What's New In Connecticut?

To be perfectly honest - not a whole heck of a lot! Well, except maybe that earlier the temperature gauge in my car looked like this:

Unfortunately, the tiny bit of sun that we had to go along with it went buh-bye a bit ago and temperatures are going to steadily make their way back down to where they normally are in January.  Hiss!  Boo!  Actually, a big "Hiss! Boo!" to the local weathermen who had said that the whole weekend was going to be sunny and mild and it ended up being foggy and drizzly.  How is that no one has sued a weather forecaster yet?  Surely there must be some sneaky lawyer out there who can build a case for dashed expectations and mental anguish for when nice weather is predicted and it's a total bust!

You would think that with all of their fancy-dancy Doppler radars and such that predicting the weather would be more of an exact science these days but alas, that does not seem to be the case and the best indicator is to still look out your window or - better yet - poke your head outside! And even then, there are no guarantees as Mother Nature is surely a fickle wench if ever there was one!

With the forecast definitely falling short this past Saturday, I set out in the drizzly fog to drive my cousin Amy and her niece Caitlyn up to Lexington, Massachusetts to see a bluegrass concert that Amy thought perhaps I would like. Based on the weather forecast, we thought it might be a good day to take a walk around the Lexington Battle Green so that I could get some photos for one of the other blogs I write (Travels With Nathaniel) but alas, it was like walking around in the tule fog out in California that sends a shiver down my spine whenever I think of it!  Of course, I think tule fog tends to be thicker but I'm sure Sandee knows what I'm talking about!

After our foggy stroll around the soggy Battle Green, we took a drive over to Saugus so that I could check out an enormous Chinese place that I'd driven by numerous times and never stopped at.  The Kowloon Restaurant has been a North Shore go-to place since 1950 - Barb can reminiscent about it with the best of 'em!  The food was okay though not good enough to make the drive up there for it alone - unlike the clam chowder at Newick's Seafood House in New Hampshire!  It might be worth a second try another time I'm up that way but we'll see!

After sharing a Pu Pu Platter, we made our way back to Lexington where the Gibson Brothers concert was being held at the National Heritage Museum.  The show was sold out but the venue has great seats all the way around and we found some good ones in the back of the auditorium where I could record a few songs with my iPhone and snap a few photos and not disturb anyone. Not that it makes for the best visual quality mind you but the audio is pretty good!

This song that I'm sharing was the last one that the reigning IBMA 2012 Entertainers of the Year played at the concert, a Loretta Lynn and Shawn Camp song called "Dying For Someone to Live For". It was their first time playing it on stage and I thought they did a mighty fine job with it. See? I've gone to enough concerts now that I'm starting to pick up the lingo!

All in all, in spite of the not-so-great weather it was nice day and at least I wasn't driving in a blizzard or dealing with sub-zero temperatures!  We usually get plenty of both in January so today I greeted the 56 degree reading on my car dial with a big smile and the knowledge that spring will eventually be here to stay - I just need to have some patience ... and the occasional hot beverage ... until it does! 

A Jaunt by the Lexington Battle Green

The thought occurred to me this morning that I never got around to doing a post on my stop in Lexington after I had visited parts of Concord a couple weekends ago. Truth be told, I still have posts to do of Baltimore, too, and that was how long ago? The end of July? Oy!  Honestly, I need to start staying the heck home and editing the pictures I have rather than going out and constantly taking more - which is, of course, easier said than done it seems.

Anyhow, because I'm still trying to catch up with things here at home off of the computer, I'm just going to make this a short pictorial post rather than one of my lengthy "wanna-be-a-history-teacher" posts.  Plus I didn't really spend anywhere near as much time in Lexington as I could have and will no doubt go back again sometime so I can bore you with the history later - unless I get carried away here which is always a distinct possibility!

The beautiful church above, yet another quintessential white clapboard New England church, is the First Parish in Lexington which was constructed starting in 1847 following a fire that consumed the third meetinghouse for the Parish in 1846.

A marker stands on the edge of the Lexington Battle Green that indicates the spot where the first three meetinghouses were built beginning in 1692.

