bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday-  We did tasks around the MH until about 10:30. We left and went north to Kennebunkport to a craft fair. The traffic on RT 1 was bumper to bumper from Moody Beach to the turn off for I-95. We turned onto Rt. 9 which would take us to Kennebunkport. We turned right and went in search of the Village Green. After a few turns on one-way streets, we found the fair and lucked out and found a parking place.

We wandered through the craft fair. One item that we had not seen before was that some one was using old Post Office boxes and turning them into piggy banks. They were pretty unique!

I found a cell phone purse for $20, which I purchased. It is small and light, and has room for the phone, money, and credit cards. While I way buying that, Bob found this little garden in the park. The garden was dedicated to someone’s grandmother.

We left and traveled the 4 miles to Kennebunk. We were going there for gas. We passed a craft fair and then saw a farmers market, so we found a parking place and went to both. We purchased some heirloom tomatoes and wandered through the craft fair. We purchased gas for $2.17/gal. The price had gone up for the weekend from $2.11.

Above is the Kennebunk Tavern circa 1799. The are famous for their lobster dishes which they will ship. They were not open for lunch.

We turned back south on Rt. 1, again running into heavy traffic, once we passed the turn for I-95. We went to the MH for lunch, walked the dogs, and set out to go to the Woody Car Show.

Because Rt. 1 was still a parking lot, we turned and drove down to Moody Beach and drove alone the ocean. We turned back and entered the Hannaford store parking lot, where we parked and walked across a field to Rt. 1. We crossed at a traffic light and then walked back down to the Woody Show, in a field across from the Hannaford’s.

 

 

 

 

 

We left and went to Ogunquit. We lucked out again, finding the one open parking place in the 1 hour parking lot. We walked along the very crowded sidewalk, and went looking in shops. We found a walk-thru to the beach, and went down to look at the bay. We continued our shopping.

On the way back, we saw a police escort for the Woody’s. They were driving out to the bay, where we had dinner last week. It is a circle, so we knew they would be returning. It was fun, people were waving at the drivers and passengers. There was a lot of ‘ah- uga’s” from the cars in response. We saw the sign below in front of one of the shops.

We returned to the car and went back to the ice cream parlor to have another dose of that awesome ice cream we had found yesterday. Again I had the Boston Slam and Bob had the Triple Chocolate. Oh so good on a hot day!

We returned to the MH.  I took a short nap and Bob worked on trying to download the Direct TV app to the TV. When we are in situations like this, where we have no access to satellite, it would be nice to be able to stream directly from Direct TV, which we are supposed to be able to do. Unfortunately, Bob was able to get the app to his computer, but can’t figure out how come he can’t get it from the computer to the TV.

We ate dinner, then left and went to Wells Beach. After 6 PM, the parking is free, it costs $25 a day! Dogs are allowed on the beach after 6 pm. So off we all went. The weather was getting a little cool, in the low 70’s with a breeze. We stayed about an hour. The dogs had a great time, sniffing, digging and meeting other dogs.

We returned, and I watched some shows on the Ipad, while Bob continued to work on getting the TV set up.

Sunday- Moving day! We left at about 9:45, driving south on Rt. 1. We continued on Rt. 1 to the Irving station at the state line.

We stopped and bought diesel, $2.32/gal as it was less expensive there then in NH or MA. We entered I-95 and continued to Hanscomb Air Force base near Lexington MA, or actually to the FAM Camp next to the runway. We exited and drove about a mile to the RV park. This is the first FAM Camp where we have stayed. Since Bob is retired Department of Defense, he is eligible to stay at some of the FAM camps. DOD retirees can stay at FAM camps at the discretion of the commanding officer. So we pulled in and there were two sites that we would be able to get satellite at, so we pulled into one of them, after checking a the office. The office was closed, and the message said to set up and pay in the morning.

