the education of henry

Day 12: Walden Pond and Minuteman National Park

2023-09-25

Today we went to the Minuteman National Historic Park to see the Battle Road and the Old North Bridge. We kinda went backwards because we were too excited to get started. And after that we went to Concord to see Walden Pond. It was rainy and cold, and some things were closed beacuse it's Monday, and some things were closed for repairs - but we hopped in and out of the car to see what we could.

This inscription is in the town square of Lexington, where on April 19th, 1775, the British Regulars opened fire on a small group of colonists, killing seven of them.

This plaque tells that the bodies of the dead were relocated from their original graves to be buried next to the monument in the town common where they died.

Dad with the whole monument.

At the Minuteman visitor center we watched a great short film that used multiple screens to tell the story of April 19th, 1775, and what happened in the immediate aftermath as the colonies mobilized for an ongoing conflict with the British Army. They also had some really excellent displays and artifacts from the era.

Paul Revere and William Dawes took different routes to warn the colonists that the British were marching from Boston to Concord to seize the cache of weapons stored in Concord.

A mural depicting the scene from the battles that happened that day.

A brief summary.

This is spot where Paul Revere was captured by the British - he never made it to Concord, but William Dawes did, and many others also spread the alarm about the advancing column of troops.

This is the old road from Lexington to Concord, which turned into the Battle Road after the Shot Heard 'Round the World.

After the first shots at the Old North Bridge, the Colonial Militiamen chased and harrassed the British down this road all day, until they made it back to Boston - over 16 miles away.

The Hartwell Tavern- still here almost 250 years later.

One of the Post Road markers.

We made it to Concord.

The Wayside House, where Hawthorne and Alcotts both lived (not at the same time).

The Orchard House where Little Women was written by Louisa May Alcott.

The Orchard House sign.

The Ralph Waldo Emerson House.

Back on the Battle Road - now at the beginning.

A militia uniform.

A British Regular uniform.

The armaments of a militiaman.

A painting of the battle at the Old North Bridge.

The visitor center for the Old North Bridge.

The Minuteman statue just before the bridge. Four hundred colonial militiamen gathered here to await the arrival of the 700 British regulars sent to destroy the guns and ammunition stored at Barret's Farm. Without those arms, there would be almost no way the colonists could fight back against the British.

Walking on to the bridge where the Colonists faced off against the Regulars. Only two men on each side died at the conflict on the bridge. The British broke ranks and ran - followed by the colonists, who first chased them down the road. As the day went on and the initial 400 were joined by men from surrounding towns, they kept them on the run, firing at them from the woods.

A marker for the British dead.

Another monument inscription from the other side of the bridge.

Me with the full monument.

Talking to the park ranger about the battle.

Then it was time to go to Walden Pond. First we stopped at the visitor center, which was full of Thoreau stuff - Mom and Dad were pretty excited.

Tossing a rock into Walden Pond. Because why not?

Marker on the path to Thoreau's hut location.

On the path.

Walden Pond.

Henry where Henry's cabin was.

Mom made a rock pile. A tiny one.

Me and Dad in the woods.

Mom and I walked back to the car and Dad walked around the whole pond. I spontaneouly composed some poems as we walked back to the car, including one about the way men die.

Me with the Thoreau statue (the apple is real).

Sitting in the replica cabin.

The replica cabin.

The interior.

And that was it for the day. We made our way back to the hotel and had pizza from that local place again because we were all to tired to think of anything else.

Thanks for reading!