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Excursions

A trip out of Boston can be done by land or water, although visitors should note that what may be done in half a day by land may take a full day by water. Many of the bus and boat tour companies mentioned in the Tours of the City section above offer a range of excursions as well.

For a Half Day

Concord:
As a state, New England is very much about small towns with history, culture, white churches and beautiful autumn leaves. Concord, only 35km (22 miles) northwest of Boston, is exactly the place to head for. It can be combined with a stop at Lexington to make a full day's excursion. For history, this is the place where the advancing Colonial British troops (the 'Redcoats' is a better term because the settlers here still regarded themselves as British anyway) first encountered the speedy defence capabilities of the 'Minutemen', so-called because they were ready for battle in only 60 seconds. The first American victory, of what was to become the American War of Independence, was here at North Bridge starting with the 'shot that was heard round the world'. An idea of what they were firing at each other is to be found at Bullet Hole House, pierced by a Redcoat musket ball.

Literary culture abounds in Concord. Ralph Waldo Emerson's house is now a public museum, not far from the town's central Monument Square. Nearby are the Orchard House and the Wayside of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Just south of the square is Henry David Thoreau Walden Pond. All three are buried in Author's Ridge at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Concord is about 50 minutes from Boston by car, along state route 2, and about 40 minutes on the commuter train between Boston and Fitchberg. There is also a commuter bus to and from Boston run by A Yankee Line (tel: (617) 268 8890). Sources of information include Concord Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Kiosk, Heywood Street (tel: (978) 369 3120) and two websites (www.concordma.com and www.concordnet.org).

For a Whole Day

Cape Cod:
Although Cape Cod feels like an island, it is actually a 105km-long (65-mile) peninsula with 15 small towns, numerous villages and around 960km (600 miles) of distinctive, beautiful sandy coastline. The gateway town, Sandwich, is also the Cape's oldest, founded in 1637. Many other place names will be familiar to anyone from the south of England: Truro, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Chatham and Harwich being a few examples. Many of them are what you would expect in New England, having a rural feel, cosy pubs, long beaches and great 'fresh caught' seafood. From Sandwich, Route 6A, better known as the Old King's Highway, forms the spine of the peninsula taking in many historic settlements on its way up to New Beach. Just before New Beach is Provincetown, long renowned as an artistic colony and known also as the gay centre of New England, which would come as a great surprise to the Pilgrim Fathers for whom this was their first landing point. Falmouth in the southeast has a classic village green, white church and nineteenth-century houses. On the south side is Hyannis, famous among other things, for being a home of the Kennedy family, where there is the JFK Memorial & Museum. Wellfleet, halfway up the western coastline, is popular for its oysters and for being bypassed by the commercial world.

A day trip to the Cape will not seem long enough once you have begun to take in the atmosphere and realised that there are still two real islands to explore, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Provincetown is 205km (130 miles) from Boston by road and many visitors choose instead to travel the direct route by sea ferry. The Cape Cod Regional Chamber of Commerce (tel: (508) 759 3814; website: www.capecodchamber.org) or various website (www.capecodlife.com or www.capecodconnection.com or www.capecodonline.com) can provide information.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
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