ON VACATION: DAY 8

Concord and Lexington are famous for the April 19, 1775 battles which began with "the shot heard round the world" (the very same which sent Paul Revere, William Dawes, and others into Boston's neighboring towns and countryside the previous night with the warning that the British were coming).

This, to me, has always seemed a special--even sacred--place, where men and women stood and fought in whatever way necessary and available to take a stand for what they held most dear.

Concord also just happens to be home of "The Cheese Shop," one of the most beloved and well-known stops for any of us who come to visit. This trip did not disappoint! Merrit ordered some hot and spicy cream cheese dip and a wedge of hard Irish cheddar. I bought a wedge of creamy deliciousness called Chomme, various crackers, and some amazing dark chocolate (oh, so very, very, sorry, Merrit, to find out that you don't like dark chocolate. I would have shared...).

After packing Dana and Rob's bikes into the back of the car, Merrit and I headed to Concord around 2 in the afternoon, looking forward to a lovely ride along the Minuteman Trail. The sun was shining, the temperature was at perfection, and we were going to have cheese and crackers to eat along the way. What could be better?

Merrit parked the car and we headed into our dear Cheese Shop. No sooner had we shut the door behind us when there was a sudden downpour of torrential rain. It was fast and furious, surprising everyone in the shop, as well as us. But it was over as quickly as it had begun, and we continued on our way.

We didn't get far, however, before we both saw things in other shop windows that just couldn't be ignored! So Merrit parked again, and we window shopped (and inside store shopped) at cute and quaint little shops along the road. The sun was shining and we had not a care in the world, other than, "Should we buy them? Should we not?"

Again we headed out on our merry little way: the sun shining, the birds singing, the cheese beckoning us onward to a bench near The Old North Bridge.

In talking with a Park Ranger there we learned that this is the 6th bridge to be built here, the first having been built in the 1650's. Previous to that people had crossed in some lower marshlands, and Indians had camped here during the summers for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Only the stonework (and the river, of course) is original to the first bridge.

The Ranger told us that the North Bridge has been a popular "tourist attraction" since the early days of the American Revolution, with people coming to pay their respects and commemorate the start of the war for freedom.

He also told us that long before this site was of any historical importance, people came here because it was the superhighway of its day.

I can see that. Can't you?

As we talked the sky became more and more gray, the wind more and more fierce, and the clouds above us swirled like smoke soup. Hastily we packed up our provisions and headed back for the car. We beat the rain by a heartbeat, shutting the car doors just as walls of rain came pouring down. So much for a bike ride. I'm so glad we never even started out on that!

Instead we made our way back through Concord, water and leaves streaming across the windshield, wind whipping everything around us, and Merrit asking every so often, "What does that sign say?" That girl needs glasses.

Eventually we made our way onto the freeway, just in time to hit evening traffic. Rather than battle the storm and the traffic both, Merrit pulled off at Belmont and we spent quite a lot of time talking in the parking lot of the Boston Temple.

We could have gone in if we would have been prepared. Let that be a life lesson to me! It was still a glorious evening, spent with good company, and it will be a favorite memory. Favorite, too, was that we headed back to Dana's to snuggle in blankets, enjoy movies on the big screen, and eat home made tacos. Yum, yum to a delicious sort of day.