Bob and I found ourselves in Natick, Massachusetts on the morning of Saturday, July 7, 2012. We had driven to this city to escape the high prices of motels in the Boston area, but most of our business that morning would be on Boston outskirt town of Cambridge, home of Harvard University. After a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausages, we left Natick a bit before 9am and arrived at the Mount Auburn Cemetery (which we had scoped out the night before) by 9:30. This was a neat cemetery with a convenient search kiosk. Although most of the more notable names were on the cemetery map, there were a few that Bob had added to the list that we had to locate using the kiosk. So I handled that part.
We spent close to an hour and a half roaming this cemetery and I quite enjoyed the hunt through the intricate roads and trails to find our dead men and women. There several that we saw that were for Bob’s benefit and I didn’t take photos with; among them: Painter and landscape artist Winslow Homer, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient John Michael Tobin, Pulitzer Prize winner Amy Lowell, and Poet James Russell Lowell. Below are the graves for which I had more interest:
Josiah Quincy, a distant cousin of John Quincy Adams, and President of Harvard University, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the second Mayor of Boston
Edwin Booth, a very famous theatrical actor in the mid-1800’s, who is sadly more remembered today for being the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the killer of Abraham Lincoln. Shortly before Lincoln’s death, coincidentally, Edwin Booth had saved the life of Lincoln’s son Robert, when he pulled him out of harm’s way in a New Jersey train station.
I loved Bob’s picture with Edwin Booth
Julia Ward Howe, an American poet who penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Anne Revere, actress who received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in National Velvet
Memorial to Benjamin Franklin, who is in fact buried in Philadelphia
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, famous New England poet (one of the five so-called Fireside Poets) who penned Paul Revere’s Ride
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., was another of the Fireside Poets. His son Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. would serves as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Henry Cabot Lodge Sr. and Jr. – both were interred inside this family vault. Lodge Sr. had been a Senator who had battled Woodrow Wilson over the Treaty of Versailles. His grandson, Lodge Jr. had been a U.S. Senator and the running mate of Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential election.
I was able to shoot a photo inside the vault and capture the marker of Lodge Jr.
Following the Mount Auburn Cemetery, Bob and I also visited the Cambridge Cemetery. Bob laid another Medal of Honor flag at the grave of MOH recipient Joseph F. Scott for his services in the Spanish-American War. And we also visited the grave of writer Henry James, who had penned The Turn of the Screw. We almost walked away from this gravesite having only taken photos of James’ father, also named Henry. At the last minute, we realized this and went back for pictures of the guy we had been looking for.
Grave of Henry James
After a morning that included two hours of grave hunting, it was nearly time for lunch, so we headed to our next stop of the day: Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, a joint that had been featured on the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives episode Burgers, Steaks, and Chops. Located just across the street from the university, this one had been a very popular hangout of Harvard students for over 50 years. I ordered the the Jersey Shore burger, which was 7 oz. burger topped with bacon cheese, grilled mushrooms, and onions. The onion rings were exceptionally tasty as well, but there was no way that I was able to finish all of them. The place included a Laurel & Hardy sighting as well, which is always nice. We also came to the realization at Bartley’s that there were a lot of businesses in Massachusetts that didn’t have public restrooms.
DD&D #37: Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage in Cambridge, Massachusetts
The cramped dining area. Can you spot the L&H decoration?
The boys and the burgers
There was no way I could finish all this…
…but I was ready to try
Here it is! Ollie from Pack Up Your Troubles.
This concluded our time in Cambridge. We opted to skip seeing the plaque indicating the Washington Elm, where George Washington supposedly took charge of the American army. From Cambridge, we drove about 20 miles south of the Boston area, through Quincy, and made a brief stop in Weymouth to check out the birthplace site of First Lady Abigail Adams. The site was closed for touring, but you can check out my pictures of it here.
Plymouth was not on the original plans, but seeing the site of Plymouth Rock was a must for me, so Bob added it into the itinerary. We’ve all heard of Plymouth Rock, but the history of the rock itself is quite fascinating and probably mostly legend. There was never any documentation of the Mayflower Pilgrims setting foot on any specific rock until more than 120 years after their debarkation in 1620. In 1775 the rock was split in half, with the first part remaining in the Plymouth Harbor, the second moved to the Town Square. In 1880, half of the rock was moved back to the Harbor and the pieces were cemented together. Finally, in 1921 the granite canopy was built over it, which brought it to the appearance that it has to this day.
Welcome to Plymouth Rock
The portico built over the Plymouth Rock
Note the place where it was broke in half and cemented back together
Me and Plymouth Rock
Although not much less could be less interesting than a giant rock, it was really cool to see the location that I had been hearing about since my earliest classes in American History during elementary school and in one noteworthy episode of The Brady Bunch. Also nearby, we checked out the exterior of the Mayflower reproduction, a fountain erected in memory of the heroic pilgrims on the Mayflower (two drunk twenty-somethings yelled from their car, making fun of us for taking pictures and Bob and I briefly considered capturing them and throwing dunking their bloody heads in the fountain), a statue in honor of William Bradford, and the giant National Monument to the Forefathers.