We settled in and ate lunch as it was about 12:45. We left and went about 8 miles south on I-95 to Costco to pick up a few items. We returned and Bob called Direct TV. He set us up for the local Boston channels. We had been set up for Denver up until this time. Of course, we have been well out of the Denver region for months.

The people here are really friendly. Everyone waved or said hello. When Bob walked the dogs, the folks who had been parked next to us at the Escapade stopped and said hello! It is a small world!! We ate dinner, watched TV, planned for tomorrow and went to bed.

Monday- We were under a tornado watch last evening. The tornado hit south of us in Concord, but we had strong winds and rain overnight. It cleared out this morning and is still windy, but the temp is in the 70’s.

At a little after 8 we went over to the office to check in. The price was a little more than expected, $26 per night, FHU, 50 amp. Much better than the $77-78 at other places! Ann-Marie checked us in. Everyone is so friendly! Ann-Marie gave us hints about going downtown, where to park and will even walk the dogs!

Bob took the sheets and towels over to the laundry and I did laundry in the MH. We left at about 10:15 and drove downtown, on our way to lunch in Quincy, and we stopped at the Quincy Market in Faneuil Market. We parked across the street in a parking garage. $30 for a little over an hour of parking! Whew, really expensive.

We wandered around the market. At one end of the market is Faneuil Hall. It was a meeting house and on the Freedom Trail. The building  was a gift from the wealthy merchant, Peter Faneuil in 1742. The building has always functioned as a public market and town meeting place. It is four story’s high. We walked into the first floor, where there is a visitor center. We talked to one of the volunteers and received a map of the Freedom Trail. We used the rest rooms, then went up to the second floor.

We wandered through the meeting room, looking at the portraits on the walls. Then Mike, the Park Ranger,  started a talk on the room. He was excellent! He explained how the American colonies were not taxed for over a hundred years. Merchants were basically smugglers, as the colonies were expected to purchase everything from England. This was how England was obtaining their money. Then England went into a very large debt to fight the French/Indian war. As a result, 78% of all English income went to the interest on the debt. ( The picture in the center is George Health’s Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, showing Daniel Webster speaking.)

So, parliament decided to tax the American Colonies. Interestingly, the Colonists, who considered themselves good Englishmen, said that they would pay. How much did they owe, and they would collect the taxes. The English Parliament said no, and just put a tax on everything. This ended up resulting in the Revolutionary War for ‘taxation without representation’. The right to a vote in Parliament  had been assured by the Magna Carta.

The meeting room had no chairs at that time and town meetings were held there. There was no stage at that time. Men would just stand in a certain spot and talk. ( Many others spoke there later including Frederick Douglas and Lucy Stamp a suffragette).

The chairs, stage and balcony were added in the 1800’s. When Boston was taken by the British, they turned the hall into a theater. Since Boston was Puritan, this made the Colonists more angry, as there was not supposed to be theaters, parties etc. 

We walked up the stairs to the 4th floor. On that floor is the headquarters and armory of the ‘Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company’, chartered in 1638 for defense of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and an occupant of Faneuil Hall since 1746. JFK was installed as a member in the 1950’s.

We left and walked thru Quincy Market.

We both thought is would be like Seattle, with a Farmers Market and some stores. The stores are there, but no veggies! More Abercrombie and Finch type stores.

There were a lot of kiosks with various items, and the Cheers replica.

While we were walking thru, we were stopped by a reporter and I was interviewed for Chanel 2 about whether I prefer shopping in stores or on the internet. We returned to the car and bit the bullet with paying the $30 for parking, ouch!

We drove south about 20 minutes to Quincy where we met up with Joan Robinette at the marina. We had a nice lunch and caught up with each other at Capt. Fishbones.

Can you tell it was windy, my hair was flying!

We left and stopped at Walmart then Hannafords. We returned to the MH , ate dinner, watched TV and planned tomorrow.

