Day 5 – Saturday, July 29 – Quincy, MA and New York City – LAST DAY

 John Adams Home    

Between being a realtor and loving history, my most favorite thing to do in the world is tour historic homes.  I was so looking forward to seeing John Adams homes. 

One thing that came up multiple times while touring Boston… they will close down tours in historic sites if they think it’s too hot.  So always schedule appointments for as early as you can get them in warm weather months.  And keep in mind if its summer you might not be able to take the tour. 

We had the earliest tour given that day.  They let us tour the first and second home.  But when we got to the third home they only let us see two rooms.  It was really a bummer.  But even with the limited tour we had, it was still wonderful.

We started at John Adams Birthplace. It is the oldest presidential birthplace in the United States.  John Adams was born there in 1735. 

It is only 75 feet away from his later home where John Quincy Adams was born.  In this home John and Abigail started their family, launched his presidential career and maintained a law office. Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin also wrote the Massachusetts Constitution here, a document that greatly influenced the development of the United States Constitution.

The painting shows John Quincy’s birthplace on the left and John Adams birthplace on the right.

Eliza Susan Quincy painted this watercolor of the birthplaces of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams in 1822 from the vantage point of Penn’s Hill in Quincy, Massachusetts

Then we all drove our own cars to meet up at the Old House at Peace field.  This was built in 1731 and became the residence of the Adams family for four generations.  It was the home to Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams (son) and their wives, the Civil War Minister to Great Britain Charles Francis Adams, and the literary historians Henry and Brook Adams. 

In the photos above the photo with two buildings shows the home (on the right side) and the Adams library covered in ivy on the left.

The absolute highlight was the Stone Library built in 1873 that is next to the Old House.  It contains more than 12,000 books that belonged to the Adams family.  About 10% of the book belonged to John Adams and the greater part belonged to his son John Quincy Adams. 

In John Quincy Adams will, he gave his son his books and asked that he build a fireproof library to hold his books, documents and manuscripts.  And Charles Francis Adams built this medieval style Stone Library to fulfill his father’s wishes.  Many famous Adams writings were done here including the ten volume Diary of John Adams, the twelve volume The Memoirs of John Quincy Adams and The Letters of Abigail Adams, and The History of the Unites States written by Henry Adams.

John and John Quincy Adams weren’t the only family members who loved collecting books. John Quincy’s son Charles Francis also had an extensive collection of books from all across the world. One I learned about after our visit… is a rare copy of the Book of Mormon.  In 1844, Charles Francis Adams and his cousin Josiah Quincy, Jr. were touring the country, when they came to Nauvoo, Illinois. While there they met with Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following the visit, Joseph Smith signed a copy of the Book of Mormon and gave it to Charles Francis Adams (grandson to John Adams, and son to John Quincy Adams).  Apparently he didn’t have a spare copy on hand.  The Book of Mormon that the Adams brought home was Joseph’s wife’s copy, with her name engraved on it. 

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This library was a treasure to visit.  It’s one of the best preserved personal libraries I’ve seen. 

And such a wonderful way to end our time in the Boston area.

New York City

Last time we were in New York City with the kids was July 2012.  That would make Hannah and Ben six and seven years old.  They don’t remember much from that trip.  We got to New York and parked our car at Citi field (where we would be going to a baseball game later that night).  We had just a couple hours to catch the subway in to New York and walk the city and get back.  It wasn’t much time, and the kids told us later it was too fast : )  But it was the best we could do to say they ‘saw’ the city and still make it to the game.

Our view driving in to New York City.

Our first stop was the New York City Temple.  It was closed when we were there, so we settled for photographs outside.  Unlike most temples built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with spires and manicured lawns and gardens, the temple in NYC is on four floors of a renovated six-story building in the middle of New York City.  As you walk through, you can hear virtually nothing from the outside, an unusual sound in NYC.  The architects used soundproofing techniques to block distracting noise.  It’s pretty incredible to come in from the outside noisy city, and just hear silence and feel peace.

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After the temple we walked through Central Park.  One of my strongest memories of walking through Central Park eleven years ago was 6 year old Ben, who was mesmerized by street dancers and acrobats.  He’s always been our gymnast since he was very little, teaching himself to do backflips and front hand springs.  He couldn’t believe people could do tricks like that in a park and get paid (he saw the jar for donations : )   It was all we could do to keep him from jumping into the act.  Fun memories.  This time it was a little less eventful.

The kids biggest complaint was that NYC was rushed.  We just hadn’t really planned on that part of the trip, this trip was more about Boston, and NYC was incidental to Mike and I.  So we walked through New York very quickly looking at the sites. Some places we passed, the Late Show theater, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, the Empire State Bldg, the Town Hall and Times Square.

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One building we passed that I didn’t remember seeing before was The Town Hall.  I had to look it up when I got home.  It was founded as a pro-women’s suffrage group, the League initially fought for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and provided general education on social and political issues. 

It is now used as a performance hall in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was built in 1919 for the League for Political Education. The auditorium has historically been used for various events, such as speeches, musical recitals, concerts, and film screenings. Both the exterior and interior of the building are New York City landmarks, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.

Mets Game and home

We walked from the Temple to Empire State Bldg, to Times Square, and then caught a subway to go to the Mets-Nationals game.  The game started late because of rain, which was a blessing for us since we were running late from NYC.  It was a brutal game, Mets fans aren’t nice to even there own players : (  but a fun memory, since on our last US history trip we went to a Nationals game with our cousins in Washington DC. 

Going Home

I’m so glad we were able to make this trip. I loved Boston. I’m bummed we weren’t able to fit it in with our older children’s trip, but you can’t always do everything : ) I’m glad we got back there with Hannah and Ben and had that time together. Fun, fun memories.  So glad we got to do it before they left home.

Day 4 – Friday, July 28 – Back to Boston

Today was a little less intense than the previous days.  Each of us picked something on our Go City Pass that we wanted to do. It was fun to have some experiences we might not have chosen without the pass.

Museum of Science

This was Ben’s and Hannah’s pick.  Our city passes included the Museum of Science.  It was open before other places we wanted to go opened, so we started our day there.  It’s listed as one of the world’s largest science centers.  They had lots of activities and exhibits.  I think we spent 2 hours there, we probably could have stayed longer.  Is it worth going?  If you like science, absolutely.  I came to Boston for history, so I wouldn’t have chosen it over something open that was historical.  But with kids, I think the museum is a nice stop because there are so many hands on activities.  We were too busy playing to take photos : )

Little Italy Food Tour

Part of our city passes included a North End ‘Little Italy’ Food Tour, and that was on mine and Hannah’s list of to do’s.  Food was not included in the tour cost, but the tour was free for us with the pass, and so adding the cost of food during lunch time worked.  They gave an excellent tour.  We walked around Boston’s Italian Community talking about history, the famous people and food.  They stopped at the best places they recommended for cannoli’s, coffee, pizza and traditional bread, and gave us time to go in and buy things to eat while we were walking.  They suggested bringing $20-30 per person to sample food.  Between the four of us I don’t think we spent over $10 or 15 per person. 

