Saturday, August 22, 2015

Lexington and Concord

I visited my friend Wei in Lexington, MA, and we visited some of the historic sites in Lexington and Concord.

In 1775, Britain considered Massachusetts to be in rebellion, and on the night of 1775 April 18, British troops marched out of Boston to seize a reported colonial arsenal in Concord. As they passed through Lexington around sunrise on the 19th, they found American militiamen assembled on Lexington Green, led by Captain John Parker. The British tried to disarm them, and in the rush and confusion, each side fired - the first shots of the American Revolution.

We visited Buckman Tavern, where Parker’s militia was before the British arrived, and Lexington Green nearby. The pictures are Captain Parker’s statue on the Green, and a monument marking one end of Captain Parker’s line.


Parker’s militia fell back, and the British continued to Concord. When the British arrived, Concord’s militia was assembled on a ridge outside of town, but marched toward town when they saw smoke rising from it. The encountered British forces holding the North Bridge and drove them off, killing several. The picture shows the reconstructed North Bridge.

Afterwards the British marched back toward Boston, harried by colonial fire the whole way. The American Siege of Boston, the "opening phase of the American Revolutionary War," started the same day.

We also visited Walden Pond, near Concord, where Henry David Thoreau famously spent two years living alone on a "voyage of spiritual discovery." The pictures show the lake, the site of Thoreau’s cabin, and a model of the cabin nearby.



We also visited Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott’s graves at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery nearby.

Gen Con 2015

I really enjoyed going to Gen Con 2014 with my old friend Rob and his friends, so I was excited to go again this year.

This year I was just there for two days and spent most of the time gaming. Here are Rob, Karen, Buck, and Lou playing, with one of our fantastic DMs, Gary. (Here's a 360 degree pano.) My lothario Warlock Aleister made it from level 2 to level 4, and his CHA went from 16 to 18, so he’s now +4 to sweet talking.

I did see some of the rest of the convention. Some Jedi were having it out, picture below, and I saw a surprisingly credible Daenerys Targaryen, but I wasn't quick enough to get the Khaleesi's picture.

I saw a few nerd-famous folks - Wil Wheaton was at my baggage claim. And, Mike Schley and Jared Blando signed their maps in my books.