On Walden Pond
Saturday I decided that I wanted to go on a day trip to Newburyport, MA. The weather was gorgeous and we hadn't had a day trip in a long time. I had read about Newburyport in Yankee Magazine and the more I googled it, the more interesting it sounded. I mean after reading this ... "If a postcard-pretty New England seaport with clean beaches nearby, stately Federalist-style homes, a lively downtown, and sunset cruises sounds about right, Newburyport may be what you're looking for." ... I was ready to go!
Newburyport is about 2 1/2 hours away ... north of Boston. Should we hit traffic, it would be even longer. My sweet husband, who likes to eat lunch at 11:00, just wouldn't be able to make the trip unless we left really early. (I have learned this over the course of many day trips). I don't like to get up at the crack of dawn and feel rushed in the morning. I'm a slow mover. (He has learned this over the course of many day trips.) So the best thing to do was to find a place along the way to have lunch.
Looking at the map, Concord looked like a good place to stop. As I googled places to stop and eat in Concord, I discovered it was the home to ALL SORTS OF THINGS. It was a destination spot in and of itself. Walden Pond, Thoreau's House, North Bridge, Minute Man National Park, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Louisa May Alcott's house, Ralph Waldo Emerson's House, and TONS of historical revolutionary sites ... like The Old Manse and Paul Revere's trail.
Now I had two destination spots in mind. So, we decided to go ahead and leave early, see some of Concord, have lunch at The Colonial Inn and go up to Newburyport. Out first stop was Walden Pond and we were both astonished at how GORGEOUS and CLEAR it was. It was a pond as God created it before we came in and starting messing nature up. The water looked like a white sandy beach ocean ... the colors went from clear to light to darker to deep blue like you see in Caribbean photos. Turquoise water so clear you could see the fish swimming. So many times I wished my sister-in-law was there. She could capture the beauty in photos so much better than I can. But her are a few photos I took.
There is a trail that goes all the way around the pond. We walked the trail as not to miss one aspect of this gorgeous place. There were rocky places, sandy beach places, kayaks, swimmers, canoes, readers, fisherman ... really an amazing place. Had we known, we would have packed a lunch and stayed there the afternoon.
Do you see the rocks? Can you tell how clear it is? About every 5 minutes David would say "I can't believe how clear it is! .... I know I've already said it, but it's SO CLEAR!"
Can you see the two beaches on the far side? There were lifeguards, beach umbrellas, coolers, kids running around everywhere. A mini beach paradise for people of Concord, MA. And there was barely a cloud in the sky all day. In the 80's .... just gorgeous. A Top 10 weekend for sure!
I know this looks like I photoshopped it a different color, but that was the magic of this pond. As you walked around it was different colors. And on one side in particular it was clear to bright blue in a gradient so gorgeous. I didn't do anything to this photo. Just out of the camera ... I wish you could see the gradient a little better, but you get the idea. Just stunning!
This was a really cool mushroom we saw on the path. I have never seen one like this before.
There was a real running track on the other side. We heard the train but were too far from it to get as photo when it came through.
We saw the site of Thoreau's house. Very small. I one room house and a wood shed out back.
David took this one. The pillars show where the house was. Very small.
There was a statue and a replica of the house in another part of the park:
We had a great time there and would both go back in a heartbeat. I know David was dying to jump in ... if we had known and he brought his suit, I might not have been able to get him out until closing time. Nancy, we thought if you a lot. You would have loved it!
After walking the trail and discussing how we would LOVE to come back early to get a prime spot, we went for lunch in town. We went to the Colonial Inn. We ate at The Liberty Restaurant. David had a burger and I had lobster sliders (which were so amazing, I had to share) with truffle fries. We got to sit out on the front porch and watch the people and cars go by. It's a really nice town. Clean, beautiful, quaint... It definitely was "postcard-pretty New England with stately Federalist-style homes and a lively downtown."
There was so much to see and I have a feeling we will be back there, so we decided to just see one more thing: The North Bridge. I wished my dad and brother would have been there ... all the history. I'm ashamed to say, I'm not a big history buff, so I was learning as we went through the park. When we first parked and walked up, there was a house on the hill. It was a house originally built by one of Concord’s freed slaves, Caesar Robbins in about 1780. A guy came out and asked us if we wanted a tour, so we went in and had a personal tour of the house. I think he said there were 13 kids living in the house at the time plus the adults ... it was a TINY house for that many people!
Then we walked across the street to The North Bridge. If you aren't familiar, the North Bridge is a site in the Battle of Concord, the first day of battle in the American War of Independence. The current wooden pedestrian bridge is a replica of the one that stood at the day of the battle.
David took these of the Minute Man statue. Click here for some information on this monument.
We headed off the Plum Island and Newburyport. I didn't get any photos ..... huge disappointment. There was definitely a bustling downtown of shops and restaurants, but that's it. The beach wasn't very nice. We never found the lighthouse. We walked around. Got David an ice cream cone and me a latte and headed back home. I wished we had just stayed in Concord. It was not the ... "postcard-pretty New England seaport with clean beaches, stately Federalist-style homes, I'd been looking for."
We will be back to Concord for sure. One of my favorites places in New England now!
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