We didn’t take a lot of pictures because we were too busy eating : )  But I do have some notes from the visit.  Our first stop was Bricco Panetteria known for their bread.  Their loaves are ginormous.  I’m not sure how a small family or individual could buy something there.  Even for myself I thought most loaves were too big for our family of four if we were going to eat other things later in the tour.  

But afterwards, I regretted not buying at least one loaf. We ate a lot of sweets at the beginning, and it would have been nice to have some normal food in our stomach before we started our lunch with multiple desserts : )  The fun part about this place is it’s down an alley in a basement off the beaten path.  We were told it was great bread.

They took us to try cannoli’s next.  The four of us aren’t big on super sweet, they were a bit rich for us.  But we shared a couple to see what they tasted like.  Our tour guide thought that Modern Pastry had the best cannoli’s (that aren’t prefilled).  I guess that’s a thing, and some people prefer them freshly filled.  Our palettes weren’t refined enough to notice a big difference.  Places that have prefilled cannoli’s are able to offer more flavors because they aren’t as freshly filled.  He thought Mike’s Pastry was best for prefilled cannoli’s. 

We stopped at Caffe Vittoria for cappuccinos for some of our party, and gelato’s for most of us.  All along the way he’s telling us the history of the places we are visiting.

He pointed out the Daily Catch which is famous for their squid ink pasta.  They only have 7 tables, and the kitchen is in the room so you watch them make your food.  They had a long line to get in, so we just walked by.

We ended our eating tour next to Bovas and Parziales.  Bovas is a local’s favorite that had Sicilian style pizza, and they are open 24/7.  Two of us tried their pizza.  This bakery was closed for a week in March of this year because, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck were filming the movie ‘The Instigators’ inside.

Next door was Parziales Bakery.  It’s one of the oldest bakeries in the area (started in 1907), and the first to bring pizza to Boston.  Two of us ordered that pizza.  Our family favorite was Parziales.

We asked about sit down restaurants and our tour guide recommended Regina’s Pizza for pizza and Monica’s for the best pasta. So there’s our best recommendations from the Italian tour if you want to try food in Boston : )

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

‘Mrs. Jack Gardner is one of the seven wonders of Boston. There is nobody like her in any city in this country. She is a millionaire Bohemienne. She is the leader of the smart set, but she often leads where none dare follow… She imitates nobody; everything she does is novel and original. ‘

— A BOSTON REPORTER

I had never heard of Isabella before this trip.  She came from a wealthy family. After losing a child she began to travel to help her depression.  She went to northern Europe, Russia, Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.  She became a collector and started building a museum in 1899. She moved into the museum when it was done so she could personally arrange the works of art in the galleries.  The museum housed her collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative art.  She spent the rest of her life acquiring works for her museum. When the museum opened in 1903 it was the finest private art collection in America. When she died she left the museum with a stipulation that nothing could be change in the galleries, no items could be added or sold from the collection.

I’m not usually a huge museum fan.  I know that sounds very uncultured of me.  But this museum was incredible.  The collections were eclectic, the museum itself is a work of art.  We didn’t take a ton of photos (I think most of them are in the garden), but I will let the few we took speak for themselves.  This was mine and Hannah’s pick and we were not disappointed!

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Fenway Park Tour

This was Mike’s pick, and I will be honest, the rest of us were dragging our feet on this one.  I love watching baseball, but touring a baseball park?  It didn’t sound that interesting.  I was ignorant of all the history of Fenway.  It really is an incredible tour.  We weren’t able to go to a game while we were in town, but I was kicking myself that we weren’t.  They told so many interesting stories about the history, the difference about how the game is ran there than in other parks.  We got to sit in the press seats and hear stories all over the stadium about each spot.  We learned to appreciate the amount of work that goes into playing a game in such an old stadium.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  It’s a great tour with fascinating history of baseball, the park, and understanding Boston culture.  It was a 60 minute tour, and it did not disappoint. 

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Walk around Boston

We finished the evening walking around Boston to catch the sites we had missed in our race to do it all. 

One place we passed multiple times was Faneuil Hall.  I mentioned its significance as we passed it on July 26.  But we were so busy standing outside learning about it, we didn’t get to go inside.  In front of Faneuil Hall some street entertainers were outside entertaining the crowd.  We watched for a while and then walked through the shops inside.  It’s a great place for souvenirs. 

Next to Faneuil is Quincy Market. Quincy Market has been open to the public since 1826.  It was considered the largest market complex built in the United States in the first half of the 19^th century.  It currently is a huge food hall with all kinds of food vendors inside, and souvenir vendors outside. We all tried to get something different to eat inside.  It was a great stop for dinner.

That was the end of our Boston tour. We drove to Quincy that night so we could be up early to tour John Adams homes. It’s only 12 miles away, but in Boston traffic can be a 50 minute drive.

Day 3 Part 2 – Thursday, July 27 – Lexington

Colonial Inn

For lunch we stopped at the Colonial Inn in Concord.  It was built in 1716.  One of the Inn’s original building was used as a storehouse for arms and provisions during the Revolutionary War.  The North Bridge where the shots heard round the world is near here, so every year in April they have a parade near the Inn and a ceremony at the North Bridge on Patriots Day.  Henry David Thoreau stayed here while he was attending Harvard.

The food was good. They serve in different rooms, and it was fun to peak in and see some of them.  Each is unique. It was a nice stop between tours.

Buckman Tavern and Lexington Green

Built in 1710, Buckman Tavern was a gathering place for both locals and travelers, and the site of many important town meetings. Captain Parker and his militia gathered in this tavern in the early morning hours of April 19, 1775 to await the oncoming British Redcoat troops. Below is a photo of the tavern, and Ben trying on clothes inside.

On the evening of April 18 General Thomas Gage, the British royal governor of Massachusetts, organized 700 British troops for a march to Concord. The troops were ordered to destroy the colonists’ military supplies, or ammunition, in Concord. Fighting started in front of Buckman Tavern at the Lexington Common (or Lexington Green).  The first shots were fired here that started the Revolutionary War. 

King’s troops marched into Lexington around 5:00 am to find a militia company of about 70 men led by Captain John Parker that had been waiting at Buckman’s Tavern. When the vanguard of the British force rushed forward upon the town green, Captain Parker immediately ordered his company to disperse. At some point a shot rang out– historians still debate who fired the shot. The nervous British soldiers fired a volley, killing seven and mortally wounding one of the retreating militiamen. The British column moved on towards Concord, leaving the dead, wounded, and dying in their wake. The militiamen suffered the first casualties of the American Revolution. Below is Amos Doolittle’s engraving of the Battle of Lexington.

We heard the phrase the ‘shot heard ’round the world’ referred to the first shots on the North Bridge in Concord (previous post).  But our tour guide argued that the actual first shots had happened earlier that day on the Lexington Common.  

By the end of the day it was clear the day had been a disaster for the British who had 73 men killed and many more wounded compared to the patriot’s loss of 49 killed. Concord poet Ralph Waldo Emerson dubbed them the “embattled farmers.”  That day, they were simply loyal British subjects who believed that they were standing up to defend and fight for their rights. In doing so they changed the world forever and so was the start of the American War of Independence.

Below is a helpful map of important sites in the area. We didn’t make it to everything as you can see on the map. You have a constraint of between about 10 or 11 and 4 or 5pm when places are open. But I love what we were able to see. This is a place I could come back to again and again.