Tuesday-  We ran over to the office and asked Ann-Marie to walk the dogs one time during the day for us. We drove south on I-95, two exits, to Rt. 2 east. We went to the Alewife exit, and entered the parking garage for the “T”, the subway. We took the red line to the Park Street exit and walked up the steps to the Boston Common. We went into the visitor center. We left and walked thru the Common where cattle once grazed and the British soldiers camped. The Puritans established the Common in 1634, making it the nation’s oldest public park.

We climbed the stairs behind Bob, to look at the State House and the statue of Robert Shaw.

The gold on the dome of the State House is gold leaf. Originally, it was covered by Paul Revere using copper, and the gold leaf was updated in the 1970. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere laid the corner stone on the building, July 4, 1795. It was completed January 11, 1898. The dome serves as the zero mile marker for the state of Massachusetts. Oliver Wendell Homes once declared that it was “the hub of the universe”.

We turned right at the end of the block and walked down the hill, along the Common. We crossed the street and walked to the Park Street Congregational Church.  The elegant spire with it’s carillon sounds twice a day, and we were in the burial ground next door when it chimed at 10 AM. The hymn, America, was first sung here.

We left and walked a few feet to the  Granary Burying Ground. Patriots John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried here.

Above is Paul Revere with the the old marker and the new.

 

Above is what Benjamin Franklin wrote on the original Franklin marker. It deteriorated, so the city placed the one above. Below is John Hancock.

We continued on our way, just down the street on the corner was the Kings Chapel and Burying Ground. Kings Chapel was built in 1749 for the first Anglican Congregation in Boston. It is a Georgian church and a strong hold of Loyalist opposition. Most of the its members left for England and Nova Scotia in 1776.

 

Above is the oldest pulpit in the US, still standing.

The burial grounds contained John Winthrop, the first governor of the colony and the gravestone that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write the Scarlet Letter.

We walked along the side of the church to the first School site, which is behind the building and there was nothing there, although the next site was the Old State Hall, which is now a Ruth Christ steakhouse.

We continued on to the corner. We spotted these antique pay phones(LOL)!

Behind the pay phones was a little park. We wandered over to take a look.

 

Above was a monument to the Irish immigrants. When the potato famine occurred, the Irish were starving. The people of Boston sent food.

 

What they did not anticipate was the immigration of so many Irish to the colony.

 

My mothers family arrived during this time! Bob’s Irish ancestors came at the same time, but entered through New Orleans.

We crossed the street to visit  the Old South Meeting House. Built in 1729 as a Puritan house of worship, it was the largest building in Colonial Boston. In the days leading to the Revolution, citizens gathered to challenge British rule, protesting the Boston Massacres and the tea tax. An overflow meeting occurred on Dec.16, 1773 where Samuel Adams launched the Boston Tea Party. It continues to be used as a meeting place and a haven for free speech.

We did not visit due to the high fee to enter. We looked for the Old Corner Bookstore, but never found it. It was supposed to be on the corner, but we looked at all the corners and never found a bookshop.

Our next stop was at the Old State House. Built in 1713, it was the seat of the colonial and state governments. In 1761, James Otis opposed the ‘Writs of Assistance’ here, inspiring John Adams to state “then and there the child independence was born”.

We walked along the side of the building, then to the other end.

From the balcony above, the Declaration of Independence was first read to the citizens of Boston.

In front of the building, was this circle memorial, marking the site of the Boston Massacre.

The Boston Massacre was where a group of men started heckling a British soldier. They threw rocks and snowballs at him. The episode escalated and five of the colonists were killed. This was not much of a massacre, but it was used as propaganda to rile up the citizens to join in the Revolution.

We walked another block and were on the front side of Faneuil Hall where we had been the other day. We wandered into the building and visited the expensive shops. We stamped out NPS pass, and continued on our way.

We walked through the Irish section of Boston and past old restaurants and pubs. One was the Union Public House, a favorite of JKF and Jackie.

We crossed through the Rose Kennedy garden, without even realizing it. It is a long, narrow park, with fountains and grass areas. We continued through, following the  bricks on the Trail.

