Category Archives: Massachusetts

After the Battle

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On Battle Green in Lexington after the smoke had dispersed many of the re-enactors remained to mingle with the crowd. They willingly posed for pictures.

There was a Redcoat showing off his sword,

 A judge or preacher…not sure which…

And of course the militia

But I think my favorite picture was one I set up. I called it the old defenders and the new. There were some Rangers there in their uniforms and I asked them if they would stand with a couple of the Patriot’s for a picture. Both groups liked the idea and began to line up. I had to back up because of the lens I was using. As I was framing the picture I heard a man’s voice behind me. He yelled” Hey, here’s a great picture” and pushed me right out of the way. I didn’t get the whole picture I set up and I was not happy about that but almost immediately I was behind a wall of photographers taking the picture that was MY idea! I’m willing to bet that picture will be in some of the local newspapers by tomorrow!. Another lesson learned..Change you lens before you start setting up your pictures!

Anyway, here is what I was able to get before I was muscled out of the way! There were more Rangers and Militia but if I had backed up to get them in I wouldn’t have gotten any shot.

That about wraps up my visit to the Lexington Battle Green on Patriot’s Day and it wasn’t even 8am yet! I was ready to find breakfast!

There were many more events planned for the day plus a movie but I think Rocky told you that I am not a morning person. I left the house without bringing my list of events. As a result I didn’t know where anything was or what time an event would be held. I was so focused on the Battle on the Green that everything else just passed  right out of consciousness until the reenactment was over.   With all that it seemed prudent to skip the rest and head home. Now that I have an idea what to expect I will be able to plan it better for next year.

It was definitely worth the lack of sleep!

The British are coming, the British are coming

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It’s Patriot’s Day in  Massachusetts or at least yesterday was.  This was a big day in Massachusetts. There were reenactments all over but the most traditional one is the one on the Lexington Green where the battle really took place. Then there’s the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon. I think the marathon gets more coverage than the reenactments! And we can’t forget the Red Sox even though their season so far has been really  forgettable. They were playing at Fenway Park and wonder of wonders, they WON! So much to do, so much to see, so little time!

I chose to travel to the Battle Green in Lexington to see their reenactment. It’s a bit over an hour from my house to Lexington.  They try to be as authentic as possible, even holding the reenactment at 5:30 am, daybreak. To allow time for parking and to walk to the green, I left my house at 4am and arrived in Lexington at a few minutes after 5am.

The pre dawn light was just beginning to lighten the sky.

As you know I scoped out the area last week so I would know where to park and were to get a good vantage point. It quickly became apparent that the trip was pretty much an exercise in futility. I made excellent time, there was no traffic even for a Monday. Many businesses close in Massachusetts to observe the holiday. We even get an extra day to file our income taxes.(Isn’t that special?).

I pulled into Lexington and headed for the Stop and Shop Parking lot but it was full already! I began to search for a parking spot. That quest took me almost 20 minutes so by the time I got parked, they were ringing the church bells on the green.  I loaded up with my camera, new lens and monopod and began hustling toward the sounds. As I reached the green I was shocked into standstill.  IT WAS PACKED! Who gets up at 5AM to watch grown people dress up and play dead people? Apparently a lot of people including young children.

The little rise I had staked out as mine was overflowing so there was no chance of getting up there. Plus loads of people had step ladders, not little ones either, big 6 ft step ladders and they ringed the back of the crowd that already surrounded the common. I could tell I wouldn’t be able to get close enough to see anything there. I continued to work my way around the common on the fringe of the crowd looking for any little opening I might be able to squeeze into but it wasn’t til I was well past the common that the crowd began to thin out.

Having driven all that way in the wee hours I wasn’t going to just turn around and go back home so I slid into a small opening right at the barricade. Clearly I wasn’t going to be able to use the new lens so I pulled out my favorite lens, my trusty 55-200mm telephoto. Oops, I left the polarizer on and it was wasn’t very light out.  But it was cold, and windy and that meant that my polarizer was stuck…again. Seems like it won’t budge when it’s cold. Warm the lens up to 70 degrees and the polarizer will come right off.  Boy is this morning off to a good start? (Not).

Anyway, it was time to try to improvise.  I upped the ISO and although I had wanted to use a small aperture to get a deep DOF , I decided to do the opposite to try to increase shutter speed so I could capture action. If the sun had been up higher and I could get the polarizer off, I probably wouldn’t have had to make these compromises.

Across the street was a building that I think is the Hartwell Tavern. That was where the Patriots gathered that fateful morning before heading to the green. I could see some reenactors milling around on the lawn. Someone was making a speech but we couldn’t tell what was being said because the speakers were pointed away from us and toward the crowd around the green. All of a sudden 3 of the Patriot’s raised their  rifles and a shot went off. Boy it was LOUD! Smoke billowed out and drifted on the breeze.  It caught all of us in my little corner off guard. I wasn’t the only one who jumped!

Right on the heels of that we heard someone yelling. We couldn’t make out exactly what was said but a rider came trotting up to the Patriots on the lawn. It was pretty clear this was the messenger bringing the news that the British were on the move, not Paul Revere because he had been captured, if you recall.

The Patriots began to run out of the Tavern and form up on the green. We began to hear drums and pretty soon the British came into sight marching at a  brisk clip right down the road where we were standing. They were going to go right past us.

The columns of Redcoats marched by us and formed up on the Green .

 They had 1 captive and suddenly someone yelled that the captive was escaping. A shot rang out and then chaos broke out. Rifles were firing, smoke was blowing and all of the players were yelling. The crowd was spellbound and those of us with cameras were all trying to jockey for position.

From my vantage point I could see the redcoats and the smoke and that was about it.