Harvard

Harvard was a last minute stop.  I hadn’t planned to visit, and I was kicking myself I hadn’t reached out to friends and family that attended Harvard to get some advice on what to do while we were here.  So as a last resort we googled famous old building at Harvard and walked around and enjoyed the campus. Since our visit I found a great resource with information about self-guided tours at Harvard.

Massachusetts Hall – Harvard

Built in 1720, it is the oldest building still standing on Harvard’s campus.  It has been used for a variety of purposes, including as an army barrack during the Revolutionary War.

The building on the right is Massachusetts Hall.  I spoke earlier of Paul Revere being so much more than just a famous ride.  Paul Revere was also an engraver. He made many engravings that were were political, and some were just decorative. This art is one of his engravings made in 1767. 

I hadn’t really known much about engraving before this trip, but engraving is a printmaking process in which lines are cut into a metal plate in order to hold the ink. Once the art is cut into metal it is inked and pressed onto paper.  I vaguely had an idea of it, but because I kept hearing about Paul Revere’s engravings (and he had many), I looked it up to see exactly what it was.  There is a great explanation of it at metmuseum.org.

That seems like an incredible skill to have to be able to carve a picture into metal.  I can’t believe all the places we heard about Paul Revere, and how little we really hear about him in history books at school.

But I digress, here is a photo in front of Massachusetts Hall.

Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library – Harvard

While not as old as other places on campus, built in 1915.  It is the largest library on campus. 

Widener has 57 miles of shelf space and the capacity to hold over three million volumes. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside and had to settle for in front of the library.

Memorial Church – Harvard

The inscription over the entrance to the church says, ‘In grateful memory of the Harvard men who died in the World War we have built this Church.’  The church stands opposite the Widener Library. 

Memorial Hall – Harvard

Built in the 1870’s the hall was conceived as a memorial to Harvard graduates who fought for the Union cause in the Civil War.  I’m glad this was one of the last buildings we visited, because it was a fabulous way to end our walk through Harvard.  The interiors are breathtaking.  When we were visiting, the cafeteria was only open to students, but there was a door with a window, and we peaked in.  It was beautiful.  I read somewhere that this was the inspiration for Hogwarts Dining Hall.  I read later that wasn’t true.  But imagine Hogwarts dining hall and you have an idea of what the dining hall looked like here.  The only photos we were the exterior able to get was in the entrance and the exterior. You can’t go to Harvard and miss this stop.

I’m sure we missed a ton we should have seen while visiting.  But as it was each day, we had limited time, and we wanted to get to the beach before dark.  So we headed back to Boston.

Revere Beach

Just five miles North of Boston, the Revere Beach Reservation was the first public beach in the United States. We weren’t purposely shooting to see a historic beach, but this was on our way back to the hotel. We promised Ben we wouldn’t leave Boston without letting him go to the beach. I had a funny moment. I don’t know what I was thinking, but having raised our kids on California beaches for a number of years, I was excited to be at the beach for sunset….then realized I was on the wrong side of the country for that : ) I’m sure they have beautiful sunrises…but we missed it.

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Day 3 Thursday, July 27 Part 1 – Concord

We were coming to visit Boston, but I didn’t know how much I’d fall in love with Lexington and Concord.  This was both Hannah and my favorite day!  It was just magical.  In Boston you see old mixed in with the new.  But in Lexington and Concord there were parts that felt like we stepped back in time.  It was peaceful and quiet and absolutely beautiful.

Orchard House

Out of everywhere we visited, this and Old Manse were both Hannah and my favorites.  The Orchard House actually made me cry!!  Haha, and I’m not embarrassed to say it.  We have traveled all over the US and in other countries going through historical homes.  Little Women is a story about Louisa’s life and her families. There are some parts that have been changed, but also many accurate stories. Knowing the story of Little Women and Louisa May Alcott, and then walking through the home where 85% of the items inside are originals and seeing the stories in Little Women displayed from her real life in this home, it was so wonderful. 

We were not allowed to take photographs inside.  But inside we saw the room where Amy (May in real life) drew art she had seen in Emerson’s home on the walls of her bedroom as she was trying to become an artist…and then paintings after she had toured Europe and improved her art so well she was displayed in salons in Paris.  While growing up the Alcott’s did not have a lot of money so Mays drawing are scratched on walls and moldings with pencil, carved into fire-boards, she burned Raphael into cutting boards…her art is found hidden all over the house.

We saw the living room where the girls acted out their plays and real photographs and costumes they had from those days.  We saw the dress that Louisa sewed for her sister Anna (Meg) in the home.  I could go on…But to hear the stories, and see how Bronson and Abby raised their girls, it was amazing.  I loved every second of being there.  Our tour guide was passionate about the Alcott’s, and the home was authentic.  It was a wonderful tour. 

Other interesting facts we learned. May’s (Amy’s) husband was 14 years younger than she was.  They both fudged their ages on their marriage certificate so they didn’t look like their ages were to different.

They have letters from Louisa who refers to the money she makes and sends home as the ‘Alcott sinking fund’ because of how bad her father was with money.  She refers to her dad in her letters as a dreamer. 

Louis felt a lot of pressure to make money and take care of her family.  And unlike in the book when the ‘Little Women’s’ father comes home from war sick.  It was actually Louisa who went to war and came home sick.  She dealt with the effects of being sick and bad health care for the rest of her life.  Because she had days when she was sick and days when she felt better, she worked very hard on her healthy days.  Louisa taught herself to write with both her left and right hand so on healthy days when her right hand got tired she could keep writing with her left.  She worked hard… and we were very surprised after being in Mark Twain’s ostentatious home, to see this humble home and learn that Louisa ended up making more money than Mark Twain at the end of her life.

This photograph is a trail to the side of the Orchard House

One of the neat displays in the home was a bookshelf where people from all over the world, that were touched by the writings of Louisa May Alcott, sent a copy of a ‘Little Women’ book in their own language.  It was amazing to see how far reaching the simple story about her family touched so many lives.

It was also amazing to see how so many famous people merged into this area.  Henry David Thoreau  (naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher ) was close friends with the family and actually drew their land plot.  Drawings of Mays (Amy in the book) were drawn from art she saw when visiting Ralph Waldo Emerson’s (essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet ) home.  May died after childbirth.  That is not mentioned in Little Women, but it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who came to their home with the telegraph to tell the family what had happened.  The families were so close that Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and the Alcott’s where all buried next to each other. Later on in the day we went to visit their grave sites.

As a book lover, I had to pull the tour guide aside and ask her what her favorite books were on Bronson and Louisa.  She said the book they use the most as a reference in their tours is ‘Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father’.  The Orchard House gave the author full access to all the letters and documents they had to write this book.  I am reading it right now, and thoroughly enjoying it.  Another book she recommended was ‘Alcott in Her Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of her Life, Drawn from Recollections, Interview & Memoirs by Family, Friends and Associates.’ 

I’m kind of at a loss for words to say why I loved Orchard house and why it made me cry. There are probably prettier settings, although the area is very beautiful. There are definitely grander homes. But to be in the Orchard house and feel all the love, and all the creative and intentional ways that Bronson and Abby tried to raise their family, it was inspiring.