Our next destination was the Paul Revere House. It is located in the oldest residential neighborhood, the North End.

All of a sudden, I looked down, and realized that the bricks  were gone! We had missed the turn, so we checked the map, and sure enough, we had to re-route! We walked over a block, and then down a block to the house.

Revere was originally from the North End, and once his business was earning enough money, he moved the family into this house, in the fall of 1770. It is located on North Square. The house was comfortable and spacious by 18th century standards, but had been built in 1680. The family lived there until 1800. It was first owned by a rich merchant and by the time the Revere’s moved in it had been altered several times. It has high ceilings and relatively large rooms.

In 1902, Paul Revere’s great-grandson John P. Reynolds, Jr. purchased the house to ensure that it would not be demolished. The Paul Revere Foundation was formed and now owns the house and is doing the renovations. No pictures are allowed inside.

We entered into the kitchen area, then the dining room; we climbed the stairs to the large bedroom, and then exited through the smaller bedroom. $3 each. Paul Revere had 16 kids, but only 9 nine lived here during this time. Some had grown, married and had their own homes, several died. All the rooms had multiple purposes.

We continued our journey. Walking up the cobble stone street.

Not on the tour, but on our way, we saw St. Stephens Church.

 

While walking, if I saw a plaque on a wall I would stop and read it, which is how I found this. Evidently, Rose was from the North End and was baptized here.

We crossed the street and walked down Paul Revere Mall.

 

As we walked down the mall, we saw plaques on the walls on the left.

My third grandfather may have been in this regiment. I am still trying to clarify this fact.

Above is the plaque about Paul Revere. What is interesting, and unfair, is about William Dawes. When Paul Revere went one direction, William Dawes went the other way.  The reason we know about Paul Revere was from the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and poor William Dawes, who did the same thing, gets no credit!

We can’t leave out Ben Franklin!

At the end of the mall was this building.

In it was a print shop and a 1600’s chocolate shop. Naturally, we had to stop in!

This gentleman was printing a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Boston version, on linen paper. Wood paper did not exist until the 1800’s. He talked a lot about the history of printing, set up the printing press, inked it, and produced this linen copy. The Boston Declaration is different from the Philadelphia version, which is the actual version. The Boston one is in two columns, instead of one. Some of the words are different, due to the different dialects. He sells these for $20, and we could have bought one if we had a place to put it! It was pretty cool!

In the chocolate shop, the gal was demonstrating how they made chocolate in the 1600’s to 1700’s. We were able to sample some hot chocolate, which was pretty good, but not as sweet as we are used to. She posed for me!

Our next stop was the Old North Church. It was built in 1723, and is also known as Christ Church. It remains an active Episcopalian church. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow memorialized Old North Church at the start of the Revolutionary War with his poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. On the night of April 18 1775, sexton Robert Newman hung two lanterns in the steeple to warn Charlestown patriots of advancing British soldiers. The Georgian style church houses the nation’s first maiden peal of bells and the first bust of George Washington.

Here was an archeological dig they were doing in the courtyard. I forgot to get a picture of the steeple, as we went to lunch at a little café across the street.

We walked up the hill to the Copps’s Hill Burying Ground. From this spot, the British soldiers bombarded Breed’s Hill( Bunker Hill) with cannon fire on June 17, 1775. Black educator, Prince Hall, is buried in this graveyard.

We continued our walk, going downhill, and crossing the Charlestown Bridge. While walking across the bridge, we spotted this Chinese Junk.

At the end of the bridge, we turned right, and went to the Charlestown Navy Yard, to visit the USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides.

From 1800 to 1974, the Charlestown Navy Yard built, repaired and outfitted US naval vessels. The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. We stopped at the visitor center, and had to go through security. I asked the gal when I was stamping our NPS passport, why we had to go thru security. We had to because there are naval personnel on the others side of the wall from the visitor center. That seems like they should have put the visitor center elsewhere, but whatever. If we could have gone on the Constitution, ( we could not as it is being repaired) we would have had to go through security and produce ID, as it remains commissioned. It last sailed, under its own power, in 1976 for the Bi-centennial.

