Museum and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery



Captions and photo arrangement to come. 

 We started working on return trip plans, thinking we may need to make hotel arrangements since we are in the peak of summer, but I was suddenly motivated to do some exploring.  The local Concord Museum had been recommended , and I wanted to explore the cemetery, so I assured Clem we could resume our planning when we returned, and off we went. Not only were we not disappointed, but very pleasantly surprised by the small but excellent museum that opened in 1990.  This area boasts being home to celebrated authors and thinkers, and we have visited the homes of many, if not all of them, but the museum had many actual articles they had possessed. We saw a replica of Emerson’s study, with the original furnishings, Thoreau’s  writing desk, muskets and powder horns engraved with names we have read about, and the most astounding for me, one of the actual lanterns that hung in the North Church, relaying the signal to Paul Revere that the British were coming.  A digital panorama showed a timeline and the progress of Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott, the three horseback riders that night, as well as the British troops, and then the gathering of the minutemen and militia from all over the area to eventually outnumber them and push them back.  It was so well done, and the museum left quite an impression, which I gladly shared with the attendants. 


















We had a nice lunch outside in the shade at a favorite haunt when here, the Main Street Cafe, and then walked to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, one of three in town, located on a road behind downtown.  On the way, I asked Clem if he had noticed the British group sitting near us, with their perfect English accents.  He asked if we had brought the muskets, wise guy that he is! 





We entered the first gate we came to, and used a map we had picked up to start our search for Author’s Ridge, where those same literary luminaries were buried. Clem doesn’t quite understand my fascination with grave sights of famous people, but for me it’s like seeing their homes and possessions, or the places they walked or stood.  My friend Maria said it best….” it’s like being inside a history book with some people you know, and some you wish you had met.” 





The cemetery is much larger than either of us realized, and Clem was making some grumbling sounds after having walked from town and now finding the path a long one,  and we were very having a bit of a challenge following the map, but, with the assurance of a local walker, we made it up to the ridge and were rewarded with those we sought , in addition to many of the other 44 notables listed buried there.  Dr Josiah Bartlett, whose home I had seen and photographed a few days ago, was there, with many others we recognized, and  it was a beautiful, peaceful place.  











It was 4pm, by the time we got back to the car and headed back to our hotel!  So much for trip planning, as we were hot and tired, and needed a shower and some recuperation!  






Our son called and came by,  and being in the Residence Inn, we were able to bring in some food for the three of us for dinner, after which he taught us a game he had brought.  Easy, he said.  Maybe for him! It was some new creation called Munchkin that is apparently very popular, but somewhat complicated, and definitely strange in our minds, but it was fun to try, spend the time with him, and stretch our minds! Clem said he would be anxious to try again….Not! 



Photos later 

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