And then it was over.  8 Patriots had been killed that day. The British  formed up and marched away.

The crowd began to break up, many headed to the pancake breakfast. I chose to head to the Green to see what remained.

I’ll tell you what I saw when I finally got to the green in my next post. For  this one I will say a lesson learned for next year. Unless I want to be one of those people dragging a ladder around next year, I will have to get there much earlier than I did this time. I don’t need a super telephoto, a 200mm is more than adequate and be sure the polarizer is off! 🙂

Lexington and Concord

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The weather forecast is for rain all day. Not the best weather for exploring the Minuteman National Park but I really don’t have a choice.

This coming Monday is Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts, well-known for the day on which the Boston Marathon is run. To be honest, that seems to get far more press than the original reason for the state holiday. In fact I bet if I did a “Man in the Street ” interview most people would say that the holiday celebrates the running of the  Boston Marathon. Even worse, I was listening to the news last night and the newspeople kept referring to Monday as “Marathon Monday”…No mention of Patriots’s Day. I bet there’s even be some who would think Patriot’s Day has something to do with the New England Patriot’s Football team…Sad, very sad.

You and I know, of course, that the holiday really commemorates the start of the Revolutionary War, Paul Revere’s Ride, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the North Bridge or the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”.

Well, I am seriously planning to get my “butt” and the rest of my body out of bed on Patriots Day and drive out to see the reenactments. They try to make it so authentic that they even hold it at 5:30am! Even so, I am told that thousands turn out to see this and that the roads are closed into Concord and parking is at a premium.

 Since I will have to be up so early just to get there, I don’t want to be wandering around wondering where to park and even worse, where to set up my camera to record the action. With my luck, it would be all over before I found it! So today I am going to take a drive down to the visitor center and ask a lot of questions. I will take my rain poncho and reconnoiter the area with  my camera. I will give you a full report in my next post.

Since I haven’t been there yet I don’t have any pictures but I can’t have a “naked” post so here’s a picture I just like. 🙂

The Saga of the Herring Run Continues

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A couple of posts ago I reported that the herring run seemed to have ended…no fish no gulls…but as with most things in life it is not safe to assume anything.

When I went to work Saturday I noticed a small flock of gulls gathered at the Herring Run off route 44 in Middleboro and I wondered about it but didn’t have time to  stop and investigate. There were a lot of cars in the parking lots and people were wandering over the bridges and looking in the water.

On Sunday I have to go into work in the wee hours of the morning. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the mist was rolling off the water and the gulls were back in force! There was an even bigger gathering than the first time I wrote about it. I’m not sure if we’re getting a second run or if the first one really didn’t end but the gulls know something.

 I had the place to myself except for the “early birds” so I wandered over the bridges and along the ladder looking for fish. Usually when the run is in full swing you can see tons of fish jockeying for position to get upstream. Today I saw a few which is a few more than the other day but I’m not sure how many would be needed to call it a “run”.

Judging from the way the gulls were gathering I am guessing that a lot more fish must be on their way. I want to know how do these birds know?

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Brewster Gardens, Plymouth MA

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I’m back folks and wanted to tell you a little more about this wonderful little park in Plymouth.

When you come for your visit to Plymouth I would expect that you would visit the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock.

 That done you need to take a short walk down the street where you will find the entrance to Brewster Gardens.

There is a paved nature trail that follows the Town Brook through the Gardens. Town Brook provided the water supply for the Pilgrims and the first garden plots were planted in this area.  It was probably one of the major reasons the Pilgrims decided to settle in this area, as the brook provided a good supply of fresh water.

The lower end of the Gardens is decorated with some sculptures.

 One is of the Pilgrim Maiden by Henry Hudson Kitson and the other is a more modern sculpture made of stainless steel honoring Plymouth’s immigrant settlers from 1700 to 2000.

 I did a quick internet search but did not find a great deal of history on either sculpture. I can say they are quite different but equally captivating. They add a great deal to the attractiveness of the gardens. The Pilgrim Maiden stands in a fountain although the fountain had not yet been activated for the season when I was there. Way too early in the spring for that.

Crossing the little bridge will take you on the nature trail which will cross under  Main St and Pleasant St. Along the way there are park benches where you can sit and enjoy the scenery.

 The Herring also use the Town Brook as a herring run to reach their fresh water spawning area.

The walk is not long or strenuous and before you know it you will reach the Jenny Grist Mill.  Jenny Mill is America’s first utility and represents the beginning of industry and trade in our country.  The original mill was built by John Jenny, a brewery worker. There are tours of the Grist Mill available and tickets are purchased in the lower level in The Mill Stone Creamery and souvenir shop. I am sure there is much more information on this site available when you take a tour. There are tables on a deck facing the mill-wheel for a scenic place to enjoy a fresh dish of ice cream either before or after your tour.

Moving on up the stairs and across the street is Jenny Pond. There is plenty of free parking and the pond is loaded with birds and some say, fish. I can’t vouch for that as I didn’t try my luck. There’s a little bridge that crosses the pond but other than a scenic decoration it didn’t seem to lead anywhere. It might connect to the Pigrim Trail but I didn’t see that at the time of my visit. There is some access as there were  vehicles parked there.

I am told that Jenny Mill and Pond are part of the Pilgrim Trail. 

 The Pilgrim Trail is a 10 mile circular trail through Plymouth. the Trail starts and finishes at the information center at exit 5 on route 3. I’m told there is ample parking, rest rooms and information on attractions. I will have to check this out and let you know what I find out for sure.

It seems that the more I learn about the area, the more doors that open up to me to explore. You can be sure that I will keep posting about my adventures whether they are local to me or on a distant vacation. Be back on Monday with more tales from the dusty roads. 🙂

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