We continued our long walk, now up hill, to Bunker Hill. The 221 ft., obelisk commemorates the first major battle of the Revolution. There are 294 steps, and we decided we were too tired to climb them!

At Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill), the patriots built a bunker overnight. When the British saw it the next morning, they bombarded it with cannon balls. The patriots with stood two battles, but retreated after the third. The battle energized the Americans and drew them together against the British.

We first visited the NPS visitor center and stamped our NPS passport. We had to stamp it again at the top, at the visitor center at the monument. We had a total of 16 stamps for today! A record for us!!

 

The statue is of Colonel  Prescott, who lead the battle.

We walked back down hill, then turned right, walked a couple of blocks, then continued downhill. We crossed some streets, and finally made it to the “T”. We boarded the red train and returned to the Alewife station, walked to the car, and drove back to the MH. Our Fitbits told us we had walked 18, 600 steps. Whew, we were tired!

We ate leftovers for dinner and sort of watched TV, as we both fell asleep in the recliners.

Wednesday- We went back to the Alewife “T” station and went to Copley Square. We walked over to the Duck Tour location at the Prudential building. We purchased our tickets, then went across the street to the Marriot to use the restrooms. We returned to wait for the start of the 10:30 AM tour.

Our guide was Ally-Oops. She wears a referee shirt. She was a good guide and we enjoyed the tour, although we would have liked to have had a longer harbor tour.

I cannot remember the name of this bridge, but it nick-named the salt and pepper bridge, as the towers look like salt and pepper shakers.

We drove back thru town. We drove past Cheers and Ally said that the actual bar is upstairs. We continued past the John Hancock building. The most awarded architectural church is Trinity Church. The architect for the John Hancock building next door, recognized that he was designing a new building for next to Trinity Church. So he made the sides mirrors. Here we are in the Duck, next to the building.

We were dropped off at the Prudential building. We walked to the tower and found that it was $18, each to go up to look out the top. We thought that was soo much, so we walked to Cheers.

On the way, we passed the Old South Church, 1699.

We also passed the Boston Library. My mother worked there at one time!

Above is the front of Trinity Church. Below is the back.

We walked a few more blocks, then turned left to walk along the Public Garden.  Below is a picture of the statue of George Washington.

 

We ate lunch. We had to start by going downstairs to get a ticket , which allowed us to get a table upstairs. Weird! Anyway, we had a nice lunch. Bob had the beer. I asked about the hard ciders. The waiter brought me samples of the two of them. They only sell them in 22 oz. glasses ( like the one above) and I did not want that much so I passed. But one of the ciders was pretty good!

After lunch, we walked across the street and entered Public Garden. Bob had looked at this statue online, and found that it is a monument to Ether! Ether was invented and first used at Mass. General,  to knock people out for surgery. Much better than being awake during a surgery!

We walked over to the duck pond.

 

The gal in the back of the swan boat is peddling the boat. These boats have been around since the 1800’s.

We crossed over the bridge.

We exited Public Garden and entered Boston Common. We walked across the Common, and entered the ‘ T”. We rode back to Alewife, retrieved the car, and continued home.

Thursday- We left early again and went to Alewife. We parked and took the “T” to the Harvard station. We walked into the campus looking for the tour. We finally found it at the Visitor Center in Harvard Square, outside the campus proper.

 

The tour was free, because it was included in our Duck Tour. The tour is called the Hahvard tour, leaving out the R, as people from Massachusetts do when speaking. Our tour guide was Zina.  She is a sophomore Electrical Engineering student. All the tours are led by Harvard students.

We started by entering the main gate,  Johnson Gate. There is a legend that the students can only go thru the center of the gate twice. Once when entering and once when leaving. Your grades will drop if you do it more times. They use the side entrance of the gate.

