Thursday, July 5, was the second day of the two-weeklong road trip that Bob and I were taking. It was a good day overall, although just a bit grave-heavy, so please have tolerance. Checking out graves of the famous appeals to me for a few reasons. The first and most obvious is to simply pay my respects to someone whose work I like or admire. If rule number one doesn’t apply to someone who has achieved some other fame or notoriety, see rule number two… which is the checklist/scavenger hunt aspect of it. And finally, I legitimately enjoy the detective work sometimes involved in tracking down a headstone based on various clues that we pick up in advance. So although it is easier to just go to the main office of the cemetery and ask for directions, a lot of times I enjoy it more when we have to scour the cemetery to find it. So while I have no objection to the stereotype of the grave-hunter to be somewhat morbid, I wanted to lay out the facts as I see them.
The day even started off in a cemetery…somewhat. I awoke at Cliff’s house after the Fourth of July party, took a shower in the basement, and then made my way upstairs to find him and Bob combing over maps and some pamphlets that he had picked up. He insisted on taking us out to breakfast, only to find when we arrived at one of the local diners that it was closed for the holiday weekend. He had to head off to a doctor’s appointment, so Bob and I visited the nearby Old Swedish Cemetery. Buried together there are Lillian Gertrud, the last American survivor of the Titanic. She was only five during the sinking in 1912, and had passed away in 2006. She was buried alongside her mother Selma who had also survived the ordeal. We thought it was fitting to visit this grave during the year of the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.
Titanic survivors who came up for the third time
When we got back to Cliff’s house in Worcester, I had a leftover hotdog for breakfast and then Bob and I spent an hour or so browsing Cliff’s amazing collection of Laurel and Hardy memorabilia which ranged the spectrum of statues, toys, dolls, to autographs, vintage stills, original contracts, and props and costumes from the films. It was enough to make my mouth water – at least as much as the hotdog did.
With the pants thta Stan Laurel wore in The Bullfighters
Among the treasures with Cliff
A final rest in the Party Palace before we head out
Bob and I took off around 10:20 and headed back toward Boston. On the way, we stopped in Natick, Massachusetts at the Dell Park Cemetery. This was an important stop as here rested the remains of Henry Wilson, who had held the office of Vice President of the United States from 1873 until his death in November of 1875, in the administration of Ulysses S. Grant. My pal Rich Finegan lived nearby, so we had talked the night before about the possibility of him meeting up with us at the grave. After he circled the cemetery a couple of times, he eventually found Wilson… and us.
Me and VP # 18 – Henry Wilson
Bob had not included Concord, Massachusetts, on his original itinerary, but I had wanted to visit the graves of some pretty famous authors at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, so that got added in. As we neared Concord, I realized that many other historically significant things had taken place in Concord, namely one of the most famous battles of the Revolutionary War.
We didn’t stay too long at the Minute Man Historic Park, but it was enough time to take in a couple of famous locations. For started the reproduction of the famous Old North Bridge, where our colonial commanders first gave the orders to fire on British Troops in 1775, and thus began the first battle, The Battle of Concord, in the Revolutionary War. A memorial obelisk was dedicated near the site of the bridge in 1837, at which time was no longer there and hadn’t yet been reproduced.
Monument erected in 1836, noting that the first act of resistance to British agression occurred here on April 19, 1775
Grave of the British Soldiers killed at the North Bridge Battle in Concord
The North Bridge reconstructed
Just next to the North Bridge is the Old Manse, which had been built by the grandfather of writer Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1770. The famous Emerson moved into the house in 1834. Later the house was rented to another famous American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne for three years beginning in 1842. I know there was a lot more to see in Concord, but for now it was nice to get just a quick taste of the Revolutionary War history to be found there.
The Manse – where both Emerson and Hawthorne lived
Nearby the historic park was the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which is where you can most certainly find the biggest bang for your buck if you’re into visiting the graves of famous American authors. Up a hill from the main road through the cemetery is Author’s Ridge, where one might find Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. And find them we did.
The grave of he Henry David Thoreau: Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.
The Thoreau marker and the little Henry marker
The grave of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
The grave of Louisa May Alcott: We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.
The grave of Ralph Waldo Emerson: If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.
Bob and I pressed on to Everett, which is on the northern outskirts of Boston. This town was a bit out of the way, but within the Woodlawn Cemetery was a comic actor near and dear to my heart. Paul McCullough was one half of the once-famous comedy team Clark and McCullough, both of whom hailed from Springfield, Ohio. You may recall that I once discussed Paul and his tragic demise with his famous great-niece Julie McCullough. Also in the cemetery, we located Russell C. Elliot, a Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient.
