a lakeshore life: The Rest Of Boston

Here's what we did on the rest of our Boston trip.

On Tuesday we took the train to Concord, Mass. The 45 minute ride was probably the highlight of Colton's trip. He was mesmerized by movement, the shadows and the light.

We walked from the train station to the heart of Concord. From there we walked to the Minute Man National Park. The Old North Bridge is where the "shot heard around the world" was fired. Audrey was a little disappointed to learn the difference between a National Park and a regular park. No playground here, but lots and lots of history.

From here we visited Authors' Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. This is where Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Alcott family are buried.

The Alcott family plot

I was super excited to tour the Alcott's house, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. The tour was very, very detailed, but interesting.

I can't find the name of the place we had lunch, but it was just to the right of the visitors center. The price and picnic benches were perfect for a family. And of course Craig found a park for the kids to play in.

After some ice cream at Bedford Farms, right next to the train station, we headed back to Boston. It was a really great day trip from Boston and not too hard to do without a car. The only thing we couldn't do was see Walden Pond, it was a two and a half miles from town. The concentration of Revolutionary and literary history in Concord was pretty amazing and I'm so glad we made the trip.

That night we had take out dinner from My Cousin's Place and ate it at the North End Park.

The next day we walked through Beacon Hill. There may have been historic sights to see, but we were too busy admiring the beautiful, brick lined streets.

We walked west of the Public Garden to Commonwealth Avenue. The plan was to walk to Fenway, but we decided that was just not going to happen. We turned around just at the Boston Public Library and of course needed to find a bathroom. Audrey and I had a chance to visit the children's room and Audrey really wanted to stay and explore. I wish we had planned for a stop there.

Just east of the library was the end of the Boston Marathon. The yellow painted finish line still stretched across the street. We saw the memorial at Copley Square, with signs and running shoes, flowers and balloons.

Also in Copley Square is the Trinity Church.

And then it was back to the Public Garden and another ride on the swan boats.

We found a spot for lunch under an umbrella at the Brewer Fountain just in time for the rain to come pouring down. I had lunch again from the Clover food truck, this time a parsnip and cheddar sandwich, the best thing I ate in Boston. Oh and some more rosemary fries. Luckily the rain did not last long, but neither did the sandwich.

The last stop of the day, and our trip, was to the Custom House Observation Deck. It's in the Marriott hotel, but there are a few hours a day it is open to the public.