When we moved to New England, we discovered that there is an additional holiday here that Midwesterners don't know about.
Patriot's Day!
It's celebrated the third Monday in April to commemorate the battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775.
I forgot about it until Sunday night when I heard it on the nightly news. Hmmmm....maybe a field trip was in order.
Monday morning, I googled what was going on in Lexington and since they were having a few activities, we packed up and headed out.
Once we arrived at the Battle Green, we saw a small contingent of Minute Men who were kind enough to let us take a picture of them.
Excitement rippled through the crowd as 'Paul Revere' rode up on his horse. He sounded the alarm, "The regulars are coming!" (Contrary to popular belief, the real Paul Revere didn't yell that the British were coming.) Each year, Paul Revere and William Dawes' separate rides from Boston to Concord are reenacted.
William Dawes arrived and within a few seconds, they were off--continuing their ride to Concord to warn the residents.
Scenes around the Battle Green.
There were many flags set up that aren't normally there. They were so beautiful!
But the most beautiful flag of all is this one! I was hoping the inscription around the half circle part way up the pole could be read in the photo but alas.... It said, "The Birthplace of American Liberty."
We decided that we wanted to wait around for the parade so for the next few hours the kids played in on the Green. (And Jordan is rocking the sunglasses this year! He finally has two ears and can keep them on.)
As a history geek, I was loving all the period clothing that the soldiers wore. I was pretty much in history-geek-heaven.
I also lamented my choice to leave my big camera at home and solely rely on my iPhone. Gah! Oh, the pictures I
could have had!
The pale yellow building in the background is Buckman's Tavern where the militiamen met and where it is rumored that men like Paul Revere, Sam Adams, William Dawes and others met to discuss the situation with the British.
The kids were fascinated by the size of these Clydsdale horses.
I had told the kids that they needed to clap every time a unit of soldiers went by. Soldiers fought for our freedom, the least we can do is applaud them. I told the boys that if they preferred to salute, that was fine as well. Jake opted for the salute. When these soldiers went by there was one man out in front leading them. He looked over and noticed that Jake was saluting. I could see the pleasure in his face as he turned his head and saluted Jake right back. Oh my word...it was the cutest thing ever! Jake immediately squealed to me, "Mom! He saluted me!" He was so excited!
SaraGrace spotted these kilt-garbed men and in a loud stage whisper asked, "Mom...are any of those men wearing underwear?" Immediately regretting having EVER told that child that Scottish men do not wear underwear under their kilts, I managed to give her a vague, "I have no idea," type of response and hoped she would not inquire further.
The parade lasted for an hour and 15 minutes and we had just enough time to dash a few miles down the road to the Minuteman National Park to see a half hour multi-media presentation on the Battle of Lexington and Concord. It's free and nicely done. Afterwards, Jake and Zoey scored a picture with this Redcoat soldier.
We finished up the day by driving another 10 miles north of Lexington to eat dinner at Sonic. For some reason, everyone in my family loves that establishment. I've eaten there several times and I just don't get it?? It IS kind of cool how they bring it out to the car but other than that...it's just a crummy fast food joint. I was given accolades of 'best mom ever' for taking them there, so I'll probably find myself there again some time in the future.
It was a good day!