The Old Manse Home

From the Revolutionary War to the revolution in American thought under its roof, The Old Manse was the center of Concord’s political, literary, and social zeitgeist for a century. 

(from the Old Manse website)

Manse is an old-fashioned word used to describe a minister’s home. The home was constructed for patriot minister William Emerson.  The upstairs overlooks the North Bridge, where the famous battle of April 19, 1775, took place. Later, some of New England’s most esteemed minds found inspiration inside its walls. In the 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson (grandson to William Emerson) and Nathaniel Hawthorne both called the Manse home for a time: Emerson drafted his influential essay “Nature” in an upstairs study. Meanwhile, Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia, started their married life here (3 years); the recreated heirloom vegetable garden on the property was originally planted by Henry David Thoreau in honor of the Hawthornes’ wedding.

The Manse home, just like the Orchard House is in one of the most beautiful settings.  The photographs don’t do it justice.

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Random facts we learned there:

William Emerson was asked by George Washington to go with him to the next battle in New York after the Battle of Lexington.

The Hawthorne’s weren’t the best guests in Emerson’s home.  They scratched quotes and sayings in the window panes with a diamond ring. Scratched windows can be found in multiple places in the home.

When they were restoring the home, wallpaper was found that was old enough it was stamped on the backside showing that the owners had paid the Stamp Tax when they bought the paper (one of the taxes that pushed the colonies into rebellion).

Nathaniel Hawthorne had a stuffed owl that he loved, but his wife thought was creepy.  Whenever he would leave she would hide it somewhere in the house, but he would always come home and put it in a prominent place in one of the sitting rooms. 

According to legend, in the American Revolution, Harvard’s faculty and students temporarily evacuated campus and held classes in Concord, and it’s thought that they brought the owl and left it behind at the Old Manse.  The owl was named Longfellow because Nathaniel Hawthorne thought the old owl bore a striking resemblance to his classmate, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

In Emerson’s sitting room was an Aeolian Harp.  I had never seen one before.  It’s a wind harp, and it plays when the windows are open and the wind blows in the home.  It was beautiful. Besides being the only string instrument played solely by the wind, the Aeolian harp is also the only string instrument that plays solely harmonic frequencies.  I have a new treasure I am now in search of….

Beside the harp is a poem written by Emerson about the Aeolian Harp.

Sarah Alden Bradley Ripley was a relation that lived in the Manse home.  I don’t remember hearing of her before, but she sounds amazing!  She was an educator and a noted scholar in a time when women were rarely admitted to universities.  According to our tour guide, she taught herself 7 different languages.  She was a botanist for Thoreau.  She was so brilliant that Darwin sent one copy of Origin of Species to her to edit. Harvard said she was their best professor they ever had that never went to school.  Harvard would send students that weren’t doing well for her to teach and catch up.  While doing all of this she had 10 children! 

Needless to say, the house had so many stories to tell, and we hadn’t even see the back yard yet!

The Old North Bridge

This was a painting in the gift shop at Old Manse showing the home and the Old North Bridge.

The Old Manse is set on the banks of the Concord River.  There is a boat house in the backyard, and just to the right is an arched wooden bridge.  As recorded in Reverend William Emerson’s diary, it was between 1-2 am on April 19, 1775 when Concord’s bells rang out to warn the townspeople that the British troops were on their way.  A skirmish had just taken place on Lexington Green (which I will talk about later on), and the troops marched into Concord about 7:30 am.

British companies dispatched to secure the South and North Bridges.  And here in Emerson’s backyard, Concord’s North Bridge is where the “shot heard round the world” was fired. Significance: Concord’s North Bridge is where colonial minute men and militia were first ordered to fire upon British soldiers. The first British soldiers of the American Revolution died here.

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It’s crazy to think of something that significant and violent happening in the backyard of Emerson and Hawthorne’s home in such a beautiful setting. I can’t find it in my notes, but I believe it was Emerson and Thoreau years after this event, would often float down the Concord river together to enjoy the beautiful scenery, that once earlier had been the beginning stages of the creation of a new nation.  It’s incredible all that has happened on this one small piece of land.

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Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord MA           

In the cemetery is a ridge and a quiet hollow below it that looked, in Emerson’s words, like it “lies in nature’s hand.” Hawthorne described it as “a shallow space scooped out among the woods.”

It was a popular refuge and playground for locals. Emerson began spending time in the woods there in the early 1830s, when he moved into his grandfather’s nearby home, the Old Manse.

Later construction of the Cemetery began in early 1855, and Emerson was elected by the townspeople as chairman of Concord’s cemetery committee, created to oversee the project. Also on the committee was the local sheriff, who later served as a bodyguard for President Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address. Thoreau surveyed part of the property and designed a pond near the ridgetop.

Within three decades of Sleepy Hollow’s opening, this beautifully wooded cemetery would hold Thoreau, Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Hawthorne, all buried within a stone’s throw of one another among a grove of mature pines on what’s now called Author’s Ridge.

Hawthorne’s dream of settling at the top of Sleepy Hollow’s highest point eventually came true. His resting place is marked by a stone bearing simply his last name.

Louisa May Alcott’s small headstone, located within the Alcott family plot, is engraved with the humble initials L.M.A. and the dates 1832–1888. A marker with her name lies flat in the ground behind her gravestone. (Pictured is her family plot. Louisa’s stone is the farthest left, and behind it is the flat stone with her name, where people come to leave a notes and their pencils around her grave)

Thoreau, who also frequented the sleepy hollow, wrote about his two years living alone in the Concord woods beside Walden Pond (on Emerson’s property). He famously wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” 

By the time Walden was published, Concord had been stripped of 90 percent of its woodlands, and the only “tonic of wildness” accessible to the downtown was the sleepy hollow. Intentionally protecting and cultivating nature in a patch of woods in this way was unprecedented for its time. Although Walden is often credited for launching the conservation movement, the role of the Concord cemetery where its authors’ remains now reside, could be considered one of their first conservation projects.

Day 2 Part 2 Boston – July 26, 2023

Old North Church

Old North Church is famous for its role in Paul Revere’s midnight ride on April 18, 1775. On that night, the church’s sexton, hung two lanterns in the church’s steeple, which alerted Revere and the other riders to British troops’ movements prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. There are tours to go inside, but our day was full, so we just stopped to take a photo.

Paul Revere’s Home

FUN FACTS ABOUT PAUL REVERE:  For someone that is only known for his famous ride, his name came up a lot on our tours.  Paul Revere’s last name was really Rivoire (a French name), but his father wanted him to fit in with English immigrants, so his name was changed to Revere.  Paul was a Copper Smith and the town dentist. 

After Revere was born, he apprenticed under his father and learned how to craft things from gold and silver. Some items found of his include a chain for a pet squirrel, an ostrich egg snuffbox, and sword hilts. You can tell an item is made by Revere by his maker’s mark—either his last name in a rectangle, or his initials in cursive.

As a dentist, he learned how to create false teeth out of ivory and insert them using wire. Revere became so confident in his abilities that in 1768, he placed an ad declaring he “can fix [teeth] as well as any surgeon dentist who ever came from London, he fixes them in such a manner that they are not only an ornament but of real use in speaking and eating.”

