Concord & Walden Pond

Wednesday was a big day. I checked out of my hotel and headed down to Connecticut. But on the way I stopped in Concord, MA and saw the sights there. I had to see where "the shot heard 'round the world" occurred, and there were 3 old burial grounds there to see including the legendary Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson are all buried there. It was a haven for American authors of that time. I also passed by the house Louisa May Alcott grew up in, but didn't stop. There was too much to do and see, not to mention it would take a couple hours to get down to Connecticut.

Concord is a pretty town and the weather was perfect that day. Not very humid at all and in the high 70s. This is a vew down main street from the Old Hill Burying Ground.

On my way from there, I headed towards Sleepy Hollow, but took the wrong road and walked too far. The maps there make it look like things are further away than they are. Sleepy Hollow was only about a city block away, but it was 3 streets away there. Oops.

So I ended up walking to Minuteman National Park which I had intended to drive to since it was a mile out of town. Ah well... I needed to walk more. Of course though I was really thirsty. I didn't have any water with me.

But when I got to the NP it was so pretty I didn't much care. Here's a shot of a butterfly in a field of wildflowers near the river.

Turns out my timing was just perfect. I strolled over the famous North Bridge - after taking a picture of course. And then ran into a Ranger who was about to give a talk. That was enjoyable and for about 15 minutes I was the only person he was giving his schpiel to. That was strange, but cool too.

So after that I walked back to town to go find the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Luckily I found it this time, lol. I can't tell you how many times I got myself turned around in New England. Everything looks the same, lol. The roads are all curvy and go willy nilly from here to there, and everything is so much closer than expected. You can definitely tell I'm from the west where everything is big and built around the car.

Here is a shot of Sleepy Hollow. Cool, huh?

And then finally, as the afternoon wore on, I made it to Walden Pond. So not what I was expecting. Too many danged people. Blech! I was hoping for a nice quiet place to take a nap. Ugh. But I managed to get a shot of the pond with very few people in the picture. It was impossible to get a shot with none in the picture.