On my vacation day, I wanted to visit the
Concord Bookshop, one of my favorites, and you can't go to Concord without visiting Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) wrote
Little Women! Although Orchard House is currently closed to the public, the parking lot was busy with literary pilgrims pulling up and strolling around the grounds (avoiding a distinctly non-19th century landscaping company removing a tree).
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| LMA wrote Little Women here in 1868 |
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| Currently closed to the public |
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Cucumber plant decor at Main Streets
Market & Cafe, where we had
a yummy lunch! |
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Behind Orchard House - this is where Mr. Alcott
taught and the sisters did theatricals |
It was 90° so we drove to town and parked near Concord's Colonial Inn and strolled down Main Street. I felt bad I couldn't buy something at every store - we were welcomed by friendly masked salespeople with hand sanitizer, missing the usual tourists. I was pleased to see my friend
Barbara's book faced out at the Concord Bookshop where I bought the most recent
Iona Whishaw. Concord is only 40 minutes away so I should visit more frequently.
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| Massachusetts in the Women's Suffrage Movement! |
While
Orchard House was being renovated, the Alcotts rented rooms a few houses away at
Wayside, now known locally as the Home of Authors. The Alcotts called it Hillside. Later Nathaniel Hawthorne lived there with his family and, finally,
Margaret Sidney (1844-1924), author of
Five Little Peppers (1881) (and many sequels, most of which I read), lived there. Sidney is obviously not as well known as LMA and had an easier life.
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| Wayside |
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| I liked the large screened porch on the left |
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| Apple trees outside Orchard House! Jo would be pleased. |
I wish I could manipulate the pictures better but Blogger is so uncooperative.
5 comments:
AHHHHH! How exciting! The only time I was in Concord was at 5 a.m., and there was no opportunity to stop! Your favorites are also my favorites! Little Women is okay, but I love the femal empowerment of Eight Cousins. The uncle is great! Thanks for sharing your trip for those of us stuck at home!
You just toss off sentences about visiting Concord as if it were nothing. You live near Concord? Can you even begin to imagine how fabulous that is to a history buff from the South who has never been further north than Williamsburg except when she was a baby following her father from air force base to base? I have such New England envy.
I loved all the LMA books when I was young but especially Eight Cousins. I passed them along to my daughter when she left home. And now she has a new granddaughter so I hope they will continue to be enjoyed. Actually, I think I would enjoy reading them all over again now, myself.
I never even knew of Concord and the Orchard House until I read The Provincial Lady in America. (Which reminds me I need to read The Provincial Lady in Wartime sometime soon.) She does go there, doesn't she, although I don't think she calls it Orchard House.
I have only been as far north as Washington, D.C., except for a business trip to Connecticut. D.C. was a business trip too and both were back in the 70s. Those photos are lovely and I would love to visit there. I sympathize with blogger and pictures, sometimes it drives me crazy.
I've just finished reading An Old-Fashioned Girl so this post was very timely. Thanks, I'll never visit in reality so armchair travelling is the next best thing.
I always enjoy visiting Concord so come one, come all! Neither 5 am nor temperatures of 90 are ideal times to visit, however. For those interested in Orchard House, I recommend A Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton and American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever. My book group really enjoyed the latter, except in a few places where the author superimposed herself into the book.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Bloomsbury/Susan-Cheever/9780743264624
Eight Cousins must have been one of my first orphan stories. Having no first cousins of my own, I always enjoy them in books!
Dewena, in addition to the writers/history, the area houses are beautiful as well as Concord Academy, a beautiful boarding school right in the center of town which Caroline Kennedy attended. It is nice to be able to make a spontaneous trip! I don't remember visiting as a child but I guess it was hard to find activities that would appeal to the whole family. Did you see the recent movie of Little Women? It wasn't perfect but there was a lot about it that I enjoyed.
Tracy, I have only read the first Provincial Lady book but I should definitely find the one set in America. Lots of good mysteries set in Boston too! I like
Katrina, I made it to Edinburgh so perhaps you will visit Massachusetts one day! An Old-Fashioned Girl has got renewed attention in the last few years. It is a bit preachy but I still like it.
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