Vacation Part 1.2 Day in Concord.

(It should be noted that all the historical places we saw on day 1 were located in Concord, Mass. Including Walden Pond.)

After we all lived deliberately for awhile at the pond, we went on to suck out all the marrow of life.  In fact when anyone became tired we would say "Come on, we're sucking out the marrow of life!"

After the pond we journeyed on to see where Paul Revere was captured.  Look how happy the children are at a historical landmark?

(Lilly 6, Jack 2, Sage 3, Sydney 2.  Paul Revere capture site.)

(Paul Revere was captured at this exact spot hours after his famous "Midnight Ride.")

After the capture site Valerie and John took their girls home for a nap and we soldiered on to more historical sites. 

The rest of the day was spent going to historical homes and a few other spots.  We couldn't afford the time to tour the inside of each home/museum, so we visited the property and outside of the homes.  I think Jack and Lilly would have been pretty cranky after 5 hours of house tours (I speak from personal childhood experience. Ahem).

Next on the agenda was the home of Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne (and Margaret Sidney, although I did not know that until I went there).  They all lived in that home at different times.  I am telling you, if you want to be a super famous writer, Concord is the place to be.

Alcott wrote Little Women based upon her childhood in this home.  We bought Lilly her own copy of Little Women from the gift shop (along with other books) as a special souvenir.

We then went to the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson (I am very grateful for a GPS).

Do you see on the Emerson House sign it says ages 7-17?  We took that sign to mean that children under 7 were free, but in fact it means children under 7 are not allowed in the house. They have the sign again in the window next to the front door with three bitter women who guard the home.  After we assured them we did NOT want to bring our children into the home, but merely wanted to ring the bell and peek inside, they lightened up.  (After informing us that Concord was not really a place for children.)  

We then walked across the street to the Concord Museum where the original lantern that warned Paul Revere that the British were coming is on display.

We also did not go in, we went into the bookstore and Jack tried to break everything he saw so we left.  I believe it was his silent/not so silent protest against historical landmarks.  Life goal #2 is to see the lantern.

After the museum we drove over to the Old Manse.  This was also the home of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The Old Manse garden was started by Emerson's grandfather and is now run by volunteers.  There is a lot more history involved, the garden has been renovated and changed, but still a historical landmark.

The Old Manse is right next door to the Old North Bridge, which is part of the Minute Man National Historical Park.

Coming up next...The Old North Bridge. Surprised?