World United States Massachusetts Lexington

Mike and Roxanne travel east

Lexington Sep 11, 2007

We then drove back to Lexington to complete our journey along Battle Road.

This is part of the Minute Man National Park. The Minute Men were called this because as part of the militia they had to be ready to muster in a very short period of time.

All males from 16 to 60 were required to join the militia and the best of each group were made Minute Men.

The militia was the defenders during the attack on Lexington and Concord on the 19th of April 1775. These actions were not "battles" but rather "skirmishes" as there was no were plan of attack, no plan of defense and in many cases one or both sides would break and run when the shooting started.

The Patriots had never really shot at anyone in anger before and they were still British even if they did not want to serve the King.

Just as we parked the car at the Visitor Center the rain started. The movie "The Road to Revolution" was another one that used, several sources of media, fibre-optics, slides, lights, and sound.

Our next stop was the site of Paul Revere's capture. Here Mike stayed in the car and I walked to the site with the umbrella all the while trying to stay out of the rivulets of water.

The third stop was the Hartwell Tavern. Normally they would have a presentation of musket firing here but again, we parked the car and slogged to the tavern in the rain.

I have decided that the definition of a "loyalist" in 1775 was someone who was loyal to the British King, but in 2007 a "loyalist" is an American who walks in a downpour through puddles of water to see an old building in a National Park that has no electricity and is only lit by candles.

The Hartwell Tavern is the same building that was here in 1775 and the lighting is the same also. It is furnished much like that of 1775 and the reenactors were just as friendly as the tavern owners would have been.

We talked about the Hartwells and go a musket demonstration geared to just the two of us.

We have been so impressed by the rangers and their knowledge they have truly made the parks come alive for us.

We were going to look for a winery but decided to head for home as it was raining so hard.