Lots of History and a Middle of the Night Border Crossing

Week 3

Boston, MA

Our first stop this week after leaving Plymouth is Boston, MA. Founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from the English town of the same name, Boston was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public park (Boston Common, 1634), first public or state school (Boston Latin School, 1635) and first subway system (Tremont Street subway, 1897).

While in Boston, we walk the famous Freedom Trail which includes a stop at the Old North Church. Built in 1723, the church is a mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and played a famous role in the American Revolution. It is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal was sent. This phrase is related to Paul Revere's midnight ride, of April 18, 1775, which preceded the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution. On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was summoned by Dr. Joseph Warren of Boston and given the task of riding to Lexington, Massachusetts, with the news that British troops were about to march into the countryside northwest of Boston. According to Warren, these troops planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were staying at a house in Lexington, and probably continue on to the town of Concord, to capture or destroy military stores — gunpowder, ammunition, and several cannon — that had been stockpiled there (in fact, the British troops had no orders to arrest anyone — Dr. Warren’s intelligence on this point was faulty). Revere contacted an unidentified friend (probably Robert Newman, the sexton of Christ Church in Boston’s North End) and instructed him to show two lanterns in the tower of Christ Church (now called the Old North Church) as a signal in case Revere was unable to leave town. The two lanterns meant that the British troops planned to row “by sea” across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than march “by land” out Boston Neck. Fortunately, unlike Montgomery, Boston did not have any regulations limiting the displaying of important messages outside its churches.

Before leaving Boston and to appease the founding Rector of St. Barnabas, we take a quick tour of Fenway Park, the second oldest professional baseball stadium in the US after only Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Salem, MA

Known primarily for the Salem witch trials, Salem is also home to The House of the Seven Gables, a colonial mansion built in 1668 and made famous by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables (1851).

To this day, much of the city's cultural identity reflects its role as the location of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692. Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a public elementary school is known as Witchcraft Heights, and the Salem High School athletic teams are named the Witches. Gallows Hill was originally believed to be the site of numerous public hangings and is currently a park used as a playing field for various sports.

Portsmouth, NH

Leaving Massachusetts, we find our way into New Hampshire and the town of Portsmouth where we run into our old friend Paul Revere again. On Dec. 13, 1774, Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth, N.H., to warn the redcoats were coming. As a forerunner to his April 1775 “midnight ride”, this “mid-day ride” was a much less famous ride than the one he made four months later, but it did have consequences. Hundreds of New Hampshire patriots would respond to Revere’s message by storming the colony’s only fort, William and Mary in New Castle. The conflict had elements of farce, since only six of the King’s men defended the fort. But the patriots crossed the bright line of treason when they took what belonged to the King. The King was not happy.

Maine Coast

From New Hampshire, we begin working our way up the Maine coastline dotted by many coastal towns including York, Ogunquit and Kennebunkport.

In Kennebunkport, with a population of less than 4,000 full-time residents, we find not one, not two, but three Episcopal churches, two of which are only open in the summer season to accommodate those that “summer” in Kennebunkport. The most famous of these Episcopal Churches is St. Anne’s which sits directly on the ocean coast in a beautiful stone building. Famous Kennebunkport summer residents and St. Anne’s attendees include the Bush family.

From the coast, we head inland a bit because we have to see the Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor. While 30 miles inland, Bangor sits on the Penobscot river which flows to the ocean, and in the mid 1800s Bangor was the world's largest lumber port, with 150 sawmills operating along the river. The city shipped over 150 million boardfeet of lumber a year, much of it in Bangor-built and Bangor-owned ships. In the year 1860 alone, 3,300 lumbering ships passed by the dock of Bangor. To recognize this history, a 31 foot tall statue of Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack of American and Canadian folklore, stands proudly in the center of Bangor. We return to the coast visiting several small fishing towns like Bar Harbor (Bahh HahhBahh) where we stuff ourselves silly with lahhbstah rolls and clam chawdahh before we head north to plan our first international border crossing.

New Brunswick, Canada

We successfully navigate the border crossing under the cover of darkness leveraging connections we cannot reveal and find ourselves in the province of New Brunswick, Canada.

In 1867, New Brunswick was one of four founding provinces of Canada, along with Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada (now Ontario, and Quebec). According to the Constitution of Canada, New Brunswick is the only bilingual province in Canada. 83% of New Brunswick is forested, so we benefit from nice shaded walks.

The first major city we encounter is Saint John, a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of King George III.

The next major city we find is Moncton. While small from a population size, Moncton has a significant sports heritage including being one of only 5 Canadian cities selected to host the 2015 Womens Soccer World Cup and providing National Hockey League star Sydney Crosby a high school education at Harrison Trimble High.

Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

After covering 821 miles this week, we finish our week in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Our research was not able to uncover why the founders of this small town were so against gonishes, but we did learn that Antigonish has the longest running streak of holding Highland Games outside of Scotland, dating back to 1863.

We set a new record this week covering 821 miles and had over 40 people submit mileage! That’s fantastic...and it also again allowed us to take a few suggested detours to take in more sights. While these detours have added to the total miles we’ll need to cover to get to Bethlehem, we’re still on track to make it by Christmas. At this pace, we are on track to get to Bethlehem by Christmas. This week, we’ll be heading through Nova Scotia and New Foundland where we’ll then face the challenge of how to get across a fairly large body of water. If any of our participants has some fun facts for this section of our journey, please email them to Colleen at cdavies67@gmail.com. Let’s keep it up and encourage other members to join us!