Lexington and Concord: The Shot Heard ‘Round the World

By Jeff Burns

A history teacher can’t vacation in Massachusetts without seeing where it began, in a sense, Lexington and Concord.  In April 1775, British troops marched to these small villages with orders to confiscate stockpiled weapons and, if possible, to arrest the rabble-rousers Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were somewhere in the area.  Alerted by several riders (not just Paul Revere, whose accomplishment was greatly exaggerated for poetic effect by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), the rebels lay in wait at both locations, where they refused orders to disperse.  The result was “the shot heard ‘round the world”, in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the beginning of the American Revolution.

Concord is an easy ride from Boston via commuter train, but we found it wasn’t exactly the best idea.  The train station is a really good walk from downtown Concord, and the battlefield itself is even farther out.  We didn’t really know that.  Fortunately, at the battle site, we discovered The Liberty Ride tour bus.  The tour takes you on a 90 minute circuit of all the sites in Lexington and Concord, complete with a very knowledgeable tour guide. You can approach the tour in several ways.  You can do the entire circuit, which is a good idea because it gives you an overview, and you can decide what sites you want to go back to explore on your own time.  Or you can get on and off at any stop on the route.  It’s the best way to learn about the battles.

Next to the Concord battlefield is The Old Manse, the family home of Ralph Waldo Emerson. From this house, Emerson’s father and his family watched the battle unfold. It was also lived in and visited by Thoreau, Hawthorne, and other noted writers and famous people.

Like every other place we visited in Massachusetts, there is so much to see in Lexington and Concord, beyond the Revolutionary War sites.  Besides the Old Manse, you can see and tour houses lived in by Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and John Hancock. You can even see the house where the Concord Grape was born.  And set aside some time to spend in the towns themselves. There are great shops and restaurants to sample.

Salem Massachusetts: Don’t Get Spooked (Unless You Want)

By Jeff Burns

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I visited Salem Massachusetts for the day.  Of course, I have seen the episodes of “Bewitched” (There is a statue in town  of actress Elizabeth Montgomery as witch Samantha Stevens.), and I knew Salem was the only city in America with an official witch (Laurie Cabot, proclaimed so by Governor Michael Dukakis in the 1970s).  I’ve also read several books about the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s, and there are a couple of titles on my “to-read” list as I write this blog. While vacationing in Massachusetts, I knew that I had to see for myself whether I’d find the historic or the cheesy.

 

Long story short:  I found both. Let’s get the cheesy out of the way first. Yes, there are numerous psychics, tarot readers, and self-proclaimed witches who have set up shop, many along Pickering Wharf, a quaint and picturesque shopping and dining area.  (Cabot herself opened the first such shop in the early 1970s but has recently retired.) There are also haunted houses and “witches’ dungeons”  where live and wax figures frighten tourists.   Then, there’s the Salem Witch Museum, which probably attracts most tourists to Salem.  Located in a former church on Salem Common, the museum purports to present the story of the hysteria and trials.  The sanctuary has been converted into a theater-in-the-rectangle for the presentation.  Above the visitors’ heads, there are 10 or so 3D scenes recreating elements of the story with mannequins, narration, and sound and lighting effects.  While much of the history is sound, you get the sense that the melodramatic (one scene depicts the devil) script hasn’t changed in fifty years.  When the show is over, visitors go to a small exhibit area for a superficial docent talk about witchcraft trials and then the gift shop which has a decent selection of books and an extensive collection of every cheesy witch and magic related item of merchandise imaginable.  Honestly, I’m not sure if I can recommend the Salem Witch Museum; I kind of wish we had used that time elsewhere.

At Pickering Wharf

For example, we could have visited the House of Seven Gables, the 17^th century museum that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work by the same name.  It’s one of many house tours in Salem, representing different eras in Salem’s long history. The Phillips House dates to the 1800s. You might also see the Pickering House or the Ropes Mansion, just to name a few.  There are also guided and self-guided walking tours available, focusing on the trials, Hawthorne, ghosts and spirits, and other facets of Salem’s history.

 

If you’re interested in maritime history, be sure to go to the National Park Service Visitors Center for great information.  You can visit the Customs House, and Salem also boasts the New England Pirate Museum.

The highlight of our day in Salem, however, was the Peabody Essex Museum, which we didn’t even know existed.  The Peabody Essex is a fantastic art and cultural history museum that got its start in the collections of objects brought home by Salem’s sea captains and sailors who sailed the world.  The collection of Asian, African, and Native American artifacts is amazing. Asian export art is a key part of the exhibits, and visitors can see the result of the meeting of East and West.  There is much to see, and a visitor can easily spend hours here.  The PEM also oversees 22 of the historic houses and structures open for visits in Salem.


We only saw a small bit of Salem, but we definitely fell under its spell and hope to get back there someday.

Visit Massachusetts: Spend the Day in Plymouth

By Jeff Burns

Plymouth Rock

Just a short drive from Boston, you’ll find Plymouth, the site where 102 Separatists and others disembarked from the Mayflower to establish the colony of Massachusetts.  After a hard winter and much assistance from the local Wampanoag people, the colonists survived and celebrated a Thanksgiving feast.  Today, tourists flock to Plymouth to enjoy a beautiful New England town and to soak up a lot of American history.

