Memorial Day in New England

For Memorial Day, Dan and I decided to explore Massachusetts. So we headed up to Lexington and Concord to walk around and enjoy the day.  Given their historical importance to the Revolutionary War, they seemed like nice choices for celebrating the holiday.

Lexington

Lexington was our first stop of the day. We found a little deli to eat at and then walked around the town. It was a beautiful day for exploring and relaxing.

These gentlemen are dressed in Minutemen attire. They were coming from a celebration on the Green that we had just missed.

 

This memorial is to those that died in the Revolution. Lexington was the site of the "shot heard 'round the world" so there are quite a lot of plaques and memorials for Revolutionary soldiers. 

For example, here is another memorial to those who died. Apparently the first killed were buried within the gates of this obelisk.

A Minuteman statue. He looks out onto the town, forever watchful.

Closeup of the pansies just because they were so pretty.

This belltower was destroyed by a storm, but was rebuilt in 1910. It was used to signal to the Minutemen when it was time to fight. It used to be on the Green, but was later relocated to a hill above the town.

On our way up to see the belltower, Dan pointed out a rabbit along the path.

After walking around for an hour or so, we hopped in the car and drove to nearby Concord.

Concord

Right by the parking lot was a beautiful old cemetery. I took a few seconds to take some quick snapshots. 

We missed the festivities in Lexington, but arrived just in time at Concord. They were announcing names of Concord residents who had died in service of their country. Vets stood at attention in front of different war memorials with wreaths in hand. 

A local bagpipe group played a few patriotic tunes.

And then the Concord Minutement saluted the fallen with a gun salute. 

 

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Fire!

 

They were standing in front of a cemetery where many of the actual Minutemen were buried.

Afterwards, the parade continued with all veterans in the community marching through the streets. 

 

 

 

There were some WWII trucks that were pretty cool. I had to take a few photos. 

 

 

America... 

After the parade, we explored some of the antique shops and walked around. Concord is a quaint and cute little town and it was a nice place to spend a relaxing Memorial Day.