Since I was in the neighborhood (did I mention I flew to New York from London?), I popped on up to Boston to see my Uncle Michael and Aunt Marta (and my cousins). One of my favorite things is getting a historical tour with my Uncle Michael. When I studied the American Revolution in 5th grade, all those arbitrary facts about dates and battles came alive when we were able to come visit the actual places where they took place. To my amusement, Michael’s sons seemed to appreciate his wealth of knowledge as much as I appreciated my dad’s expertise and humor. One of my favorite experiences is when I went over to England to audition for acting schools while my cousin Andy was studying at Oxford. Michael, Marta, Nick (Andy’s twin) and Andy’s girlfriend (now wife) Carrie happened to be there at the same time. It was the best tour of Oxford that I ever could have imagined. We went punting (which is one of those boats that looks like a gondola and you push through the water with a big stick. Andy was the only one who could make the boat move). Michael had also gone to Oxford, so I heard stories of the history, traditions and pranks and what it was like to go to school then from him, and what it was like to go to school now from Andy. Andy took every opportunity he could find to correct Michael. I couldn’t have been more entertained with their banter.
Now it had been long enough since my last historical tour that I was due for another one. We started at the Old Manse. This rock wall is one of the oldest rock walls of its kind. There are many rock walls in New England trying to look like this one. But this is an original.
Behind this rock wall is the Old North Bridge where the first shots of the American Revolution– The Shot heard round the world — were fired. We went back and around, dodging the foreign school tour groups to see the hill where the colonists gathered. We also found a couple of houses (one that served as a tavern) on the road where the British soldiers tried to march back to Boston while the rebels fired at them.
This Colonial Inn is right in the center of Concord, and when you go inside it takes you back in time.
You can just imagine a rainy day riding horses through the mud and then coming to this cozy shelter where there was a fire place and food and probably beer and a warm place to sleep for the night. It was very inviting.
Along the way we enjoyed the fall colors.
We stopped at a museum where we saw a multi media video that went into more detail telling the story of the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Here we are!
After taking a walk back in history to the American Revolution, we continued on to a literary revolution. Michael took me through the teachings of Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and the other great revolutionary thinkers from the area. This library had busts of all of them.
And here at the head of the table was Emerson himself.
The next stop was a tour of a house where Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott had both lived (at different times). It had been remodeled by various owners that gave it a bizarre inconsistency similar to Hearst Castle (though on a much smaller scale).
We finished our tour at Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau wrote “Walden, or Life in the Woods.” I remember coming here as a kid and being so thrilled to find water warm enough to swim in (for some reason I associated it with going to the ocean on the West Coast which is cold in Northern California) that we had to come back to do just that. I remember it being a highlight of the trip. This time we talked about philosophy and spirituality and anything else that came up.
Midway through the day Michael and I realized that this was the most amount of time we had gotten to spend one on one. Our gatherings were usually with the whole family where we make the rounds and catch up in the small pieces so that we can get the updates from everyone. This time our conversations were allowed to spiral off in tangents. It was really special to get the chance to know my uncle that much better.
The next day a rain storm passed through and while Michael went off to teach a class, I got to hang out with Marta, Andy and Carrie as we bundled up and stayed warm by the fireplace (though Carrie and I did venture out to do some shopping). Boston was playing in the world series so they had to be watched. It was so nice to spend time with a part of my family with whom I can never spend enough time.