After Dr. Joseph Warren was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, he was buried like others in an unmarked grave. Ten months later, the bodies were exhumed and examined. Revere was Warren’s dentist, and recognized him by his teeth: Revere had given Warren a false tooth fastened with wire. This was the first body identification done by teeth in recorded history.

Paul Revere and his fellow patriots never shouted, “The British are coming!” That wouldn’t have made sense, since most colonists were British. The actual warning was “the Regulars are coming out.” This misconception is a result of Longfellow’s creative license—he found the real sentence to be too wordy for his poem.

We toured his home.  It’s small and simple.  It was built in 1680 and is the only remaining example of 17^th century architecture in downtown Boston.  It’s the oldest standing building in Boston.  This was the first American home that could be toured.  The area is also the oldest residential square in the US, with other older homes near it from the same time.  It had been lived in before Paul Revere lived there.

Old State House

Built in 1713, the “Town House” acted as a merchants’ exchange on the first floor. The second floor served as the seat of colonial and later state government throughout the 1700s. John Adams, his cousin Samuel and merchant John Hancock, served as representatives in the Massachusetts provincial legislature here.  And of course as mentioned earlier, in front of this building was the location of the Boston Massacre.

Old South Meeting House

Old South Meeting House was the largest building in colonial Boston and the stage for some of the most dramatic events leading up to the American Revolution. Old South became the center for massive public protest meetings against British actions. It was the series of meetings that culminated on December 16, 1773 as one of this country’s most significant buildings. On that day, over 5,000 men crowded into the meeting house to debate the controversial tea tax. When the final attempt at compromise failed, Samuel Adams gave the signal that started the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty led the way to Griffin’s Wharf, where they dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

Union Oyster House

After a ton of walking and touristing all day, we went to the Union Oyster House, America’s oldest restaurant. A building dating back to Pre-Revolutionary days, started serving food in 1826 and has continued ever since.   

In 1742—before it became a seafood house, the building housed importer Hopestill Capen’s fancy dress goods business, known as “At the Sign of the Cornfields.” At this time, the Boston waterfront came up to the back door of the dry goods establishment, making it convenient for ships to deliver their cloth and goods from Europe.

During the revolution the Adams, Hancock, and Quincy wives, as well as their neighbors, often sat in their stalls of the Capen House sewing and mending clothes for the colonists.

In 1796, a future king of France lived on the second floor. Exiled from his country, he earned his living by teaching French to many of Boston’s fashionable young ladies. (Later Louis Phillippe returned home to serve as King from 1830 to 1848.)

It was at the Oyster Bar that Daniel Webster, a constant customer, daily drank his tall tumbler of brandy and water with each half-dozen oysters, seldom having less than six plates.

The toothpick was first used in the United States at the Union Oyster House. Enterprising Charles Forster of Maine first imported the picks from South America. To promote his new business he hired Harvard boys to dine at the Union Oyster House and ask for toothpicks.

The Kennedy Clan has patronized the Union Oyster House for years. J.F.K. loved to feast in privacy in the upstairs dining room. His favorite booth “The Kennedy Booth” has since been dedicated in his memory.

Omni Parker House

Omni Parker House is the oldest of Boston’s elegant inns and the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States, built in 1855. Writers like Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Longfellow— regularly met for conversation in the legendary Saturday Club. It was here where baseball greats like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and David Ortiz wined, dined, and unwound. And it was here, too, where generations of local and national politicians—including Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Colin Powell, “Tip” O’Neill, and Bill Clinton —assembled for private meetings, press conferences, and power breakfasts.

With its close proximity to Boston’s Theater District, the Omni Parker House also played an important role for performers, John Wilkes, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, James Dean.

Omni’s Notorious Guest – On April 5 and 6, 1865, John Wilkes was registered at the Parker House, and was seen eating in its restaurant. It’s possible that he went to visit brother Edwin, who was playing a successful three-week engagement at the 3,000-seat Boston Theatre. It was reported in the Boston Evening Transcript of April 15, that he was indeed practicing his aim: “[A man named] Borland…saw Booth at Edwards’ shooting gallery [near Parker’s], where Booth practiced pistol firing in various difficult ways such as between his legs, over his shoulder and under his arms.” Eight days after leaving Boston, on April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington, D.C.

Cheers

The inspiration for the setting of the hit television series Cheers can be found in Boston, walking distance from Boston Commons.  Having grown up hearing the theme to Cheers “Where everybody knows your name” when my parents were watching tv, we had to stop and take a photo.

Boston Observation Deck on top of the Prudential Center

An example of something we would never have paid for but ended up being fun…was the Boston Observation Deck.  One of the problems when you are touristing in Boston is most tourist attractions open at 10 am and close at 5 or 6pm, and now we have the rest of the evening to do other things.  Most things on the Go Boston Pass also end at those times.  But here were a couple that didn’t, and this was one of them, so we decided to try it out. We hadn’t quite figured out the buses/trams yet, so we decided to walk. We walked a ton today, I think we passed 30,000 steps before the day was over. On the way there, we passed a church that was so beautiful Ben and I stopped to take photos.  You can barely tell, but it really stood out next to the skyscrapers built around it.  The Trinity Church in Boston is considered a National Historic Landmark. 

One of the Rectors of this church was Phillips Brooks.  He wrote the Christmas carol, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.’  Some of the builders of the church were Phillips Brooks and Robert Treat Paine (a signer of the Declaration of Independence). I would LOVE to have toured inside, but it was closed for the evening.

Across the street was another beautiful church.  But of course, it was closed also.  The Old South Church was started in 1669.  Some famous people who attended this church.  Mary Chilton, the first woman to step ashore at Plymouth.  Benjamin Franklin was baptized as a baby here.  Samuel Adams hosted meetings of the Boston Tea Party here.  William Daws who rode with Paul Revere.

We eventually made it to the Prudential Tower.  From the 52nd floor you can see wonderful panoramic views of the city. On the 51^st floor there is an open air deck. And I believe it’s the 50^th floor they had 3D models of the city with projection-mapping to show Boston in different seasons and celebrations.  We spent most of our time on the 52^nd floor because we didn’t know about the other two floors until we started to leave.  Again, this was a Go City Pass event.  We never would have done it otherwise, but it turned out to be pretty cool.  If I did it again, I would suggest, bring a dinner and sit up there and eat or come long enough to just relax and enjoy the view.

photos of the 3D model with projection-mapping.  The same model kept changing scenes

This day was packed to the brim. But it was amazing see the sites in Boston. The next day will be Concord and Lexington.

Day 2 Part 1 Boston – July 26, 2023

Boston, Massachusetts – Aquarium

We ended this day with 30,000 steps and 18 different sites. So I will split the day up. The aquarium is right off the Boston Harbor. The photo below was taken as we waited in line for the aquarium to open.

Our first stop was the Boston Aquarium.  It made it on Ben’s tops for all of Boston.  It was a great aquarium.  One of the fun parts was a fish tank that went up 3 or 4 stories with walkways wrapping around it to see.  They also had some sea lions that were be introduced to each other for the first time the day we were there.  There was a lot of excitement as the male sea lion was getting frustrated that one of the females wasn’t hanging out with the harem.  It was interesting to sit and watch their interactions. The aquarium was a great start to the day.

