New England Adventure-Day 4

♫Claire de Lune♫

Day 4 – Tuesday, October 20, 2006

We departed the Wayside Inn for a return visit to Concord so I could have my picture taken at the front door of Orchard House.  

I took Ken's picture under the tree where the little girl had been the day before....

From there we drove over to the North Bridge about a mile away.  This is where the Revolutionary War is said to have begun on April 19, 1775.  This is the monument for the "shot heard round the world"....

In view of the bridge was The Old Manse.  It is said Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grandfather, William, watched the Minute Men fending off the British from this house.  Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in this house for a time, and later Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "Mosses from an Old Manse" while living there.  You can read more about the house HERE.

Then it was on to Amherst, MA along Route 2, known as the Mohawk Trail.  It began as a footpath made by the Indians and eventually became a major road for the colonialists from Boston to points West.  It was a beautiful day for a drive through the woods of central Massachusetts.  As we left the Mohawk Trail to head south to Amherst we drove through Historic Deerfield Village.  It is what is called a living history museum because it is a community in which people still live.  Sixteen houses have been preserved as museums.  We didn't have enough time to fully tour the Village (there is an admission price), so we merely drove through the Village to get a feel for it.  In the midst were three schools, one of which, the Deerfield Academy, appeared to be quite exclusive as the limousine out front attested to.

We arrived at the Amherst Inn--a B&B--by 3:00....

It was run by a woman who had a second B&B just down the road so we had to stop in there so she could let us in.  We had the huge house to ourselves for an hour before her brother-in-law arrived to be our host for the evening.  The other guests did not arrive until much later.  Our room was on the second floor in the turret of the 1850’s house....

It overlooked the street where I could see Emily Dickinson’s house across the way....

Ken laid down on the daybed in the room and was soon asleep.  I was too excited to sleep, so I explored the house—there were six large bedrooms on the second floor.  The house had been meticulously restored and furnished with Victorian furniture.  Downstairs there was another bedroom, parlor, huge foyer, dining room and the kitchen.  There was also a back stairway in addition to the main, grand one.  Then I crossed the street to walk around the grounds of the Emily Dickinson House.  When I’d planned our trip I did not realize that the House and Museum was not open on Tuesdays and did not open until 1:00 on Wednesdays.  Since I knew we would not stay to see it I wanted to get a feel for what Emily experienced out of doors at least.  HERE is a website with photos of Emily’s house, which has since been painted yellow.  This is a side view of the house....

About 5:00 we walked the two blocks to the center of town.  Amherst is a college down and it was evident by the number of young people we saw.  We went in search of a bookstore since we would not be able to tour the house for ourselves.  We found a wonderful selection of Emily Dickinson books where I bought a book on the life of Emily Dickinson.  Back in the room we spent the evening reading.