Day 3 – Monday, October 9, 2006
It was only an hour’s drive to Walden’s Pond. Once off the Interstate we could not
find the Route number when we came to a crossroads. After driving a bit and not seeing a road sign we turned
around and went the other direction.
I spotted a sign, “Concord Road”, and since that’s the direction we wanted
we decided to follow it. After
half an hour we came to a road that we should not have come to, according to the map,
but at least we knew where we were.
We took a right and within a few blocks we found the Route we had been
looking for and were soon at Walden’s Pond just a mile down the road. We were out on the path walking along
the Pond by 9:15. I cannot do it
justice so I will not try to describe the serenity of the Pond (you must read
Thoreau's account). There were
not very many people there yet, so it was not hard to imagine being in
Thoreau’s time as we walked near the water’s edge along the path that was
fenced in on both sides to protect the vegetation. We could see a small electric-powered boat in the middle of
the pond with a fellow at one end of a fishing pole....
Every so often we’d come upon stone steps leading down to
the water’s edge. At the bottom of the step you could see the bottom of the Pond several feet down....
When we got to the spot
where Thoreau’s cabin had been we discovered a pile of rocks with a sign
explaining that generations of people had added stones to mark their
visit....
We walked down to the water’s edge and sat on a tree’s
outgrown roots and contemplated the serenity for quite awhile....
The sun was sending sparkles across the
lake that stirred my imagination.
I noted that it looked like fairies coming ashore for lunch....
We continued on around the lake
stopping from time to time to view the Pond from its different vistas. In this photo that's not the sky, it's the bottom of the Pond....
I let my imagination run wild and imagined this to be the entrance to a fairy house....
Finally, as we neared the end of the
circuit Ken decided he had to put his feet in the pond. We’d already seen some people swimming
in the pond. At it's deepest the pond is 103 feet
deep—a “kettle pond”—and quite cold because of it....
By now it was starting to get crowded—it was Columbus
Day and Walden Pond is a popular recreational destination. After a visit to the gift shop we drove
into Concord—just a couple miles up the road and found a small French
bakery/cafe to have lunch. HERE is more information on Walden's Pond.
We decided not to return to the Pond because of the crowds
so we elected to tour Orchard House, Louisa May Alcott’s house in Concord, rather than waiting until Tuesday as I’d planned. It was an interesting tour of her
house—listening to the guide tell anecdotes from the family’s life and viewing
the rooms where so much of Little Women
had “taken place.” To stand in her
bedroom where she wrote her story was stirring....
We were also shown the School of Philosophy that her father, Bronson Alcott, had built on the property....
This little girl, in period dress, sat under this tree the whole time we were there....
At the
gift shop I bought a copy of Louisa May Alcott's first book, published when she was 22, Flower Fables, with her father’s
help. I told the clerk that Louisa and I, as well as Louisa's father, all shared the same birthday. I asked if that got me a discount. Alas, no. Anyway, Louisa wrote the stories
for her friend Ellen Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughter, who had asked her
to write down the stories she would tell about the fairies that lived in the
woods of Walden Pond. Thoreau
would take the Emerson and Alcott children on nature walks and spoke of the
woods as Fairyland. This brought
to mind my remark earlier in the day as I sat by the Pond declaring that the
fairies were coming ashore for lunch!
More on Orchard House can be found HERE.
We went back to the little cafe for coffee and pastries
while we decided what to do next.
I wondered if the Emerson house might be open even though
their website said they were closed on Mondays since the brochure I’d picked up earlier in the day said they were open on
holidays. This being Columbus Day we gathered up our things and headed back
to Lexington Street. The Emersons
lived just up the street from the Alcotts. It was open! So
we took that tour and found it most interesting....
The connection between Thoreau, the Alcotts, and Emerson was
getting clearer. It must have been
an exciting place to be in the 1850’s and 60’s and 70’s! More about Emerson can be found HERE.
We also toured the Concord Museum across the street where
they had artifacts from Thoreau and Emerson as well as the lantern immortalized
by Longfellow’s poem Paul Revere’s Ride. A reproduction of Emerson's library can be seen HERE at Concord Museum.
