10/5-10/9: Massachusetts

Massachusetts was a state full of siteseeing! I don't think we have done so much driving and back to back touring in all of our trip!! I (Nicole) had lived there when I was younger, so it was a time of re-visiting many of my favorite locations as well as new exploration for Alyssa.

Our first stop was New Bedford! Back in the days of whaling, this city was the hub of the industry. It was also a key location on the Underground Railroad because of the busy port that was just north of the south/north divide. We had incredible conversations with the park rangers that worked there! The chapel in Moby Dick was based off of the Seaman's Chapel in New Bedford. 

We loved our day exploring Cape Cod! Our first plan was to spend the day relaxing at the beach...but then we found out that there was a historic life-saving station at the tip of Cape Cod. So, naturally, we had to see that...and spent most of the day in the car instead of on the beach. ;) It was so interesting learning about the life-saving station which was the precursor to the creation of the coast guard. Men would keep watch for ships that were in distress. We also had multiple conversations with a park ranger and some visitors about our trip! We ended our day with a second time on the beach before the sun set, and it became too cold.

Lowell is filled with history. We watched an educational video about the time of the mill girls and took a trolley to a mill museum run by the National Parks Service. One of the park rangers helped explain the whole textile process of making fabric...and wow! It was more complicated than I remembered. She did an incredible job of making history understandable. And the noise of the machines, which was a small fraction of what was running then, was SO LOUD. I can't imagine working in that environment for 10+ hours a day. (Our Road Trip page is now "liked" by Lowell Historical Society because of a conversation with a park ranger!)

(I had no idea how many different phases of cloth making were housed in one building!!)

Lexington and Concord were places that I visited a lot as a kid with my mom and brother. I expected it to feel just as meaningful to me as an adult, but I had a harder time feeling moved by it this time around. Think I was simply tired since we did Lowell in the morning, and these sites in the afternoon.  We did watch an amazing multi-media presentation in Lexington that brought the context of that fateful day alive. Another cool part of the day was a talk done by a ranger. Between the ranger's talk and the multi-media presentation, we both grew in our understanding of the beginning of the Revolutionary War as well as the context around how it started.

*Lexington green

*People who buy these houses are required to keep the exterior paint the same way it was when the battle of Lexington occurred.

After a crazy day of seeing Lowell and Lexington/Concord, we met up with one of my childhood friends. We ran into a bit of traffic, so we were later than planned which made all of us hungry and tired by the time we got to the restaurant. However, we enjoyed our time together as well as some delicious BBQ pizza. I love how many people we have been able to reconnect with because of this trip.

At first we had wanted to see Plimouth Plantation where the pilgrims first settled, but then we scheduled other things and decided it was too expensive. However, by the middle of the week we were absolutely exhausted by all of the sightseeing we had done. Going into Boston, which was our current plan, sounded overwhelming and miserable. So we opted to bite the bullet and spend the money to go. Then our hosts blessed us in the most amazing way by providing us with a pass from their library that allowed us to buy two tickets for less than the price of one!!! What a blessing! This allowed us to sleep in and relax before heading out to the plantation. A highlight of our day was learning more about Plymouth Rock from a man who was passionate about history.

Our last day was actually a rather rough/trying day. We first stopped at Quincy where the John Adams and John Quincy Adams lived. There are 3 houses there, but in order to go on a tour you have to buy a ticket which you can only buy day of in person. Of course, we didn't know that you needed a ticket to go on the tour, so we missed out on that opportunity. The only thing that redeemed that time was watching an educational film about the Adams family!
Then we headed to Boston for a tour of the Freedom Trail. Parking and driving was...not our favorite. Our tour guide was unique and quirky. We learned some, but not as much as we would have wanted. We wished we would have done a tour through the National Parks Service instead. Next time...
While walking back to our car, the sky opened up and we were poured on!!! By the time we got back to our car we were soaking wet, even with an umbrella... We then spent the next 1.5 hours stuck in traffic, trying to go 6 miles. We finally made it to meet up with our friend and spent a lovely couple hours with her (another redeeming portion of the day!) before heading to New Hampshire. Phew! I'm tired even writing this out!