Last hurrahs - Lexington

And so begins a series of posts about all the things we meant to do and sites we meant to see while in Boston, but which we procrastinated doing and had to cram in at the very end.  First up, Lexington!  Lexington and Concord are always mentioned together, have so much history associated with them and are both beautiful places to visit.  However, it seems like we always had grand plans to start in Lexington and then move on to visiting Concord, but rarely made it that far.  So, I have visited Lexington more and am more familiar with it and that's why it merits a post, while we have nothing to post on Concord.  (If I remember correctly we didn't even make it to all the sites in Lexington on the same day and had to come back another afternoon to finish, so Concord never had a chance.)

Sophie in front of a rock marking the spot of the Old Belfry, where the alarm was rung to warn the town of the coming of the Redcoats on April 19, 1775

All the history in Lexington centers around the Town Green.  At one end is a statue of a minuteman and then clustered around and on the Green are various historical sites and memorials commemorating the "shot heard 'round the world."

This monument is one of the few that was erected around the same time as the Revolutionary War.  It commemorates the men of Lexington who died in that first battle, "the first Victims to the Sword of British Tyranny and Oppression."

It is very cool to be able to visit the exact location where the first people died fighting for our country.  It brought up all sorts of patriotic feelings in me and is just one of those places that all Americans should visit and pay homage to, imho.

Incorporated 1691.  That's 321 years ago!

I love old graveyards, they have so much character

Headstone of Samuel Stone, who died in 1769 when he was 85.  I'm just not buying the idea that people live longer now than they did back then.  Maybe it was just those hardy New Englanders who had such longevity...?

"These men gave everything dear in life, yea and life itself, in support of the common cause."  Oh to have something to unite our country today...

Marking the spot where the line of minutemen stood

Minuteman statue, meant to be Captain John Parker, leader of the colonists

View from Belfry Hill into downtown Lexington.

As a side note - earlier this year I went to the reenactment of the battle and here are a few pics of that.  For some reason, Loren didn't want to get up at an ungodly hour of the morning to join me.

 Colonists, with Buckman Tavern in the background

 Redcoats coming from the direction of Boston

 Battle!  The teenage girls next to me kept shrieking every time the guns discharged #annoying

 Buckman Tavern, where many of the minutemen waited out the night before the Redcoats arrived

Close-up of the minuteman statue

Next up:  Plymouth!