Rule No19: If you need to drive out of New York city on a Friday, Friday afternoon's may not be such a good time to try and get out. You may want to try first thing Friday instead. The freeways are crazy busy so your travel time can be longer than what's expected. Lee suggested that we take the LimoLiner (an extremely luxurious coach) as it is a 4 hour coach ride up to his place. The LimoLiner was so nice that it really did not feel like we had been on a coach for 4 hours. It was a great suggestion Lee - thanks for that!
The New England area of Massachusetts that we were in had very old period farm houses. It was so pretty and green. As you would drive down a road there would be woods then every-so-often a picturesque farm house all done up. And as you went from town to town the landscape and houses just got prettier!
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| Lee and Katherine's lovely Farm House |
Because of the New York traffic we arrived late so we had dinner then went to bed excited about the next day's adventures.
On Saturday morning we headed out to a town called "Sturbridge Village". This is a historic town where you can see how people lived back in the 1700's and 1800's. It reminded me a lot of Old Sydney Town, but on a much grander scale. Today was a special day at Strubridge Village, over 1000 volunteers were going to rein-act the Revolutionary War. The war between the British and the Americans (Rebels) for independence. This rein-actment only happens once a year so we were very greatful to Lee for mentioning it to us.
The town was just buzzing with people all dressed in period costume getting ready for the rein-actment. It was amazing. If you stopped someone in costume and asked them questions about who they were they would be able to provide you with a lot of historical information. It was lovely to see so many people so proud of their history and more importantly, know the real details of what they were representing.
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| Entrance to Sturbridge Village |
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| Men in British uniforms getting ready for the rein-actment. |
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| One of the houses in Sturbridge Village that you could go into and walk around to see how a house was decorated in that period. |
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| Musicians playing upbeat music whilst waiting for battle. |
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| A couple taking refuge from the humidity in the air-conditioned cafe. |
The rein-actment was going to take place in a few of the paddocks at the back of the village so we headed there to get a good spot.
After a period of time I heard someone in the crowd yell out "The Redcoats are coming!" I couldn't see them but I could hear the piper playing merrily on his tin whistle and a drummer beating his drum. Then in the distance I could see spots of bright red. Yep, the British were coming. As they got closer you could see their coats, polished brass buttons and shoes as well as their tall fluffy black hats.
What blew my mind away was how close we were to the action. They marched right passed us and even shot their guns right in front of us pointed at the Rebels. Each time shots were fired from the guns and the cannons it vibrated through your body. It was amazing.
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| Rebels moving into position. |
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| The British firing at the Rebels - and yes they were that close! |
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| The Rebels firing back. |
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| Some unfortunate Rebels. |
I can't even begin to imagine how nervous those poor men, the real Rebels, must have felt. Seeing those redcoats, the might of the British army, hearing the marching and the beating of the drum. It made me feel a little anxious and yet I was a bystander watching a rein-actment! Crazy huh??
The rein-actment went on for over 30 minutes. I am so greatful to Lee for suggesting us to come up and see this event it was fantastic.
The rest of the day we spent looking around the town learning about how they used to do their printing, book binding, the different lighting (and lanterns) that were used etc.
It was a great, great day.
On the way to dinner we headed through Salem. Yes, the one that became famous for its witch trials. It is such a pretty town but what's sad is that from what I could see they were using their unfortunate history with attractions such as the 3D Haunted Museum and Frankenstein's Laboratory to attract people. Don't get me wrong, I don't think what happened in Salem should be hidden away, and in fact there are museums in the town that provide the historic facts, I just think that for those incidents that occurred in this town, it should not be mocked with silly places like the 3D Haunted Museum and Frankenstein's Laboratory.
Side note: The one way I think you can learn a lot about the history of the place is by walking through cemeteries and reading about those that have lived in that town, well in Salem, Katherine told me that if a person was burned at the steak or hanged it was mentioned on their gravestone.
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| Heading into Salem. |
After Lee gave us a driving tour of Salem we headed to Marblebar, a seaside town and man was it picturesque. The streets were extremely narrow and winding. The houses were painted in striking colours and each had a little plaque on it, providing the name of the original owner and the date in which the house was built.
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| Township of Marblebar |
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| An example of a plaque on a house and the date the house was built. |
We spent some time winding our way around the small streets reading the little plaques. It was great fun. We eventually decided to have dinner at a seafood restaurant and we had clam chowder and lobster (traditional New England dishes) . Now I'm not normally a clam chowder fan but both the chowder and the lobster were really yummy! It was a great way to end a day.