Mayflower II

You have to start from the beginning, with the Mayflower II, a full size replica of the original ship.  At just 106 feet long, it’s difficult to imagine that the voyage was possible, but knowing that it did happen, you’re left with a greater respect for the settlers.  Visitors can board and examine the entire ship. Costumed historic interpreters are on hand to answer questions and demonstrate life on board .  Nearby, you can see Plymouth Rock, the legendary landing spot.  It’s actually a part of the original boulder that was identified in 1715 as “the” rock, moved from its original location.  There are no contemporary mentions of a rock, and historians have long cast doubt on the story, but it’s without doubt a part of the story of Plymouth.  Across the street from the rock is the original burying ground, located on Coles Hill, where you’ll also find a statue of Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief who befriended the Pilgrims and encouraged Squanto and Samoset to help them. 

The Pilgrim Hall Museum is one of the oldest public museums in the U.S., founded in 1824.  It houses the largest collection of Pilgrim-era artifacts in the country. 

Just a couple of miles out of town is Plimoth Plantation. Step into life in the 17^th century as you tour a Wampanoag Indian village and the adjacent English village.  Costumed interpreters demonstrate life and answer questions from visitors.  It’s a fully functional village, and the villagers go about their daily chores.  They welcome you into their homes which represent a spectrum of experiences. There are also non-costumed interpreters who share their expertise.  We had an interesting conversation with an herbalist who was preparing various remedies. You could easily spend a whole day here.

Aside from all the history, Plymouth is a beautiful seaside village, and it’s definitely on our list of places worthy of a return.

Traveling with History: Boston

By Jeff Burns

Even for the most avid history buff, there are places where there is a danger of a historo-sensory overload, and Boston is definitely one of those places.  Of course, history is relative, but for Americans, it’s difficult to go much farther back than Boston, established in 1630, in the history of European settlement.  A vacation in Boston is a history lover’s dream, but there’s so much to see and do that the experience can be overwhelming, and I strongly suggest that your trip is preceded by some planning, including planning a return trip in the future.

We took a fall break trip to Boston, and here are some suggestions to maximize your trip.  First, here are some suggestions for getting around.  We stayed in an Airbnb apartment in the Dorchester neighborhood.  It was our first Airbnb experience, and we were very happy.  It was a large, clean apartment, located in a nice working-class neighborhood, with easy access to public transportation.  That access is important because driving in Boston is crazy, and parking is impossible.  Do yourself a favor and get MBTA passes which allow you to use buses, subway, or commuter rail and use the system.  It works great and gets you where you want to be, but it can be extremely crowded during rush hour, and there are occasional glitches, like when our subway car’s doors failed to open at our stop once, and we couldn’t get off.



"Prince Hall" in front of the New State House

Once we arrived, checked into our apartment, and gotten back to the city, we started at Boston Common.  At the Visitors’ Center there, you can get your bearings, ask questions, and embark on a tour of the Freedom Trail, either self-guided or led by a costumed guide.  I highly recommend the guided tour.  Our guide was “Prince Hall,” actually Sam a professional comedian, who leads tours as Prince Hall, a noted black abolitionist of colonial Boston who founded Black Freemasonry in America.  Sam took us on a two hour walking tour of the major historic sites.  He was extremely informative and entertaining, and it’s a great way to get an overview, and you can also decide what sites you may want to go back to explore in more depth later.

 

Paul Revere's grave in Granary Burial Ground,
a stop on the tour which includes the graves of
John Hancock, Sam Adams, & victims of the Boston Massacre

The Freedom Trail guided tour ends at Faneuil Hall, built in 1742 as a public market and used by Samuel Adams for large anti-British meetings leading up the Revolution.  Today, Faneuil and the adjacent Quincy Market are home to souvenir shops, food vendors, and restaurants. Thee is also a museum inside Faneuil. The complex attracts 14 million visitors every year.  From there, take a walk to the North End, now Boston’s version of Little Italy, filled with Italian restaurants and bakers.  Have a meal or just pick up some cannoli as you see sites like the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church, the church spire from which Revere was signaled that night. 

You can also go back and spend more time at the Old State House, the seat of the British colonial government and site of the Boston Massacre (across the street), or the “New” State House (built in the 1790s).  In front of the New Stat House, you can see Robert Gould Shaw/ 54^th Massachusetts Infantry Memorial created by Augustus St. Gaudens. In addition to the Freedom Trail tours, the National Park Service also conducts Black Heritage Trail tours which start from the Shaw Memorial.


For more recent history, go to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.  Some might say that the museum is much like the man himself, style over substance, but it’s a must see if you are interested in presidential history and presidential libraries.

For art lovers, there are two major museums that have to go on your list.  The Museum of Fine Arts is one of the largest museums in the country, and one afternoon is not nearly enough time.  There are fantastic examples of art from around the world, from ancient to modern.  We didn’t have time on this trip to see the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, an Italian palazzo designed by Gardner to house her personal art collection of some 2,500 works of Renaissance and Old Masters artists. It’s regarded as a premier museum.


You can also take a trip to Cambridge and visit Harvard.  Check out Harvard Square and Museums like the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. 

After a few days in Boston, we were exhausted, and there was so much left for us to do, and for you to explore:  Fenway Park, Old Ironsides (the U.S.S. Constitution, Bunker Hill, the list goes on and on).  More visits are in order!