On the back of the marker is a list of the pastors who were called to serve as ministers for the Parish from the first pastor Benjamin Estabrook in 1692 to Jason Whitman who died in 1848 before the completion of the fourth and final meetinghouse.  That second name isn't the John Hancock of American Revolution fame but obviously a close family relation as otherwise it would have made him really, really old when he signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776!

Like the First Parish of Concord, the First Parish of Lexington also converted from the strict Calvinism doctrine to the more liberal and welcoming Unitarian Universalism beliefs.  In 1819 Charles Briggs was ordained as minister and it was under his leadership in 1829 the church began its first Sunday School program and made the switch to Unitarianism.  At every Sunday service, the congregation recites the following which has become the covenant of their church and should be the covenant of all churches - in my own humble opinion of course! :

"Love is the doctrine of this church.
The quest for truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek the truth in love.
And to help one another,
To the end that all souls shall grow
Into harmony with the divine."

Amen!  And again I say amen!

On the southeast edge of the Lexington Battle Green stands a statue that was errected in 1900 sculpted by Massachusetts artist Henry Hudson Kitson. It is often referred to as the Lexington Minute Man but that's not actually the case. The statue is that of Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War, who was the commander of the Lexington Militia and, according to my research,: "Lexington is not known to have had ANY minutemen on hand on the 19th of April, 1775. According to testimony given by Lexington troop commander John Parker just after that date, he called his men militia, never minutemen. This statue's subject is a MILITIA member. Nonetheless, locally, he is referred to as "The Lexington Minuteman" - a misnomer."

Even though I promised not at a lot of history in this post, it should be noted that even though the Battle of Lexington on April 19th, 1775 was the first battle of the American Revolution, it wasn't a lengthy one nor was it one that the Americans won.  When the British Regulars advance guard under Major John Pitcairn entered Lexington at dawn, they were met with about 80 members of the Lexington Militia who emerged from Buckman Tavern. The militia merely stood and watched the British Regulars as Capatin Parker knew that his men were outnumbered and outmatched. Parker reportedly made the statement "Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."  (There's a stone with that engraved on it at the site of the battle but I didn't find it to take a picture of it.)

Facing an insurmountable number, Captain Parker told his men instead to disperse and go home but because of the confusion, the yelling all around, and due to the raspiness of Parker's voice (he suffered from tuberculosis and was at times difficult to hear) some did not hear him, some left very slowly, and none laid down their arms. Even though both Parker and Pitcairn ordered their men to hold fire a shot was fired from an unknown source following which the British surged forward with bayonets ready in an undisciplined way provoking a few scattered shots from the militia.  In response, the British troops - without orders - fired a devastating volley killing eight Massachusetts men and wounding ten while only one British soldier of the 10th Foot company was wounded. After order was restored the British Regular column was reformed and marched on toward Concord. To this day nobody with any significant certainty knows who fired the first shot of the American Revolution.  Heck of a way to start a war, isn't it?

A memorial plaque dedicated in 2008 sits outside of Buckman Tavern to honor both Prince Estabrook, a slave who belonged to the Lexington Militia and became the first black soldier to fight and be wounded in the American Revolution, as well as "the thousands of other courageous black patriots long denied the recognition they deserve."  Following his service to the Continental Army off and on until 1783, Prince Estabrook was granted emancipation by his master, Benjamin Estabrook.

Buckman Tavern was the popular meeting place for Lexington's Militia to gather on days when they trained on the Lexington Green. The Tavern was built about 1690 and ,with a license granted in 1693, was the first Public House in Lexington. It was there that several dozen militiamen who had gathered on the town common went to await the British troops' arrival just before sunrise on the fateful morning of April 19th.

Although best known as the headquarters of the militia, Buckman Tavern is also noteworthy as perhaps the busiest of Lexington's 18th century taverns. The tavern also housed the first village store in Lexington and in 1812 was also the first town post office. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and now operated as a museum by the Lexington Historical Society, the tavern's interior appears very much as it did in 1775. Among the many items on display is the old front door with its bullet hole possibly made by a British musket ball during the battle.

As I said, I didn't get the chance to explore around Lexington too much as it was getting late in the day and I still needed to go pick up Jamie from her cousins' house but I do hope to get back up that way one of these days.  Perhaps then I'll have the time to tour the inside of Buckman Tavern as well as check out some of the other historical sites that Lexington has to offer.