When we were here in August, we went to Lexington to explore the start of the Revolutionary War. We had hoped to get to Concord, too, but without a car, it was infeasible. So today, we rented a car (an advantage of going off-season) and drove out to Concord.

Our first stop was the North Bridge, the site of the Shot Heard Round The World.

We had a much easier time crossing it than the British did in 1775.

We strolled around the area, enjoying the statuary and the fall foliage.

We drove back to Concord for lunch and a walking tour – we were the only ones on the tour (another advantage to going off-season). The guide told us about the very early days of Concord, its Revolutionary history, the literary lights who were there in the 19th century, and we ended with a tour of the Old Hill Burying Ground. I was too busy listening to take photos, except a couple of the Monument to the Fallen of the War of the Rebellion (Civil War).

After the tour, we walked over to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to visit some famous authors, including Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. I was amused that people left pencils on the graves!

We wanted to visit Walden Pond, but when we got there, we discovered that we’d have to pay $30 to park (because our rental car had out-of-state plates) and we’d only be able to stay for 30 minutes before the park closed for the day. Instead, we got a tiny glimpse of the pond for free as we left to return to Boston – you can even see a little of the water in the circled area of the photo!

I wouldn’t mind going back to Concord again – there were lots of sites that had closed for the winter, and we didn’t really spend a lot of time looking at the town.

Dinner was back in Boston at Bocolo – it’s like Chipotle, but local. Dessert was more interesting – we went to Amorino Gelato on Newbury Street. Diane and I had visited their Cannes location in May of 2015 – this one was just as good, and we’re likelier to come back.

We arrived at the Westin Copley Square a little after midnight; as promised, we had been upgraded to a “Studio Suite”. I’m not sure that it’s a real upgrade – the room is nice and big, but there’s a tiny closet and NO drawer space, so you can’t really unpack! Luckily, we use packing cubes, so we won’t have to be digging through our suitcases every day, but I have to wonder what the designers were thinking.

Jeff met us at the hotel after a late breakfast and we spent the day filling in gaps on the Freedom Trail.

We started at the Old State House; the exhibits were well-done and informative – I especially liked Reflecting Attucks, which put the life of Crispus Attucks into perspective and looked at how his story has been used over the years. The view from the Old State House wasn’t bad, either.

We had a late lunch at Falafel King – recommended!

Our next stop was the Old South Meeting House; again, the exhibits were very informative and engaging. The space itself was more interesting than the Old State House – it’s survived better, with pews still in a traditional configuration, so it was easy to put events into place in my mind.

After that, we walked to the Granary Burying Ground to look for the Boston Massacre grave marker (which, of course, includes Attucks), as well as Sam Adams, John Hancock, and much of Benjamin Franklin’s family.

We walked back to the hotel by way of the Common, the Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. There wasn’t much to see in the Public Garden, but we did find one tree along Commonwealth Avenue that was exuberantly celebrating Fall.

We also took advantage of the late Thursday hours at the Boston Public Library to take a quick look at the art and architecture – here’s one of the many murals in the Abbey Room (formerly the Book Delivery Room), just as a sample.

We’d had a late breakfast and a late lunch, so none of us wanted much for dinner, but it seemed like a good idea to eat SOMETHING. There was an obvious answer – walk to JP Licks and have ice cream cones for dinner; problem solved!