My New Book!

My New Book!
My New Book!

Saturday, June 6, 2015

June 6-7, 2015: Crowd-sourced Spring Walks and Sites



[If you’re in New England, there are few more beautiful spots for a spring walk than Cambridge’s Mount Auburn Cemetery. In this week’s series, I’ve highlighted a few American connections for this unique site and all it includes. This crowd-sourced walk moves through the responses of fellow AmericanStudiers to those posts and other spaces they shared—add yours in comments, please!]
On Facebook, Monday’s post received a number of responses, including from such knowledgable Mount AuburnStudiers as Rob Velella and the Friends of Mount Auburn!
Also on FB, Ian James writes, “I live in Medford and we have a beautiful preserve, the Middlesex Fells. In addition to great trails, shade, and some wildlife, it has a tower on a high hill. From the tower you can look in two directions to see Boston clearly, or in two other directions to see wilderness as far as the horizon.”
Andrew DaSilva highlights, “Nickerson State Park in Brewster, the Cape Cod Bike Trails, Nauset Beach in Orleans, Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, the conservation trails all around the Brewster Natural History Museum, Commercial Street in Provincetown, Castle Island in Boston Harbor (great for kite flying), Scargo Tower in Dennis, Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, and last but not least the Keystone Arches in Westfield. I think that about gives ya a taste of what this great Commonwealth has to offer.”
Rob Gosselin argues, “Take the commuter rail to North Station. Take the T to Copley Square. Visit at the Boston Public Library. Check out some artwork and have a coffee in the courtyard. One of Boston's best spots. Then walk up Dartmouth Street to Beacon Street. Take a right. Walk all the way up Beacon, past the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common. Have a picnic on the common. Then take a tour of the State House. Catch the T back to North Station. Then write about it on the way home. I've done this dozens of times, and each time I end up writing something totally different.”
Also lots of great Twitter ideas to share:
Ann Little notes that “Independence National Park was only lightly trafficked last Friday morning—we got 9:30 tour tickets for Independence Hall at 9:10.”
Joseph Adelman writes, “I’m always a fan of the Freedom Trail, and the weather is supposed to be beautiful in Boston finally! And as my students know, I also recommend a stop at Mike’s Pastry on the way back.”
Cynthia Lynn Lyerly shares a ton of great New England options: “The Black Heritage Trail in Boston. Breakheart Reservation (nature).  Mt. Auburn for both history and nature. If you have a full day—Nantucket is amazing (with a Black Heritage Trail too), and so is New Bedford Whaling Museum. And for Gilded Age, those Newport Mansions are not well contextualized, but I think everybody gets that they had too much money.” She adds, “I forgot Deerfield!  Haven't been to Old Sturbridge but that's on the agenda this year. Concord is great for Revolutionary War buffs.”
Ian Delahanty says “Yes to the New Bedford Whaling Museum! Nearby is a monument for New Bedford’s soldiers in the 54th and 55th Massachusetts.” He also highlights the “Blue Hills and Middlesex Fells reservations, and in Western MA, Mount Greylock, which gave Melville inspiration for Moby Dick.”
A Tweeter for the Fitchburg Historical Society writes, “I like Fitchburg's Steamline Trail...also, the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge: you walk on the old Union turnpike.”
Mike Rogers shares sites for Indianapolis: “Crown Hill Cemetery (James Whitcomb Riley, President Benjamin Harrison), the cemetery’s Civil war section, the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the World War Memorial, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
Next series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. Other responses and/or spaces you’d share?

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