Inside the gate is the guard house. It is the most expensive building on campus, per square foot. Harvard wanted to put in the gate house. When they went for the building permit they found that the Johnson Gate had been annexed by the town of Cambridge. So they submitted 76 different designs before one was accepted. The cost of all the designs made this the most expensive building on campus.

Below is a statue of John Harvard. Or is it?? Well, of course there is a story. The university was formed in 1623. It was placed in Newtown, and was Newtown College. No buildings, no books etc. So John Harvard, who was a rich sickly man,  died at age 31, and willed his money and books to get the college going. Then the college was re-named for him. When he donated all his books and papers, and paintings of him, they were stored in a building that burned down, so there were no pictures of him. In the 1800’s they decided to put in a statue of him. There were no relatives, as he never married, so they chose a student to pose as him.

Note the gold left foot. It is good luck to rub the foot, so students do.

 

Above is the area and stage where graduation is held. This is where the famous folks come to speak, and of course Harvard has very famous speakers. Then the 20,000 graduates leave and go to their areas of concentration ( that is what they call it instead of major) and have the actual graduation.

 

Above is the library, facing the other building above. Note the grassy area to the upper left, next to the stage area. The library was named for Harry Elkins Widener. Harry loved books, so for his graduation for Harvard in 1907, his family gave him a trip to Europe to purchase old books. He found a Gutenberg Bible and other first editions of famous books,  all of  which he was planning to donate to Harvard.

He was sailing home in 1912, on the Titanic! Because he had a first class ticket, he had access to the lifeboats. He was almost on the boat when he remembered that he had not taken the books. He ran back to get them. His father followed to catch him and bring him back. Both drown. HIs mother, decided to donate a library to Harvard in his memory.

But she knew, that if she did, eventually someone in the future would donate more money to build a bigger library, and it would be re-named. So she put three stipulations onto the money. 1. It would remain the Harry Elkins Widener Library. 2. The front of the library could never be changed. 3. There would be a room of reflection , named for her son in the library. So all expansions are under the library and under the green park in front of the library. The front building had to be changed to accommodate handicapped individuals, per the ADA, but the other restrictions are still in place. The library was full in 1937, so more libraries have been built.

Above is the dorm where Matt Damon wrote Good Will Hunting. Natalie Portman also lived in this dorm. To the right, under renovation, was the dorm that JKF lived in for the rest of his time at Harvard. Below is where Mark Zuckerberg lived and started Facebook.

This strange looking building is where the Harvard Lampoon is located. Conan O’Brian was tasked to do a prank. He decided to steal the chair of the editor of the newspaper. This as a big deal, as this chair was used by all the editors of the Lampoon since it started.

The editor heard that the chair was going to be stolen, so he called the Harvard police and told them, asking that they keep an eye on the chair. They said okay. So Conan, called the Cambridge police and told them that there was someone going to steal the chair, and they would be dressed as Harvard police. So both police forces showed up and during the confusion, he rolled the chair right out! Don’t know if it is true, but it makes a fun story!

 

This house above is where George Washington stayed for 6 months when Boston was under siege.

Below is the only modern building we saw, the science building which has a roof observatory.

Below is the prettiest building on campus. It is the freshman dining hall and some classrooms. The buildings are not open to the public, but our guide showed us pictures of the dining hall. It looks just like Hogwarts, or maybe Hogwarts looks like it.

We went to lunch at Mr. Bartley’s, as recommended in the guidebooks. They had an extensive menu of burgers and sandwiches.

I had the Katie Couric ( turkey, stuffing, cheese, with cranberry mayo in a wrap) Bob had a Rubin hamburger, but he can’t remember the name of it. Bob’s came with their famous onion rings, which we thought were just okay. I had the  Boston Baked Beans. Both meals were excellent! The only problem is that they had no restroom. They usually send people to another building, but that building is under construction.

