Not gonna lie. This has to have been one of the best trips I have ever been on. You have been warned.
I worked quite a bit extra these last two weeks to get the hours that I needed to check off a major bucket list of mine. See New England in the Fall. You see, some of the best locations to look at leaves change color aren't too far from me: Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont...
Wait. Did you say Vermont?
That is correct my good me, I did say Vermont. And as you happen to know, one of your favorite people, Jacob Caughfield, is living in Vermont right now. The peak Vermont leaf season is arriving, and I have only one course of action. I have to make it happen.
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This last Thursday, I woke up at a lovely 3:00 am to make my way to the Baltimore airport for my early-bird flight. By 7:30 my feet were on the hallowed American ground, Boston. I had 3 things. My backpack holding all my clothes, a map of the city, and a plan to walk across it. I rode the subways to the far end of Boston and started my journey at Fenway Park. The long-standing symbol of American baseball felt like many other parts of the city. A well loved past, being built into the still ongoing future. Boston has more history than almost any other American city, and it seems like the entire city knows it and cares for it. It didn't feel out of place whatsoever, but it was clearly from a different time than the more modern areas surrounding it. It felt cared for. Across the street was a Park called Fenway. It had Geese and a community gardening center. Pleasant to walk through, and a well used space.
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| Community Garden in Fenway Park |
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| WWII Memorial |
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| Fantastic Banana-Nutella snack |
High on my list, but for no real knowledge of my own, was the Mapparium. I only read a brief description online, but it was bizarre enough to make it onto my list. The Mapparium is a three-story high stain-glass globe that you walk around the inside of. While this idea drew me in, I was in a real shock when I learned the rest of the story.
Have you ever seen those buildings around town called "Christian Science Reading Rooms". One has been in Richardson, near my high school, for years and I never had a clue as to what they were. They just seemed kind of cultish to me. Turns out they were, and are! You see, the Mapparium is an addition to the Christian Science Monitor, a publishing company that has been around since the early 1900s, and was established by Mary Baker Eddy, who was the original founder of Church of Christ Scientist. The Church of Christ Scientist was based on her beliefs and findings in the middle 1850s when she broke her spine and recovered, according to her, due to God's healings. She then rejected (in some sense) the medicine of the time (which was homeopathy and dirty surgeries) and began to teach others how to heal using Jesus. The Christian Science original church was made in Boston (right next to the Mapparium), and was expanded massively. The expansion was based off of the Hagia Sophia (my #1 on bucket list), can hold 5,000 people, and has one of the largest pipe organs in the world. This was by far the biggest and best surprise on my entire trip, and I was glad to finally learn so much about the mysterious building I saw every day for four years.
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| Original Christian Science church in front, expansion in back |
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| Original church |
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| Hand Placed tiling in 1800s |
After the church, I left for Boston Public Library, the first public library in the United States. The Library was a massive palace for books. Marble steps, angelic murals, golden trimming, and oak walls. It reminded me of Abilene's Public Library... sort of.
The next part of our tale involves a race. It is a race against time. A race of the few against the many. A race for life itself. You see, I was on the "Freedom Trail", a path winding through Boston to see the greatest local moments of the American Revolution. As I walked down this trail, my path merged with a massive group of Middle Schoolers. I gave them no mind until I heard a snippet of one conversation. "Hurry up, we need to make it to the USS constitution!" one lone leader said. My ears perked. USS Constitution? That's where I'm headed... I certainly wasn't going to share my time on this ship with a massive group of middle schoolers. No. I will beat them there.
Thus the race was on. My walk became a fast walk, and my path became a short cut. I slipped down side streets and alley-ways, but alas, I am bad at picking shortcuts so I ended up behind them again. I turned my fast walk into a light jog and eyed the sponsors nervously. If only I could have a brief moment of breakaway... wait. There it is! They had to stop at a crosswalk, rather than jay-walking like the literal entire rest of the city. I took my chance and ran with it, and before I knew it, the group was long in the past.
The USS Constitution was a beautiful ship that looked remarkable for its age (even with knowledge of its repairs). I climbed aboard the old ship and was greeted by an impossibly muscular man in a shrimpy sailor outfit. The below decks of the USS Constitution were short, requiring one to bend over as they walked along the rows of cannons and hammocks. After I had had my fun below, I made my ascent up the decks only to be greeted by a kiss of water from above. That's odd... How did the seawater get on deck? A foolish Tad thought. You see, in the 5 minutes he spent on the boat, the skies opened up and began to pour on the ship. I hopped out into the rain, hoping desperately that my backpack containing everything I had on the trip wouldn't get drenched, as I ran into the gift shop. Who'd I pass by on the way in? The middle schoolers. They were going to have an unfun boat trip.
I bought a cheap-o ponch-o that barely came down to my waist and had a big and bold USS CONSTITUTION on the front, but my adventure wasn't over quite yet. While I was already 30 minutes away from my Airbnb, I was only 10 minutes away from Bunker Hill. And I had to go see Bunker Hill. I trudged through 10 minutes of pouring rain, saluted to the Bunker Hill monument, and then journeyed for 40 minutes through the rain soaked streets of Boston as the steadily-increasing rain pounded down on my head.
Half-crawling into my Airbnb, I collapsed up the stairs and onto my bed, looking out on the most peaceful tiered-rooftop-rain-redbrick scene I've ever seen. Not much else happened that night, but I suppose that's what happens after you've walked 13 miles after getting up at 3 am. You get tired. And I slept.
