Happy Patriot’s Day
Quick test: Why is today, April 19, important in American history? If you live in Massachusetts or Maine, you had better know the answer. Today is the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and...
View ArticleThe Great Refractor at Harvard
I had the unique opportunity recently to visit the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My group enjoyed a star-gazing party on the roof where I saw Saturn and its rings through a...
View ArticleWalking in a Victorian gentleman’s shoes
A friend recently offered me the opportunity to experience a history topic I didn’t know much about. He arranged for me to stay at the St. Botolph Club in Boston. Boston is one of my favorite cities...
View ArticlePilgrims and Wampanoags
Click to view slideshow.Plimoth Plantation, a re-created 1620′s English village, sits on a hillside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean a few miles from Plymouth, Massachusetts, site of the original 1620...
View ArticleNahant, a New England paradise
Click to view slideshow.Nothing beats a personal tour of someone’s neighborhood. For a while my friend had been inviting me to visit his slice of paradise, an idyllic New England peninsula with...
View ArticleAmazing adaptive reuse in Boston
I love it when historic buildings are saved from the wrecking ball and either restored to former glory or transformed into a dazzling new space. A good adaptive reuse project always intrigues me. While...
View ArticleThe Grand Army sign
My friend and I were on our way back to Boston after a trip to Maine and stopped in Newburyport, Massachusetts for a lunch break. I’d been there once before and had made a mental note that it was a...
View ArticleConflicting thoughts about Plymouth
It’s Thanksgiving in America and our thoughts turn to Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, or Virginia or wherever it really happened. I think Virginia and Massachusetts are still arguing...
View ArticleBoston favorites
I just returned from Boston and once again enjoyed walking miles through the neighborhoods. It is truly one of America’s great walkable cities. I took a guided walking tour of historic Beacon Hill and...
View ArticleBoston’s Public Garden
A late summer evening stroll in Boston’s Public Garden is one of life’s pleasures. Established in 1837 on a salt marsh in what is now the heart of Boston, the garden was one of America’s first public...
View ArticleLexington and Concord revisited
I recently found myself in Lexington and Concord, again. I wasn’t planning this particular visit but my friends and I were traveling back to Boston from a week in Maine and hadn’t booked a hotel over a...
View ArticleHappy Anniversary to the Pilgrims
Reconstructed Plimoth Plantation It’s not every day a history site in the United States gets to celebrate a 400th anniversary. (for perspective, 2026 marks the 250th birthday of the US) This year was...
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