Boston Day 3 - Whales, Walden, and The Shot Heard Round the World

Today was another great day in Boston.  We started the day up by driving up to Gloucester to go Whale Watching.  It was about a 40-minute drive, but it was so gorgeous.  The trees here are changing in New England and it's so much fun to drive around.  After the drive, we decided to make today a country day and just drive around the city rather than actually going in.

Whale Watching was tons of fun.  We drove out of the harbor and down the coastline towards Boston but much farther out to sea.



We were on the ocean for about 45 minutes until we got out to the whale feeding grounds.  We saw our first whale named Nuages, which was really cool.  You first see the whales when they blow from their blowholes and then the boat would drive close to the whales and they would stay on the surface for a few minutes and then dive down deep, which is when they flip their tails.



It was fun to watch Nuages for a while, but out in the distance we could see TWO blows, so we headed to see them.  Once we got over, we discovered there were actually THREE whales!  This is pretty rare to see multiple whales together since they tend to be solitary creatures for the most part.  Multiple whales seen together are called an association.  Typically whales break an association after just a few hours, but we were able to watch the three whales for about 45 minutes.  Their names were the Nile, Echo, and Decimal.  The whale watch boats in New England are also research boats and they have catalogs of the whales so they know their names and how often they have been sighted.  They can tell the whales apart by the patterns on their back fin.  When the whales come to the surface, they stay on the surface for a while, and then they dive to the bottom for a few minutes and then come back up to the surface to breathe.  At one point, all three whales dived at the same time so we could see all three of their back fins at the same time - that was the coolest part.





We watched the whales for a while and then headed back to Gloucester.  Even the ride to and from the whale feeding grounds was awesome because the coast is so pretty, especially with all the changing foliage.  We even saw a few lighthouses - it was a quintessential New England morning.  

Once we got back to the shore, we got some lunch at Panera Bread - my favorite place for lunch when I'm traveling.  The people I work with always tease me because I can literally eat at Panera every day when I'm on the road and not get sick of it.  It's seriously awesome.  Eric had never eaten at Panera, but he's heard me talk about it a lot so we decided to go there for lunch.  No surprise, it did not disappoint.  Now Panera just needs to come to Utah.

We had tossed around ideas for what to do during our last afternoon in Boston but since the National Parks are now open again, we decided to go to Lexington and Concord to see the first battle site of the Revolutionary War.  It's outside of Boston so again, we saw gorgeous foliage.  



The night of April 18, 1775, there were rumors that the British were going to go to Lexington and Concord to take over ammunition that the Colonists were stockpiling.  This was not the first time they had done this.  The Colonists passed along the intelligence to Paul Revere and William Dawes.  William Dawes crossed out of Boston on land, and Paul Revere went over the water to get to Lexington and Concord.  In case they got caught, their backup plan was to hang the lanterns in the Old North Church which is where we get the saying one if by land, two if by sea.  The British crossed by the sea in the middle of the night, so there were 2 lanterns in the Old North Church. 

Paul Revere, William Dawes, and a doctor by the name of Samuel Prescott who they picked up along the way started warning the colonies along the main road.  Paul Revere ultimately got caught, but the other two finished their rides warning the towns of Lexington and Concord and all the surrounding areas.  When the British arrived in Lexington in the morning they were surprised to see 77 Colonists with guns to keep the British from their ammunition.  No one knows who fired first, but it was the shot heard round the world and the Revolutionary War officially began.  8 Colonists died and a few more were wounded, but none of the British were hurt.  Side note - the monument at Lexington dates back to 1799 and it's the oldest monument in the Country.  



The soldiers continued to Concord where the Colonists were again ready to meet the British at North Bridge.  There was a fire in the town and the Colonists assumed the British were trying to burn the town down so they were ordered to march on the British.  One of the Brits fired first and before we know it, everyone was firing.  There were a few casualties on each side.  The pictures are from the North Bridge and the overlook of the battlefield.  



At this point, they weren't quite sure what to do - no one was really looking for a fight, but somehow fights ensued.  They headed into town and the British helped put out the fire that was actually started by a spark from a bonfire.  Ultimately, due to Paul Revere and the other riders, by mid-day, hundreds of Colonists from surrounding towns started arriving and chasing the British all the way back to Boston (18 miles away).  The two skirmishes at Lexington and Concord lasted only a few minutes, but the chase back to Boston lasted between 7 and 8 hours.  

The British lost ranks and there was a ton of commotion.  Ultimately, the Colonists were successful against the British.  The British suffered 273 casualties, and the Colonists suffered 95.  The Colonists were also able to siege Boston for 11 months.  



It was fun to learn all about the history and walk portions of the trail.  The trail is 5 miles long with several houses along the way belonging to Colonial families and also several literary houses since there was a Literary revolution in Concord in the 1800s.  We saw Louisa May Alcott's house, which made me want to read Little Women again.  She wrote the book next door to the home she grew up in and Little Women is in part the story of her life growing up in Concord.


Walden Pond is not too far from the Battlefield Trail so we headed over there to see the sights.  It's part of a State Park and we really just wanted to see the pond, take a quick picture, reminisce about High School History and English classes, and then continue on our way.  When we got there, it cost $5 to park, which was a little annoying since we were only going to be there for about 5 minutes.  We took a page from Thoreau's book and practiced Civil Disobedience - I guess we were inspired by the pond.  I felt a little guilty until we passed by and other drives were also practicing Civil Disobedience, so in the end, I didn't feel too bad.  I think Thoreau would have been proud. Walden Pond was actually really pretty - there is a trail that goes all along the pond and the foliage on the lake was gorgeous. 




Overall, we had a great day in the New England countryside.  I love New England homes, they are so quaint, especially when they are surrounded by all the gorgeous foliage.  It's been a great few days in Boston and I'm a little sad to leave, but we are heading back to DC tomorrow.  The monuments and Smithsonian are open again so we have a day and a half to get a lot done! 

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