So we walked back to the Starbucks. Theirs was locked with a combination lock. So I walked up to the gal at the counter, flashed a Starbucks receipt from earlier in the day at her and she gave me the code. Much better than having to use the subway restroom, yuk!!

We took the “T” to the JFK library exit. We then took a free shuttle to the library/museum.

We had a coupon which gave us a few dollars off  the senior rate, so we each paid $10. We went to the film first. There were a lot of interesting exhibits, but I did not take a lot of picture.

Below is a replica for RFK’s office as Attorney General.

Above is the rocking chair given to JFK by his father for his back.

 

Also housed at the museum is the Hemingway exhibit.

We wandered thru, but were not really interested. Why Hemingway? When Hemingway committed suicide( which they did not mention), even though there was a ban on Cuba, JFK had Hemingway’s trunk and papers retrieved from Cuba for his wife. Hemingway died in Idaho.

Below is the view of Boston from the Library.

We took the free shuttle back to the subway station and took the train back to Alewife. We retrieved the car, and drove to the MH. We were tired and it was almost 6, so we fed the dogs, then went to dinner at Il Capri, an Italian, overpriced restaurant, in Lexington. We each had lasagna, returned home, and fell asleep in the recliners.

Friday-  The weather had turned hot and very humid with anticipated rain storms. So we decided to stay close to the MH. We went to Watertown to the cemetery where I think my 2nd and 3rd grandparents are buried. We wandered around, but did not find them. So we went to St. Patrick’s Church, were their funerals were held. We went to the office, but they do not have the records. All of the cemetery records are with the Arch Dioceses of Boston. So we wandered thru the church.

We left and returned to the cemetery, wandering around some more, without success. So we went to the Lexington visitor center. We were able to park for free in front, and we purchased the Lexington/Concord tour for Monday, giving us a nice little coupon book to use. We walked over to the Green. This is the memorial to the men who died in the battle, which according to Concord, never occurred.

We went to visit Buckman’s Tavern. We paid $15 ea. for 3 houses to visit. We also bought a bottle of root beer, which we split.  We had seen lots of people wandering around with bottles of this root beer and wanted to see what the big deal was. It was average root beer.

Above is the original post office in Lexington, which was in the tavern. Below is John Hancock’s original vest.

 

This was a very busy tavern, so the tavern owner did a lot of paperwork at this desk. Under this room was the wine/beer cellar.

Mrs. Buckman, her indentured servants and slaves would cook the meals here. The large pot was for the laundry. The meeting house was across the street in the Green, but is no longer there. Buckman’s was heated, which the meeting house was not.

So the ladies in the area, who of course could not vote, would meet in the tea room above. Just before the Boston Tea Party, the people of Lexington decided to not drink British tea, so they burned all the tea and moved to herbal tea.

The men met in the next room.

There is a chest on the table under the picture of Mr.Buckman, which was owned by  John Hancock. He had left it here, with his papers. He asked Paul Revere to retrieve it for him. Revere went to Buckman’s and was upstairs when he spotted the British marching towards Lexington. He raced down the steps  and took off with the papers. In the hallway, the original door is there, and there is a musket hole in the door.

This is the actual bar room.

 

Now comes the fun part! There is an ongoing fight between Concord and Lexington. Concord has the shot heard around the world, or did it? Well, that is what the fight is about. The battle of Lexington was before Concord. Five men died, and one British soldier was injured. So did a battle actually occur. Concord says no, but Lexington says yes. There were a lot of back and forth posters. Below, is that George Washington visited Lexington, and not Concord, to view the battlefield.

We think that the first shot was fired in Lexington, but then we have not yet been to Concord!

We left and still had some time on our free parking space, so we walked down to ‘The Petite Creperie’. We each had a delicious crepe for lunch.

We left and returned to the MH and took an hour nap. At 3:30, I left to return to Lexington for a mani/pedi. Then I stopped at the Stop and Shop for some groceries. We ate dinner at home and fell asleep in the recliners again.

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