The Events of Thursday, October 21, 2010                                                                

          8:38 … The blurry red lights on the clock blared into my dream and jerked me awake. After a couple of minutes of trying to figure out where I was, I looked around our dark hotel room. Around the edges of the darkening curtains, the morning light pierced into the room, casting eerie shadows on the wall, which to my blind eyes, looked very strange after just having woken up. By now, I had remembered that we were staying in a two room suite on the fourth floor of a Comfort Inn in Boston, Massachusetts, and just nine hours before, we had flopped, exhausted into our neatly made beds after staying up late for the Boston Symphony concert rehearsal. That’s pretty good for being half conscious. It also occurred to me that Mom had forbade any sound to be uttered or made until 9:00 am and anyone who woke her up was in BIG trouble. So, now mostly awake, I snuck off to the bathroom to put in my contacts. I heard the muffled sound of the creaking of the main door opening and then shutting with a loud bang. I thought, “Oh no, Housekeeping!” But no, it was Daddy back from his morning walk. I hopped into the shower and soon, our small hotel room shuddered to life.

          We dawdled down to the continental breakfast served downstairs in the lobby and with oatmeal, waffles, hot chocolate, bagels, muffins, jelly donuts, juice, cereal, hard boiled eggs, and milk; we were now fully awake and were ready to tackle our day. In a few minutes, we discovered how much we would need that energy. We spent the next hour dragging our bags and backpacks up and down flights of stairs or walking down the hallway to take the elevator down dragging bag after bag along. Personally, I have never been so familiar with an elevator in my life. When we had finally brought all of our things down from our hotel room, we piled them on the back bed of the RV and then headed out of Boston to Concord, Massachusetts.

          When we arrived in the parking lot of the Visitor Center at Minute Man National Historical Park, the sky had turned from a bright, crisp, cheery blue to a cold, dreary gray. Paying it no mind, we took a quick walk in just jeans and sweatshirts down to the Visitor Center. In the Visitor Center, we got Junior Ranger booklets from the front desk and then went inside a theater to give us some background on what occurred in this area in the 1700s.  The presentation was very well done, using a variety of multimedia, but I’m not giving any details because I want you to go visit it, but I’ll give you the gist of what we learned. Minute Man National Historical Park is located in the area where the Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775. The British troops had arrived in Boston by sea. The signal in the old North Church signaled the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and other Patriots, who rode through the towns, from Boston to Lincoln where they were arrested, alerting the people that “The regulars are coming!” (Though you may have been taught in school that they yelled that, “the British are coming,” we were informed that the colonists still considered themselves Englishmen and therefore, that dialogue would not make any sense to the townsmen. But after this costly day in April, the now Americans considered themselves no longer Englishmen, because they had been betrayed by their own country folk.)

          Now, the British troops were advancing along the route that Paul Revere had ridden some hours before until being arrested by some British soldiers. First they came to Lexington, where unprovoked they shot upon the 70 some men standing, ready to defend their town. Later, when they came to the North Bridge outside of Concord, they were astounded to have some 700 men of the country waiting for them. There was fighting and on both sides, men fell, but because these fights were only considered clashes, they weren’t considered a gain or loss for either side. But they did have importance, though, because they started what today we call the Revolutionary War.

          After the presentation, we read the exhibits and explored the gift shop. Sometime during this time we realized that it was now raining quite hard out. So, we read and explored a little while longer and by the time we headed out to the RV for lunch, it was only slightly drizzling. After lunch, we drove to North Bridge where there was a ranger talk being given. When we arrived, the sky was now actually a bright blue with some grey clouds off in the distance, but a brisk wind was blowing. We settled on some benches and were soon in the world of the Revolutionary War, when the British and Americans clashed at the North Bridge. Ranger Joan Laxson filled us in on all the details and close to the end, we noticed that the wind had picked up quite a bit and the now dark clouds were advancing at a rapid rate. Racing back to the RV, we were soon in the midst of a huge storm of falling and whirling leaves. The wind was so great that some leaves were plastered against our legs and backs. We exited the parking lot and as we did, the first rain drops splattered our windows. We drove on to a tavern that still exists, that was right along the road that the British and Americans fought on. Arriving just in time, we were given a thorough instruction on the firing of a musket. Then, they demonstrated the firing, with one success and one failure. We toured the tavern and then headed out and on to the Wayside.

          We arrived at another Visitor Center-- this one went with the Wayside house--to buy tickets for a tour of the house that housed the Alcott family, the Hawthorne family, and the Lothrop family—a house of authors. Our tour guide, Ranger Jane Sciacca, greeted us and then proceeded to tell us all about the families that occupied the house and their significance. The first famous family to live in the Wayside was the Alcott’s. The two people of significance in this family were Louisa May Alcott and her father, Amos Bronson Alcott. Louisa was the second to oldest of her three sisters and they were entirely raised and taught by their father, Amos. After allowing an African American girl in his classroom during the time of the Civil War, Amos was fired and never to teach in a classroom again. Instead, he taught his daughters and to much success. Louisa went on to be a famous writer and to this day is known for her book, Little Women, which was inspired by her own family. Many of the stories that she tells in this book actually occurred in the Wayside house and that made it all the more interesting. The next family of importance to move in was the Hawthorne family. The feature of this family, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was a quiet, but well known author of the Scarlet Letter. He resided in the Wayside with his family until his death. It is said that most of works were written in the house, but all of his essays on the horrors of the Civil War were written in the tower of the house. After Hawthorne passed, the Lothrop family moved in. Now, as might have already guessed, the star of this family was also a well-known author. Miss Harriett Lothrop was a successful author of many children’s books including her series of Five Little Peppers books, which she wrote under the pen name Margaret Sidney. She and her husband ran a publishing company and even after her husband’s death, managed to carry on with her writing, and raised her only child, Margaret. She also supported the preserving cause and donated her house to the education of others.

          After exploring every nook and cranny of the Wayside and hearing all her stories, we headed on to find a parking place for dinner. We found a Walmart and had spaghetti leftovers for dinner. We did some math with Daddy and then snuggled down to a boondocking night with the ongoing rain still pattering on the roof.