. Sometimes even home town, ages, family groupings etc.

But the real reason to come here is because all the Naturalization and Immigration Papers for the New England States have been gathered here, even those from local courts. The questions asked of the applicants varied greatly from state to state and is for the most part much better the more recent you get. Some even have photos, which as you can imagine are ones no one has ever seen. Massachussetts asked great questions as early as 1854 when my young Irish ancestor told them he was born in Killarney in 1832, came to the US in July 1847 and has lived in Chicopee for more than 5 years. Quite a lot of information.

They also have some Revolutionary War Service Records, pensions and lots of other federal information.

They are open Monday, Tuesday and Friday 8am-4:30. Wednesday and Thursday 8am to 9pm and one Saturday a month. You will need at least a few hours just to familiarize yourself with the collection and the machinery. The staff here is great and if Walter Hickey is working tell him Thank You from Isabelle, Cindy and Colleen who he helped greatly when we were last there. Walter has been a speaker at several genealogy conferences I've gone to, so he knows what he's doing.

In case you didn't guess, I am a registered genealogist and have been for 15 years.