Yesterday we drove to Quincy, MA to see the Adams National Historical Park, which was one of the top things on my list to do. We took the 2 hour tour which included the nation's two oldest presidential birthplaces, which stand on their original foundations, as well as the Old House at Peace Field and the Stone Library. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures inside the homes. The tour was AAA+ excellent! If you ever get the chance to go there, be sure to do it! I am definitely going to watch the HBO movie "John Adams" again when we get home and read the book that I have.
These first 5 pictures were taken with my iPhone.
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| Birthplace of John Quincy Adams (6th president). |
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| Birthplace of John Adams (2nd president) and where he grew up. |
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| Stone Library built to hold the Adams' family extensive book collection. |
BTW, the floor of the library is Italian (I think) tile in the Ohio star pattern. One square has a deliberate mistake right near the door going into the library. One of the flying geese of one star is backward.
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| The Old House where John and Abigail Adams retired to. |
After the tour, we drove into downtown Boston to walk on the Freedom Trail, but it was a logistic nightmare and even our GPS couldn't get us to the right location, let alone find the parking area. There were some special events going on, including a bicycle race, and that, combined with street signs lacking, made it impossible, so we had to leave.
We decided to make a stop in Lowell, MA to go to the New England Quilt Museum. Again, no pictures were allowed to be taken, which was a big disappointment. There were some amazing quilt, including a Dear Jane quilt, a quilt by Barbara Brackman, one by Carol Doak, and some lovely antique quilts.
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| New England Quilt Museum |
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| Our truck parked on the stone cobbled street with the museum in the background. |
We were exhausted by the time we got back to the camper around 4:30 PM. We had tried to figure out how to get downtown on a bus or subway, but came to the conclusion that the buses didn't run very often on Saturday, etc. etc. We are used to driving places and really like that we can go when we want to and not have to wait for a bus or subway. Even though we missed the Freedom Trail, I was pretty happy with our day. We're not finished with Massachusetts yet, so after a travel day, we will see more sites!
Oh how exciting! I would LOVE to visit all those places some day...
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you couldn't get to all the places you wanted to, and especially that you weren't allowed to take pictures of the quilts! But don't fret! You are still having the trip of a lifetime, and I'm sure you agree! ---"Love"
ReplyDeleteI've been lucky enough to travel all over the world, but I've never made it to the East Coast. What an amazing trip you are having and thanks so much for sharing! I'm loving the opportunity to see all the sites through your eyes! You are adding to my bucket list of sites to see when I make it there myself someday.
ReplyDeleteHow very fun!!! Did you visit the quilt museum? sounds interesting!!
ReplyDeleteHappy travels!
Sounds like a wonderful place to visit, especially for those of us who like history of that period. We went into Rutherford B Hayes home on Friday, they have made a major restoration on the first floor to put back to the way it was when Pres. Hayes and Lucy lived there. Every chair, every picture in their proper place. I will post about it later, but like you, no pictures of the inside.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing these pictures - so interesting.
ReplyDeleteLillian
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How cool. DH read the Adams book. He really enjoyed it. Sure would love seeing those homes and the library. I really wish that instaed of memorizing dates in history class that we had studied the people more and how they lived at that time in history. I have learned way more about history while reading about people.
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