The Freedom Trail

Next, we took a tour that walked us through some of the historic sites that are downtown. The tour highlights the revolutionary history that took place at 11 of the 16 official Freedom Trail historic sites.  It is the iconic touristy thing to do when your in Boston, and one of the main reasons we were there. We started at Faneuil Hall, then Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Old South Meeting House, Boston Latin School Site/Benjamin Franklin Statue, Kings Chapel and Burying Ground, Granary Burying Ground, Park Street Church, the Massachusetts State House and lastly the Boston Commons.

Faneuil Hall

Often referred to as “the home of free speech” and the “Cradle of Liberty,” Faneuil Hall was where America’s first Town Meetings were held.  It’s where the Sons of Liberty proclaimed their dissent against Royal oppression. It was at Faneuil Hall in 1764 that Americans first protested the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, setting the doctrine that would come to be known as “no taxation without representation.”

The most famous weathervane in Boston is Faneuil Hall’s golden grasshopper created by acclaimed craftsman Shem Drowne, whose weathervane also tops the Old North Church. Tradition has it that the weathervane was used during the War of 1812 to spot spies. Anyone who did not know the answer to the question “What is on top of Faneuil Hall?” in those days invited suspicion. We were told that when they went to clean the grasshopper years later, they accidentally opened it and gold spilled out, left by the designer.  We were told they put the gold back inside and it’s there today.

Boston Massacre Site

The tensions that led to the Boston Massacre were the product of the occupation of Boston by Redcoats in 1768. An argument, that led to a riot, that led to Redcoats coming to extract one of their own, the crowd pressed in on them, someone yelled fire (meaning something was burning), the redcoats fired into the crowd, and before it was over 5 men lay dead or dying. The Sons of Liberty held funerals for the victims and organized a vigorous propaganda effort to turn public opinion against the Redcoats and labeled the tragedy a “bloody massacre.” The British soldiers were tried for murder and were defended by John Adams, a Boston lawyer who was as loyal to the idea of justice as he was to the Patriot cause. Most of the British soldiers ended up being acquitted as it was a misunderstanding and not a planned attack. It’s so crazy to see the stories that led to our countries independence.

Boston Latin School Site and Benjamin Franklin’s Statue

A mosaic and a statue of former student Benjamin Franklin currently marks the School Street location of the original schoolhouse. This site was the first public school in America.  Five signers of the Declaration of Independence attended Boston Latin: Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, and William Hooper. Of the five, only four graduated. Franklin, though one of America’s greatest minds, dropped out of school, but he still got his statue at it’s site : ) The school has continued in different locations and is still running today.

There was a statue of a donkey in front of the building.  It’s from Italy, but a local wanted to place it there.  And to justify the statue’s placement, he said the donkey represented the Democratic Party, a political affiliation long held by Boston’s mayors. And Boston’s mayors, after all, spent their days in Old City Hall from 1865 until 1970.  When asked where the statue’s Republican elephant counterpart would go. Rather than find one, the man who donated the donkey decided to place two footsteps in front of the donkey so those who disagreed with the Democratic party could stand in opposition to it.

Park Street Church and Granary Burying Ground

Paul Reveres Gravestone

Granary Burying Ground is Boston’s third-oldest cemetery.  It is the final resting place for Paul Revere, the five victims of the Boston Massacre which are buried near Samuel Adams (who used their deaths to ignite the Revolutionary movement), John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine.

Some interesting things our guide told us about Samuel Adams. He was a tax collector for a while but got arrested for not having people pay their taxes.  He never owned a horse  He liked to walk, and said he knew everything going on in Boston because he walked everywhere and was not on a horse.

Our guide said that there were 2345 headstones here, but almost 10,000 are buried.  Only the rich had the headstones.  Paul Revere didn’t have a fancy headstone until after the civil war the poem about Paul Revere became popular and so next to his small headstone, they added a large headstone. You can see his small headstone with the flag next to it, and the bigger one placed afterwards.

New State House

The new state house is still old by American standards, built in 1798.  The story I remember most being told was that the dome was originally built out of wood, but it wasn’t long before rainwater leaks became a persistent problem.  They were going to tear it down and not replace it.  Paul Revere had just come up with a new technique to roll copper into workable sheets.  He suggested they wrap the dome in copper.  They did and it saved the dome, but over time the copper aged and so they replaced it with gold.  1.5 million dollars’ worth of gold is on the dome.

Boston Commons

The Boston Commons was the first park in America (around 1634).  During the early era, the Common was a scene of public rallies, celebrations, ball playing, sledding, but it also served as a military training field, cow and sheep pasture, a public punishment site, and burial ground.  This location is also where witch hangings began (well before Salem).  There were also other hangings there.  A children’s playground is now built on top of that location.

For eight years the British redcoats camped and drilled on the Common. Today it has tree-lined walks, statues, plaques and fountains.  We walked through the park later in the week in the late evening and caught parts of a Shakespeare play in the park. 

Boston Harbor Cruise

After a lot of walking, we took a Boston Harbor Cruise.  This is the first time we have taken advantage of Go City Cards.  There are many big cities that utilize them.  They cost quite a bit, but we saved a lot, and did more things than we would normally do.  This was one of those things we probably wouldn’t have spent money on.  But it was nice to get off our feet, and it was fun to still learn the history of Boston while cruising the harbor

USS Constitution

USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is the world’s oldest ship still afloat.  She was launched in 1797. The name “Constitution” was among ten names submitted to President George Washington by Secretary of War Timothy. 

Constitution is most noted for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships.  She circled the world in the 1840s. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. Constitution was retired from active service in 1881.  In 1934, she completed a three-year, 90-port tour of the nation. She sailed under her own power for her 200th birthday in 1997, and again in August 2012 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her victory over Guerriere. It was amazing to walk through a ship with that much history.

Bunker Hill Monument

The Bunker Hill Monument is walking distance from the USS Constitution.  The battle was a tactical victory for the British, but it proved to be a sobering experience for them; they incurred many more casualties than the Americans. The battle had demonstrated that inexperienced militia were able to stand up to regular army troops in battle.  A British General was recorded as saying, ‘with victories like this one we will surely lose the war.’

You can go up inside the monument and climb 294 steps to the top.  The day we were there it was too hot, and the monument was shut down.  Boston would be more fun to visit in the Fall.  This happened a couple times on our trip, where places were closed because of the heat.

• 

Walking back to the bus stop we passed beautiful old homes.

Day 1 Boston – July 25, 2023

Wow, it’s been a while since I started this blog. Our oldest children are grown up, and our youngest are just getting ready to graduate. Because they were so young, they don’t remember this trip as well as their older siblings. It would have been impossible to duplicate. But we decided before they graduated, maybe we could add one more stop that we never fit in back then. We took them back to Boston for a couple of days. It was so amazing! So the next couple days are what I would have inserted in the trip between Waterloo, NY and New York City (between Day 22 and 23) in our trip back in 2012.

Yale, Hartford Connecticut

We caught a plane in Salt Lake City at 11:35 pm on July 24.  It had us landing 6 am in New Jersey.  So the only sleep we all got was what little we could get on the plane.  We started the day up and running. 