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| I don't need a haircut that much... |
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| The USS Constitution |
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| Bunker Hill Memorial |
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| AirBnb! |
Once I finally woke up, 11 hours later, I was refreshed and ready for another day of adventure. I had one last stop during my time in Boston, and that was to the site of the Boston Massacre. Though it is just a street today, the site holds significance and seemed more applicable today than at any time during my lifetime.
The thing that is so cool about Boston, is that it has a unique flair to their city, that can be easily lost in the small modern world. The tall red brick buildings with ornate carvings are all throughout the city, and historical sites and deep meaning are well intertwined with modern buildings and facilities. I've been to quite a few cities, and honestly, Boston is one of the favorites I've seen so far. It's incredibly walk able, lively, traditional, and unique.
I grabbed a rental car from Logan Airport and drove in a tunnel underwater for a long time. It only took me half an hour to make it to my first stop of the road trip, and I hopped out at Walden Pond. Walden, the novel, and I have a long-standing and adversarial relationship. It is the only novel which I can say is my nemesis. Because I hate it. It's a book I started plenty of times and couldn't get past the first chapter time and time again. This past summer I was able to successfully finish it, and while I see benefit in it, I still shared many of the reservations I had when I couldn't make it through the book before. Thorough seems pompus, and his ideas, if followed, would bring the ultimate collapse of society. He should be listened to because he is one end of the scale (and many of his ideas are good), but I could never get over the idea that he was an Instagram-ista acting pompous about his lake. That is, until I went there.
What was missing from the novel was the fact that Henry David Thorough loves Walden Pond. And being there, I could see why. It was secluded. Peaceful. The perfect size. The perfect distance from company. It was beautiful, and enticing, and begged for exploration. I understood.
I hiked around the beach, stopped by his cabin-site and watched a couple get engaged there. The surprise proposal caught me off guard for sure, but made the moment all the more special. This is a place to go to again, without a doubt.
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| Surprise Proposal! |
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| A swimming man! |
Continuing on my journey, I was going to leave Massachusetts, pass through New Hampshire, then drive up the iconic Vermont-100 along the mountain line to go up to Burlington, VT to join Jacob. Most of this journey, I was unable to get pictures, because my phone's camera simply wasn't up to the challenge. I'll need to do my best to describe it with words, in it's place.
Along the drive, I got to watch the seasons turn in the span of about four hours. When I started in Boston, a majority of the trees were green, with a beautiful spattering of yellow , orange, and red trees interspersed throughout. However, the further north I went, the more the green faded, and the fall colors appeared. Somewhere in the middle of New Hampshire I realized that almost half of the trees lining the road were orange and yellow, leaving the other half green. When I entered Vermont, the land became mountainous, and you could see hundreds of thousands of trees making a medley of yellow, orange, red, green, and barren landscape. The Vermont-100 took me on winding roads through barns, fields in harvest, small town store, and at one point two waterfalls. It's one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on, and it brought out an unreal sense of serenity.
Once I arrived in Burlington, Jacob picked me up from the car drop-off, and we went to his apartment. I said hello to Ruhika, and then GOT TO PLAY WITH HIS PUPPY. Jacob got a new puppy one week before I arrived (it is now 9 weeks old), and his name is Oliver, Ollie for short. He is a black goldendoodle and he is adorable. I am his dog father. Enough said. The four of us went to Church Street, the main hangout in Burlington. I've never been to a hip downtown that was so accessible, so clean, so happy, and so pretty. I felt like I was on another world, and if you ever get the chance to go to Burlington, you have to check out Church street at night.
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| Jacob and I eat 99% dark chocolate as a tradition |
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| It's not a great tradition... |
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| A bad pic of church street |
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| OLLIE |
The next day, after a long night of catching up and fun discussions, Jacob and I took it easy. We went to the island on Lake Champlain (South Hero, VT), where I got to try Apple Cider doughnuts and get some cool antique books. Afterwards we went to have crepes at The Skinny Pancake near Church Street, and I got to try Vermont Maple Syrup. It was Outstanding! It was thin like water, but it held a unique taste that felt honest in comparison to something like Aunt Jeremiah's.
That's one of the best parts about Vermont, actually. They have a culture and tradition and they stick to it. People came out to Church Street, and sailed on Lake Champlain. Everybody loved apples, apple cider, apple cider doughnuts, and maple syrup. They didn't try to be something that they weren't and instead were a happy, rural, fall paradise. Good job Vermont!
At the end of Saturday Jacob, Ruhika, Ollie and I went to Apple Orchards in town. We paid $7.50 for a bag that probably contained 20-30 apples straight from the tree. The orchard was long, open, and absolutely filled with apples. We took our time chatting, or running among the trees, or jumping to get the very tip-top apple on the tree. It was happy.
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| Great Lake Champlain |
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| South Hero |
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| Jacob, Ruhika, and Ollie |
We ended our trip with a calm and quiet chat in the pub, and an early four am start to the day. Thanks to booking witchery I ended up getting a first-class seat on the way back to DC, as I watched the sun rise out of my plane window. This was a wonderful trip, and just about every part went flawlessly. New England in the fall? Check. That's one item less on the bucket list.
Take it easy!
-Tad Kile
