Concord - A Town to Fall in Love With

For the second time, this morning Katrina and I had breakfast at the Boston Common Coffee House. Holding my cup of very hot tea helped me walk outside without freezing my fingers off. We rented a car and headed out to Concord. We took the long way around. I think that our GPS had a low IQ, it seemed to be very slow in reacting, so we took the looooong way around to Concord (and I'm sure none of it had anything to do with me missing several turns).

We made it to Concord while looking for the North Bridge, we stumbled upon the Orchard House where one of my favorite books was written, Little Women. We parked there and I was very sad to see that it was closed Jan 1-15. We took a few pictures and then decided just to walk to the Concord Museum. Along the way we saw so many old but beautiful huge houses that had dates and names on them. I became obsessed with the doors because they were all so perfectly charming with Christmas wreaths hanging on them.

We were still a bit early for the museum to open so we just kept walking since I saw a sign for the North Bridge. We passed several churches (so, in Boston it seems that you can find a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts on every corner, in Concord you find a church on every corner), all charming, of course. One Catholic church had a funny chalk inscription at the top of the door - 20+C+M+B+11. I thought maybe they were marking it for some kind of construction or something.

The town just continued to get more and more charming and we found ourselves walking all the way to the Minutemen Historic Park and then the North Bridge. The houses were so beautiful that time and distance passed easily by. Just by the bridge we found a house that belonged to the grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was there when the battle was fought in 1775.

I can only imagine how beautiful this area is in the other three seasons with the trees everywhere and a river winding through it all. I have decided that I could happily own an apartment in downtown Boston and a nice old house on some property in Concord. Now, if I only had the money for that...

It is pretty incredible to think that we walked along the bridge where men fell in the first battle to make this incredible democracy that we have built. The quiet and the peacefulness of the area seems a far cry from the skirmish between the Redcoats and the Patriots. On the bridge we could hear the crunch of the ice as it floated down the river and jammed under other pieces also collecting under the bridge. All along the edges of the river the water had begun to ice over. I imagined the part of Little Women when Jo and Laurie were ice skating and Amy tagged along but fell through the ice.

After a short time there we headed back into the town. On our way we saw yet another church with the same thing written at the top of it's door, so I snapped a shot to look it up later. I also saw a little set of kids gloves on the ground. Oddly enough, in Concord, I saw many gloves just laying in random places. I wasn't quite sure how people could set them down and forget them since it was so cold!

We went through the Concord museum which had much about Emerson, Thoreau, and the Alcotts. Emerson's house was just across the street as well. It's pretty incredible to think of all that has come from Concord. I don't think I had ever put together that the Concord of the revolutionary battle was the same Concord of Louisa May Alcott, Emerson, and Thoreau. The museum had much of the history of the growth of Concord as well as many furnishings that would have been found in an early 19th century home.

I think the most interesting piece was the chair commode! We walked into a room furnished much like a bedroom of that time and in the corner was this lovely little chair with a covered cushion on the seat. Apparently, what they would do is lift the seat cover and have a chamber pot underneath. At night time, they could use this chair instead of running out to the outhouse. I learned that it was usually the chore of the youngest child to empty the pots the next day. I must say as a youngest child I am glad that this is no longer true!

They also had a quilt display and it amazed me the amount of detail in these quilts that were done by hand! How many hours that would take I couldn't even begin to count! There were a few quilts that were believed to be made by the mother of Louisa May Alcott.

We walked back to find out that the Orchard House was actually open, so we decided to do that tour as well. I don't how I misread that it was closed, but was so glad to be wrong. We had the tour led by a very passionate woman who believed you needed at least two hours in each room of the house (but luckily she didn't make us take two hours in each room). The Alcott family was certainly interesting and talented. The story of Little Women does reflect their lives in many ways, although it is not a biography. I learned a few new things - Little Women was actually written in two parts and in Europe it is sold that way - Little Women and Good Wives. Also, Louisa did not want to write a marriage in for Jo, but apparently the readers and her publisher made her do it, so she refused to have Jo marry Laurie and instead made the professor to be an unexpected, but idealistic figure that embodied her father's beliefs. Mae, her youngest sister and the "Amy" character in the book was an incredibly talented artist who did much work and helped first teach Daniel Chester French to sculpt and he later went on to create the Lincoln Memorial. I also didn't realize how close the relationship was between Mr. Alcott, Thoreau, and Emerson.

We asked for a recommendation for a place to eat and would up at the Main Street Cafe and Market. It was adorable and, being an avid chili fan, ordered the Main Street Beef Chili with butternut squash. I think that may be the best bowl of chili I have ever had! So incredible!

With full bellies, we headed out to Lexington....