A view of NY City as we headed to Connecticut.

We rented a car and drove from Newark, New Jersey to New Haven, Connecticut where we visited Yale’s campus.  The campus is absolutely beautiful.  They give free tours, but we were running late and just stopped and asked a tour guide what the best buildings were to visit.  The tour guide was super great and pulled out a map to show us the best places to visit on campus if we like old things. 

He suggested we visit Harkness Tower

and the Old Campus (although that part was under some construction, so we could only see a bit of it). 

The guide told us the Art Gallery and the Sterling Memorial Library were free to visit. They were both worth the stop. The Library was absolutely beautiful!

But my favorite building was by far the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the literary archive and special collections of Yales.  It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts.  Here we saw one of the first printings of the Declaration of Independence and a copy of the Gutenberg Bible dating about 1454.  I loved this library!

All of the libraries we visited had free entrance and were worth a visit. 

The guide told us if we like old things, we’d want to walk or drive down Hillshouse Avenue. We drove down Hillhouse Avenue which according to both Mark Twain AND Charles Dickens … is a walk down the most beautiful street in America. It’s a tree-lined avenue, located in the heart of campus with 19th-century mansions-turned-Yale-buildings and classroom spaces.

Hartford, Connecticut

Next stop Mark Twain’s home.  According to the guide at the time Mark Twain lived in this home he had built, Hartford Connecticut was the wealthiest city per capita in the United States.  And his neighborhood (Nook Farm) was the wealthiest neighborhood in the U.S.  If I remember correctly, some famous artists that lived in this community: the Governor, US Senators, newspaper publishers, a noted Civil War general, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Augustus D. Julliard.

In this home Mark wrote the Adventures of Huck Finn and Life on the Mississippi.  We weren’t allowed to take photos inside.  Louis Comfort Tiffany was an artist that painted inside the home (later future owner of Tiffany’s).  Many different cultures and styles from around the world are represented in the décor.  New technologies were also found in the home like gravity flow heat systems, flushing toilets and a telephone.

Boston Massachusetts Temple

After Mark Twain’s home we drove to Boston to go to the temple.  Hannah and I went to an endowment session.  We tried to get a reservation for Ben and Mike to do baptisms, but I thought the lack of a time slot, meant they were full.  We hoped that Ben could walk in, and they could fit him in.  Instead, the baptistry was closed and no one was there.  But when they heard that Ben had come for baptisms, they opened up the baptismal font and let them do baptisms.  They were so nice.  It’s a small temple with limited hours.  But it was very beautiful, and it was wonderful to be there.

US History and LDS Church History Trip…and links to each days blog

This is a National Cemetery were many soldiers are buried from the Battle of Antietam.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We visited 218 US History and LDS Church History sites in 47 days.  (That included visiting 54 different cities). Each day is blogged with information about places we visited, maps, photos and highlights of the day.

If you would like more information if you are planning a trip, you can email me at priceless6191@gmail.com.  I kept very detailed records including: budgets, trip plans, and calenders for the trip showing our day by day progress.  I also have tons of brochures and maps for specific places, although I did try to scan the most important details I have onto each blog page.  Below is listed each city we visited, and what we did there.  Click on a city and start exploring.

I made this blog because I realized I would have appreciated a site with more specific information.  I hope this is beneficial to anyone who wants to take a history trip.  It was our families dream trip, and we still refer to it often.

Here is a PDF with a summary of our trip. (If you would like an editable version, I have the spreadsheet version also.)
Trip Itinerary

** Just a side note as you look around the site…no my kids names are not Bazooka, Starburst, Jawbreaker etc…our kids just picked nicknames so they could have some privacy.  Have fun looking!!!!

Alcova, WY
Devils Gate, Church, Trek, Independence Rock

Custer, WY
Custer County Museum, City 4th of July

Crazy Horse, SD

Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore 4th July Celebrations

Rapid City, SD
Dinosaur Park, Storybook Park

Wall, SD
Wall Drug

Omaha, NE
Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Winters Quarters Temple (E,B), Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Glenn Cunningham Lake, Pioneer Courage Park

Council Bluffs, Iowa
Kanesville Tabernacle

Nauvoo, IL
Play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, Women’s Garden, Riser Boot Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy M Smith Home, Brickyard, Heber Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s homes, Movie “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”, Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, Smith Family Cemetery, Trail of Hope, Youth of Zion, Play “Old Anna Amanda” 2xs, Nauvoo Pageant 2xs, Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Nauvoo Temple (B,E), Frontier Fair 2xs, Play “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”, Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Lands and Records Office, King Follet Discourse, Emma and Josephs Letters Vignette

Carthage, IL
Carthage Jail

Macomb, IL
Dinner with Steve -Guadalupes Restaurant

Petersburg, IL
Lincolns New Salem (camped there)

Springfield, IL
Springfield Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home, Lincolns-Herndon Law Office, Old Capital, Lincoln Library, Lincoln Presidential Museum

Chicago, IL
Chicago Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Chicago Temple (B,E)

Gary, IN
Just for Gas and Photos

Kirtland OH
Kirtland Ward, Ashery, Isaac Morley Farm, Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney Home, Sawmill, Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple RLDS

Parma, OH
Brian and Camilla’s Home

Hiram, OH
John Johnson’s Home

Middlefield, OH
Amish Country, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught)

Kenmore, NY
Mags home, Keeners, Lindbergh Elementary, Pam’s Home

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls, Cave of Winds

Buffalo, NY(2 sites or events)
Downtown Buffalo, Duffs Chicken Wings

Mendon, NY
Home built by Brigham, Early Meeting Home, Phineas Young’s Home, John Young’s Home, Tom Tomlinson Inn, Heber Kimballs home site, Camped at John Young’s Home, Site of Brigham Young’s Mill and Home, Baptismal Site, Tomlinsons Cemetery

Palmyra, NY
Palmyra Visitors Center, Palmyra Temple (B,E), Palmyra Pageant, Sacred Grove, Smith’s Log Cabin and Frame House Alvin built, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s Home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)

Waterloo, NY
Peter Whitmer home

Oakland, PA
Aaronic Priesthood Monument, Joseph and Emma’s Home Site, Grave of Emmas parents and son Alvin Smith, Susquehanna River

Jersey City, NJ 
Liberty Harbor

New York, NY
PATH Rail System, Site World Trade Center, 911 Memorial and Museum, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, China Town, Little Italy, Noho, Washington Square Park, New York University, Empire State Building, Garment District, Bryant Park, Time’s Square, Theatre District, NBC Studios, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, New York City LDS Temple, Madison Square Gardens

Philadelphia, PA
Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, Liberty Bell Center”

Hershey, PA
Hershey Amusement Park

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg National Park

WashingtonDC
Washington DC Temple (B,E), IKEA, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Walking Tour, Arlington Cemetery, United States Capital Building, a Session of Congress, a Session of the House of Representatives, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, White House, Holocaust Museum, Nationals Game

Alexandria, Virginia
Mount Vernon

Centreville, VA
Bull Run Regional Park (Camping), visit with Tamara and family, Atlantis Water Park

Manassas, VA
Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas)

Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry

Sharpsburg, MD
Antietem Battle Field

Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, VA Pier and Chick-fil-A

Chantilly, VA
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Annex

Middletown, VA
Cedar Creek Battlefield (2nd Manassas Battle Reenactment)

Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, University of Virginia

Buena Vista, VA
Southern Virginia University

St Louis, MO
St Louis Temple (B,E), St Louis Arch and Musuem, Old Court House (Dred Scott Case), Outside Busch Stadium, Feet in the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Cottleville, MO
Joel and Christy’s Home

Independence, MO
LDS Visitor’s Center, Harry Truman Presidential Library, Missouri Mormon Walking Tour (things we saw on the tour: Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Jackson County Courthouse, 1827 Log Courthouse, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, Church of Christ Temple Lot, Community of Christ Temple, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Printing Office Site (Evening and Morning Star), Governor Boggs Home Site, and Partridge Home Site and School) , Campus RV Park (next door to the LDS Visitors Center), Vaile Mansion

Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Temple (B)

Liberty, MO
Liberty Jail, Eight Witnesses Monument

Richmond, MO
David Whitmer’s Grave, David Whitmer’s Livery site (marked by with a plaque), Old Richmond Jail Location, Statue of General Alexander W. Doniphan, Pioneer Cemetery (Monument for the Three Witnesses, Grave for Oliver Cowdery, Peter Jr. and Jacob Whitmer’s Graves)

Farwest, MO
Far West Temple Site

Jamesport, MO
Amish Country, Amish Baseball Game, and Shopping

Jameson, MO
Adam-ondi-Ahman , Jameson Town Fair and Parade

Doniphan, NE
Mormon Island

McKinnon, WY
Little America

Boston, MA
11 years later we went back to add Boston to our list or US/church history travels. Here is a link to the beginning of that trip. Yale, Scarburough and Prospect Ave in Hartford, CT, Mark Twain’s Home, Boston Temple, Boston Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Boston Latin School Site, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, New State House, Boston Commons, Harbor Cruise, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Home, Old South Meeting House, Union Oyster House, Omni Parker House, Cheers, Prudential Tower Observation Deck, Trinity Church of Boston, Old South Church

Other Valuable Links:
Mormon Pioneer Trail Auto Tour Route Guide
mormontrails.org

Our Families Favorite LDS Historic Sites

You can’t really rank any church or US historical sites, because all of it was amazing!  But since most people don’t have 47 days we thought we’d have our kids rank what they would say were the sites that were a must see.  Our kids were told if they could only visit 3 of the church sites we went to, what would they choose.  So here their choices….some of them surprised me a little…

Jawbreaker (male teenager)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martins Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Spitz (male teenager)
1st Nauvoo Temple, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Martins Cove

Warhead (male teenager)
1st Martin’s Cove, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Palmyra

Bazooka (male pre-teen)
1st Martin’s Cove, 2nd Nauvoo, 3rd Palmyra

Starburst (female 7yrs old)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martin’s Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Fireball (male 6 yrs old)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Martin’s Cove, 3rd Palmyra

Mr. S (adult male)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Palmyra, 3rd Kirtland

Mrs. S (adult female)
1st Nauvoo, 2nd Adam-ondi-Ahman, 3rd Palmyra or Martin’s Cove

Favorite thing about Nauvoo:
Jawbreaker: Nauvoo Temple
Spitz: the Nauvoo Pageant and the people
Warhead : the missionaries
Bazooka: the play “Sunset on the Mississippi”
Starburst: the play “High Hopes and Riverboats”
Fireball: the play “Just Plain Anna Amanda”
Mr. and Mrs. S: Celestial Room in the Nauvoo Temple, the Pageant

Favorite thing about Palmyra:
Jawbreaker: Palmyra Temple
Spitz: Palmyra Pageant
Warhead: Palmyra Pageant
Bazooka: Sacred Grove
Starburst: Palmyra Pageant
Fireball: Palmyra Pageant
Mr. S: Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove
Mrs. S: Palmyra Temple, Sacred Grove, Pageant

Favorite LDS Site in Missouri:
Jawbreaker: Kansas City Temple
Spitz: Kansas City Temple
Warhead : Kansas City Temple
Bazooka: Adam-ondi-Ahman
Starburst: St Louis and Kansas City Temple
Fireball: Liberty Jail
Mr. S: Kansas City Temple
Mrs. S: Adam-ondi-Ahman

Our Families Favorite National Historic Sites

You can’t really rank any church or US historical sites, because all of it was amazing!  But since most people don’t have 47 days we thought we’d have our kids rank what they would say were the sites that were a must see.  Our kids were told if they could only visit 3 of the church sites we went to, what would they choose.  So here their choices….some of them surprised me a little…

Jawbreaker (male teenager)
1^st Washington DC,
2^nd Gettysburg,
3^rd Second Manassas Battle Reenactment or Philadelphia

Spitz (male teenager)
1^st Harpers Ferry
2^nd Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
3^rd Nationals Game

Warhead (male teenager)
1^st Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
2^nd Spy Museum
3^rd Hershey Park

Bazooka (male pre-teen)
1^st Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
2^nd Smithsonian Natural History Museum
3^rd Hershey Park

Starburst (female 7yrs old)
1^st Hershey Park
2^nd Mount Rushmore
3^rd Grants Farm

Fireball (male 6 yrs old)
1st Atlantis Water Park
2^nd Grants Farm
3^rd Hershey Park

Mr. S (adult male)
1^st Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
2^nd Baseball Games
3^rd Washington DC

Mrs. S (adult female)
1^st Gettysburg
2^nd Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
3^rd Philadelphia or Washington DC

Our favorite experience in WashingtonDC
Jawbreaker: Can’t choose, loved it all
Spitz: American History Museum, Spy Museum, Nationals Game
Bazooka: Natural History Museum, and the Nationals Game
Warhead: Spy Museum, Arlington and Chick-fil-A
Starburst: Spy Museum and the White House
Fireball: Seeing my cousin Daniel
Mr. S: Washington DC Temple and the Nationals Game
Mrs. S: Being with cousins, Washington DC Temple, Mount Vernon, and Holocaust Museum

Our favorite Civil War battle experiences:
Hands down the battle reenactment was EVERYONE’S favorite.  No one even had to blink to say that.  But we will rate what everyone thought about the battle fields we visited, the little kids can’t remember anything past today, they just keep telling us how phenomenal the battles have been the last two days.
Jawbreaker: All of them
Spitz: Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry
Warhead: Gettysburg
Bazooka: Antietam
Mr. S: Gettysburg
Mrs. S: Gettysburg and Manassas

Favorite thing we did Philadelphia:
Jawbreaker:  Independence Hall
Spitz:  City Tavern and Liberty Bell
Warhead:  City Tavern (restaurant)
Bazooka:  City Tavern and Military Museum
Starburst:  Independence Visitors Center and the collectors cards
Fireball:  City Tavern
Mr. and Mrs. S: Independence Hall

Our favorite St Louis experiences:
Jawbreaker: Cardinal’s Game
Spitz:  Cardinal’s Game
Warhead: Arch and Grant’s Farm
Bazooka: Arch and Cardinal’s Game
Starburst:  Grant’s Farm
Fireball:  Grant’s Farm
Mr. S:  Cardinal’s Game
Mrs. S:  Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park, and Grant’s Farm