We wanted to drive the back roads today so we could really see New England towns. We're so glad we did! U-pick farms, orchards, fruit stands, furniture sales in yards, other yard sales. (it's Saturday) Neat old buildings, churches, barns, flags flying.
Ichabod Crane school district, Rip Van Winkle bridge, NY's first public school, teeny gas station with original two pumps, cemeteries, Christmas tree farms. The sumac is red and some leaves are turning. In one larger village, an intersection had CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid pharmacies!
Then we drove a long highway over hills. Many pine or spruce lined it, with indigenous trees alone or mixed in. There were mountain ranges in the distance. We later read that we were in part of the Berkshires. Then into an area with small towns. You barely left one sometimes, before you entered another. One yard had a long trailer with antiques, including pot bellied stove, that was for sale.
Near a tiny town stood a Buddhist Institute.
Massachusetts: getting to Concord: three miles after we entered the state the radio played Back To Massachusetts by the Bee Gees. "Moose ahead"sign. We've seen plenty of them in Alaska and don't care to see any on a highway, so were glad that they decided to stay in the woods today. Towns established in the 1770's, of course. One town had several strip malls with national chain stores, but most had a general store, if that. Some of the more unusual chains we saw were Trader Joe's, Whole Foods. And how about a pizza place named Arizona Pizza. Have no idea if it's connected to the one where we live
Northhampton had a vocational and agricultural high school. Old mills now house offices and shops. This town has a great downtown area of several blocks with all the old buildings. A college is here.
More forests. Another "moose area" sign. Huh? Tall hill on one side of the highway and a big gulley on the right. We thought maybe there is water in the gulley. The trees appear to be so close that we wondered how they can slip though with their huge antlers, but Tom said that's how it was when he hunted them in Alaska.
Through a town where a garlic and arts festival is occurring (Saturday). Another town had a park filled with tents. Friends said to be sure to eat apple cider donuts while out here and we saw our first sign for them. Other friends said we'd see hundreds of displays of mums and pumpkins, both for sale and as decorations at businesses and homes, and we have seen so many already today. Tyco factory.
Now onto a long stretch of beautiful 4 land highway, with a speed limit of 55! But that was only for us who didn't want to get a ticket. Almost everyone drove at least 65.
Concord
Drove past the Concord Academy, which has converted beautiful old colonial homes into student housing, according to signs. We drove through town to the old square, which is actually a round-about now, with a large sign telling you you are in a rotary.
Shops are nearby, but we were looking at the history right there within half a block. The sit of the first parish in Concord (church with dome) and another church:
A monument to the men from Concord who perished in WWI.
Monuments honoring Concord men who died in WWI, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq
of the Revolutionary War.
Then we drove out to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. We were excited to
hear about this, since we didn't know it was here.
A section of the cemetery is called author's ridge. Here lie the families of Henry Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louise May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Thoreau family monument:
in the front were brought over from England.
Louisa's grave. The medallion indicates a veteran. She was given this honor, I read, because she served as a nurse during the Civil War. She was also active in the Women's Suffrage movement and was the first woman to vote in Concord.
Notice the pencils and pens in front of her marker.
There were pennies and stones sitting on top of many graves and a man next to us said it is Jewish custom to leave those items when you visit a grave.
Emerson family plot
Tom just couldn't get the plaque to be readable
A Civil War veteran's headstone
Another place that was a pleasant surprise was Walden's Pond!
This is a statue of Henry and a replica of the cabin he built after
he quit working in his father's pencil factory in Concord. He felt
he'd find solitude here for writing. A picture on the Net showed
a table and chair, a bed, and wash basin. He lived there 26 months.
This was taken on Sunday morning before we left town. It didn't open until 1:00.
Tonight we ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called Papa Razzi.
At 11:30 we had a false alarm fire alarm. They said it happened last night at 1:30.
Concord banned the sale of bottled water.
Sunday
We're driving to New Hampshire today to meet Maury and Susan, our friends and neighbors. Maury grew up in N.H. and they lived there several years after he retired from the Air Force. We're very excited to have them as our tour guides for 7 days there and 5 in Vermont.
We saw a couple of tour buses with neat names: Local Motion and Trippers
Drove out to Hanscom Air Field, where there are a small AF and Air National Guard units and a local airport. The Security Forces squadron was voted best in the AF in 2002 and 2014. There were G-2's on the flight line.
This is a P-40 Warhawk, The Stump Jumper
A nice display of flags surrounding a Korean War F-86
We stopped at the Minuteman National Historic Park, but didn't have time to walk the extensive trails. The visitor center had nice displays. We got a kick out of this famous quote from an Englishman about squelching the Colonists:
Drove I-93N but there were trees on both sides for miles, so couldn't see much.
In a town a sign on a business read: My boss told me to have a good day, so I went home.
Met Maury and Susan in Hookset and went to lunch. Then on to Manchester, where they drove us around to see his folks' last house. Drove downtown where they showed us several blocks of huge, brick textile mills from the late 1800's which are now converted to offices, apartments, lofts, and condos. Many French Canadians came down to work in them. When Maury was growing up there were 15 Catholic churches in this small town. 13 were French, 1 Polish, and 1 English. He attended a French one and still speaks it fluently. There are so many huge homes in this town, too.
Finally on our way to Lake Winnipesaukee-we've been planning our stay in a timeshare here for months. The lake is almost 30 miles long, with 300 islands. Maury grew up close to it, and after he retired from the AF, they moved back here and spent lots of time boating on it.
Tonight there was a lunar eclipse and a blood moon.
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