If Hannah knows anything, she knows breakfast. We had breakfast in Salem, MA at Dotty”s and Rays, Salem”s oldest diner since 1958. A great place to start your day.
After breakfast, we headed to Lexington/Concord to see the Orchard House. The Orchard House was home to Louisa May Alcott. It was first built between 1690-1720. The Alcott’s moved into Orchard House, which was then a two-story clapboard farmhouse, in the spring of 1858. At the time of purchase, the site included two early eighteenth-century houses on a 12-acre apple orchard. After moving more than twenty times in nearly thirty years, the Alcotts had finally found their home place at Orchard House, where they lived until 1877.
In 1868, Louisa May Alcott wrote her beloved classic novel, Little Women in her room on a special “shelf desk” built by her father. Set within the house, its characters are based on members of her family, with the plot loosely based on the family’s earlier years and events.
Fortunately, there have been no major structural changes to the house since the Alcotts’ time, with ongoing preservation efforts adhering to the highest standards of authenticity. Since approximately 80% of the furnishings on display were owned by the Alcotts, the rooms look very much as they did when the family lived here, causing many modern-day visitors to comment that, “A visit to Orchard House is like a walk through Little Women!”
Next we headed just down the road a piece, to the site where on the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops set off from Boston toward Concord, Massachusetts, in order to seize weapons and ammunition stockpiled there by American colonists. Early the next morning, the British reached Lexington, where approximately 70 minutemen had gathered on the village green. Someone suddenly fired a shot, it’s uncertain which side, and a melee ensued. When the brief clash ended, eight Americans lay dead and at least an equal amount were injured, while one redcoat was wounded. The British continued on to nearby Concord, where that same day they encountered armed resistance from a group of patriots at the town’s North Bridge. Gunfire was exchanged, leaving two colonists and three redcoats dead. Afterward, the British retreated back to Boston, skirmishing with colonial militiamen along the way and suffering a number of casualties; the Revolutionary War had begun. The incident at the North Bridge later was memorialized by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 1837 poem “Concord Hymn,” whose opening stanza is: “By the rude bridge that arched the flood/Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled/Here once the embattled farmers stood/And fired the shot heard round the world.”
This spot we visited today is where our country stood up to the British and fought to become our own self-governing country. If not for the brave minutemen we might have been an entirely different country.
Next, we headed into Boston to visit the bar from the show Cheers, in Beacon Hill. “Where everybody knows your name.” Its a iconic bar in Boston where you can go and relax and enjoy time with friends. A Boston trip is not complete without visiting Cheers.
Adjacent to Cheers is the Boston Common, it’s a Central Park in Boston, Ma. Since 1684, it is the oldest city park in America.
In this park is “Make way for ducklings, statues with Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings are there for the young and old to see. The city decorates the ducks during holidays to attract sightseers.
The statues are from Robert McCloskey’s 1941 beloved children’s classic, Make way for the Ducklings, where Mr. and Mrs. Mallard come to Boston when searching for the perfect home for their soon-to-be family. They find the Public Garden, and decide to spend the night on the little island in the Lagoon. Today the story continues with these ducklings.
We then walked up Beacon Hill to the Union Oyster House, from 1826 it is the oldest operating restaurant in America. The Union Oyster House serves traditional New England food – oysters, lobsters, clams, baked beans, steak, and chicken – just as it did years ago. It also was known as a place that John F. Kennedy frequented a lot. I give the lobster two thumbs up!
After dinner, we strolled over to Mike’s Pastry. Founded in 1946, Mike’s Pastry is located in Boston’s historic North End on Hanover Street. Michael Mercogliano (the “Mike” behind the famed Mike’s Pastry) created the one-of-a-kind cannoli that keeps loyal Bostonians and tourists coming from around the world to enjoy. With 19 different Cannoli’s to choose from, it is a fun experience just to stand in line to order your favorite cannoli or pastry.
What I am seeing in Boston is that age and tradition are what make this city unique. I look forward to our next adventure.
OtterTales 
Jimbob, as always I have enjoyed reading your articles on your current trip. Learning new things and remembering things learned years ago that I’d forgotten I ever knew & seeing the photos to go along with your story. Thanks for taking me along.
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