It was now almost 5:00 and we had dinner reservations at The
Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA at 7:00 where we were spending the night. This was the Inn that was immortalized
by Longfellow’s poem Tales of the Wayside
Inn. We were now about to make
another connection between our day’s visit of the various houses and museum by
bringing Longfellow into the picture.
But first, we had to stop in at Walden’s Pond because we decided we wanted to add our own stones to the
pile. I later discovered that Walt Whitman had put a stone on the pile during his 1881 visit.
We arrived just after 5:00 and made the short walk to the house site, this time through the woods from the road. Along the way a fellow in walking gear, noticing we looked lost, offered to show us the best way to our destination. He said he'd been driving past the Pond for years on his way home from work when one day he decided to stop. He's been walking around the Pond every day after work for several years now. When we got our bearings we parted his company and proceeded to the house site, set our stones....
....and headed back along the path by the Pond....
All the good stone steps had been taken by others—some who
were going in for a swim, others sitting with notebook in hand so I dipped my foot at the beach....
....and then we
were on our way to The Wayside Inn....
We carried in our luggage to Room #1 and dressed for
dinner. Ken went on ahead to the
Old Bar Room to have “America’s first cocktail”-- a Coow Woow which was three
parts Rum and one part Ginger Brandy....
Every room in the Inn was quaint.
We ate by candlelight. Ken
had lobster pie and I had a traditional Yankee Pot Roast with mashed potatoes
and Baked Indian Pudding for dessert. This is the dining room by daylight....
This mural was painted in the hallway....
Back in the room Ken was looking for the extra pillows and came upon the
Secret Drawer Society! The top
drawer of the dresser was filled with letters dating back to 1986 from guests
who had stayed in Room #1. Most
wrote about their surprise at finding the drawer, told about their reasons for
being there, and even expressed feelings about various things. One gentleman wrote about how much he
loved his wife. A young woman
wrote about her love for her boyfriend but didn’t feel she’d told him just how
much she did love him. She hoped
to marry him and left a blank area at the bottom of the note to be continued
upon her return as his wife, which after 5 years had not be written upon. I only got through about two dozen
letters by the next morning before we had to be on our way again. Ken had already fallen asleep by the
time I set the letters aside. As I
climbed into the four-poster bed (it came with a step stool) I heard male voices
coming up through the floor grate by my side of the bed. I heard them talking about the
Yankees—no doubt discussing their loss and subsequent elimination from the
World Series contention. However,
the next morning as I read more letters I discovered several that spoke of a
ghost named Jerusha who was rumored to have visited the room. Maybe it wasn’t those Yankees the pair were discussing after all!! Ken and I both took a few minutes to
write our missives for the SDS.
This is what he wrote:
I have walked
on the shores of Walden Pond and splashed
my feet in it's
cool clear water. I have visited with
Alcott,
Emerson, and Thoreau and tonight will sleep in
Longfellow's
Wayside Inn.
Simplify,
Simplify -- H. D. Thoreau
Today I stand
on Concord's North Bridge
Where British
and Colonial stood on opposite ridge
For Liberty,
Peace the Colonials Stood
And shed their
blood on this ancient wood
They willed us
Freedom and liberty
And paid the
price - It is not free.
This is what I wrote:
If
by chance we shall meet again
I
will leave my note for all to find
I've
come to see--to search--begin
A
new life from all I've left behind.
My
children grown--all fine young men
No
longer need my care and nurture
I've
come to be inspired and then
Perhaps
find what lies in my future.
Sparkles
on Walden Pond I saw
Like
fairies coming ashore for lunch--
I
was amazed, and stared in awe--
Looking
for berries, I had a hunch.
And
then the S.D.S. to find
And
read the musings of so many--
The
kindred spirits and like
kind....................................................
To
live a purposeful life one must live life on purpose.
You can read about the history of The Wayside Inn HERE.
It was a magical day in many ways. We were excited to see what new surprises--good ones like today's--lay ahead for us.