Paul McCullough – long forgotten, but not by me
All of the grave hunting had worked up an appetite with us, so as we drove back into the heart of Boston, we made it in the nick of time to Mike’s City Diner. I jumped out of the car while Bob parked and put in our orders before the kitchen closed at 3pm. This eatery had been featured on the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives episode Talkin’ Turkey. I didn’t get to see the full segment, but I learned enough to know that their special was Mike’s Famous Pilgrim – which is a sandwich consisting of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, served with fries and a pickle. I thought the cranberry sauce would be out of place, but it was actually my favorite part. We were off to a good start on our DD&D quest.
Bob and me and our faux Thanksgiving dinner
Mike’s Famous Pilgrim
Noting President Clinton’s visit
DD&D #35: Mike’s City Diner in Boston, Massachusetts
You might think with all of the DD&D talk as of late that I’ve forgotten my other restaurant quest – to visit as many Hard Rock Cafe’s as possible. But it didn’t escape me that there was one located in Boston that I had never seen, so Bob and I headed over there for dessert. I enjoyed my hot fudge brownie and finding the coolest piece of rock memorabilia that I’ve ever seen (see photo below), but Bob was at odds with our bubbly but annoying waiter Jimmy. He also had incredibly poor picture taking skills and made us wait a good fifteen minutes while he checked on validating our parking receipt, only to find out that we hadn’t spent enough on the desserts to be validated. All the while the meter ticked away in the parking garage. It was my first Hard Rock of the year, 41st Hard Rock Cafe overall, and sadly it didn’t impress.
My first Hard Rock of the year, 41st total
There is lots of press interest when Bob and I enter
Our desserts and the shirt and vest worn by Roger Glover of Deep Purple. I cared more about the dessert, but apparently our waiter Jimmy was more excited about the shirt.
Bob’s disdain for the waiter
My disdain for the fact that the Brownie was now gone
World’s collide on the best piece of memorabilia I’ve ever encountered: heads, including those of Laurel and Hardy, used on the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
I’ve never thought that Ollie looked much like Ollie, but when you throw in the skinny body that you can’t actually see on the album cover, it looks even less like him
It was around 5pm when Bob and I did a quick drive-by to see the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Plaque located on Piedmont Street in Boston. I didn’t know a lot about the horrific fire that took place there, but learned that it claimed the lives of 492 people on November 28, 1942, including the famous Hollywood cowboy Buck Jones. Monopolizing the headlines during the height of World War 2, the fire would be the catalyst of more stringent building codes that are in place today.
Bob had the birthplace of Ralph Waldo Emerson on his list to see also. And although I believe that there is in fact a plaque there to commemorate it, all we saw was a Macy’s department store, so we didn’t even bother to stop. Next!
Even if you’ve never heard of Edward Estlin Cummings, you might know him by his more recognizable moniker e.e. cummings. Although Bob and I would continue to refer to him as ‘she’, it didn’t stop us from locating her (I mean ‘his’) grave in the Forest Hills Cemetery in the Jamaica Plains neighborhood of Boston. Also on the grounds are William Lloyd Garrison, a prominent abolitionist who edited the newspaper The Liberartor during the 1830’s, and playwright Eugene O’Neill. Whilst having trouble locating O’Neill, a police officer approached us and told Bob that our rental car (with the distasteful New York plates) was parked on somebody’s grave. After Bob apologized, the cop ended up helping us find the O’Neill. When we returned to the car, we found that sure enough there was one grave closer to the street than any others. But since the guy underneath was probably dead, I really don’t think we disturbed him.
The grave of e.e. cummings: The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
The grave of William Lloyd Garrison: Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion.
The grave of Eugene O’Neill: Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.
Bob parks the car on a grave. Oops.
In order to begin the next day in Braintree, we began our southward expedition to the outskirts of Boston again. Along the way, we stopped in the unassuming town of Milton, Massachusetts, was notable as housing the birthplace of George H.W. Bush. No he wasn’t an original Texan and neither was his son. You can check out this all-important presidential birthplace in the posting found here. Besides this house, we couldn’t find much else nice in Milton, including a place to stay, so we headed all the way to Braintree to the Motel 6.
But… before we reached our destination, we found one final site to visit that day, this one in Quincy: the very first ever Dunkin’ Donuts. This may not be much of a big deal around the Midwest, but Bob and I soon began to notice the out-of-control number of Dunkin’ Donuts that were to be found around New England. Not being a giant fan of their donuts, this was the only one where I actually ate. Naturally I opted for a cheese bagel and Boston Cream donut.
The very first Dunkin’ Donuts
This actually may have been my first Dunkin’ Donut
At some point during the day, Bob and I noticed that an awful lot of Bostonians resembled Michael J. Pollard.
We got to the Motel 6 at around 8:30pm. I chatted with Jamie for a bit and then fell fast asleep, while visions of dead presidents danced in my head.
The road trip will continue as we finally hit the heart of Boston…
You guys missed the memorial plaque to two Titanic victims who lived in Milton, MA, briefly. I had hoped you took a picture of the small memorial at Curry College. Why there? Who knows?
Bill Russo
March 6th, 2015