2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 48 – History and Another Bucket List

Monday, August 21, 2023

This morning we left our Harvest Host spot for the night and headed to Concord, MA to the North Bridge Visitor Center.  It is the location of the Minute Man National Historical Park.  We were there before they opened so we walked to the North Bridge where the “shot heard round the world” was fired.  According to the park service it was the first time the colonists fired against and killed Red Coats.  The Red Coats fired against and killed some of the colonists earlier in the day at Lexington.  The park has two very good movies to help everyone refresh their memory of the Revolutionary War, one at the North Bridge Visitors Center and the other at the Minute Man Visitor Center.  We of course got our NPS passport stamped at both locations.  The park is very well maintained and the trails are easy to walk.  If you walk them all you will do about 15 miles of walking so we didn’t take the time to do that today but the Boston area could be an area we return to and stay several days.  There is so much history in the area.

Next we drove about an hour to Plymouth, MA.  Traffic was pretty heavy every where we were for the remainder of the day.  Of course, in Plymouth we had to go take a picture of Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower.  Yes, we know that the exact location of the landing is not known and is disputed but we think that commemorating the bravery of the people who made that journey and made a new home in what became the USA is appropriate, wherever the exact location might be.  The marina and surrounding area in Plymouth is beautiful.  There are some great boats in that harbor as well as some beautiful homes in the area.

The last leg of today’s journey took us to Cape Cod – another bucket list location.  Again, the beauty of the various marinas and boats in the different harbors was very impressive, along with just driving along the coastline.  There are some gorgeous homes on the Cape too.  We stopped and celebrated our 41^st anniversary at a recommended restaurant, the Skipper Chowder House, on the Cape.  The food was excellent and after dinner we celebrated Donna and Barry’s anniversary by having a big ice cream sundae. Happy Anniversary, Barry and Donna!  We love y’all.  Yes, two of our very best friends who are also our cousins, have the same Anniversary day as us, just different years.  Today was a wonderful day.  We thank God for blessing us with life together.