With the reproduction of the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor
Fountain erected by the National Society – In Memory of the Heroic – 1620
Statue honoring William Bradford, Governor and Historian of the Plymouth Colony
The mammoth National Monument to the Forefathers
We left Plymouth at around 3pm and then headed about an hour southeast to Hyannis. I wanted to be able to see something in the Cape Cod region of the Massachusetts, and unfortunately time precludes us from taking a flight or ferry to Nantucket (home of Wings) or Martha’s Vineyard (home of George & Leo). However, we did make it to Hyannis and we checked out the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum highlighting the Kennedy’s life in Cape Cod. Further details of the museum can be seen here.
Downstairs from the Kennedy museum was the Cape Cod Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, so we took about 30 seconds to check that out as well. There will definitely need to be a little more exploration of Cape Cod sometime in my future. My favorite moment there was when Bob and I were trying to get photos outside the museum, and a French family led by a little girl were standing in the way. The girl was flitting from sidewalk tile to sidewalk tile, running into her Dad’s legs, and them skipping over to a rock that she had placed on the ground. When we asked if they could move aside for a minute, she spoke in clear English: “Oh, I was just teaching him how to play baseball.” This struck me as quite funny and I repeated it throughout the rest of the trip.
A trophy? For me?
Bob and I left Hyannis at around 4:30pm and headed eastward about 60 miles toward our final destination of the evening: Fall River, Massachusetts and the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast. Yes, it’s true, it’s morbid, and we ate it up. We were staying inside the home where Lizzie Borden’s parents were murdered with that blasted axe.
You can search out the details on your own, but suffice it say that Lizzie Borden was never convicted of the murder that she most likely did commit. But like the debate as to whether it is cool, morbid, or disgusting (my Facebook friends seem to be divided – no pun intended) to stay the night in this house, the debate also rages over her guilt or innocence.
Bob and I checked into the house, found our room in the attic (which, although it was merely used as storage when the Bordens lived here, was now dubbed the ‘Kids Room’ because supposedly the bulk of ghost activity that occurs in this room is perpetrated by ‘kids’), and then headed back out to check out a few things in Fall River.
License plate found in the parking lot of the Lizzie Borden Bead & Breakfast
The unassuming house where Lizzie Borden dished out forty whacks. (Actually that number is a bit of an overstatement). Creepy.
Way to capitalize on those murders!
Creeeepy!!
Our room in the attic. How anyone can continuously bump their head is beyond me.
I found this in our room. And some jacks.
We started with the Oak Grove Cemetery which is where the final resting places of the entire Borden family, including Lizzie’s parents, step-mom, sister, and Lizzie herself. Nearby the cemetery was also the house (dubbed Maplecroft by Lizzie) that she moved into after being found not guilty of the murders.
The Borden family plot
Lizzie’s grave, that little joker
Maplecroft, the home in which Lizzie and her sister lived after the trials found her not guilty
Dinner was served at a local hotdog eatery known as Nick’s Original Coney Dog Wieners. Since I love hotdog stands, I’m always willing to take a chance on finding some good doggies and this one looked like it could be a hidden gem. However, I’m sorry to report that the dogs were just pretty good, not great. I even tried the bean & cheese dog, and the deep fried dog in hopes of finding something memorable, but alas, they were just ‘pretty good’. I did enjoy the cherry soda though, and of course I was very pleased to see the photo of the Little Rascals in the establishment, even if the workers had no idea who they were.
A break from the axe murders to enjoy a hot dog or two or three
Enjoying our doggies in school desk style seats, under some hip retro decor
We headed back to the B&B after we ate and embarked on a tour of the house with our guide Robin. Most of the folks on the tour were staying all night, but there were also a few folks who just came in for the tour. Much of the tour and information was fascinating as it related to the fact of the murders, trial, and life for the Bordens both before and after – but I can do without the ghost stories or any talk of spirits haunting the house. Not because it scares or bothers me, but simply because I don’t believe any of it. Some of the folks in the house even participated in using a Ouija Board after the tour, but that didn’t interest me in the slightest.
The spot where A.J. Borden’s body was discovered. I won’t subject you to crime scene photos, but you can find them online.
The spot on the second floor where Abby Borden’s body was found
The dress worn by Elizabeth Montgomery in the film The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, she and Lizzie were actually a sixth cousins once removed
In the cellar where the bloody hatchet was found is this space in the wall where, when photographed, you can supposedly see the image of Lizzie’s father. Okay. I suppose.
Time for bed…and disparity among the water glasses
By the way, the house has been very nicely refurbished and decorated in period pieces, so that even if you had no interest in the grisly murders, the house itself was still a nice place to stay. Fortunately everyone staying in the house was quite nice and I enjoyed chatting with the neighbor couple on our floor from Pittsburgh, and several of the other folks as well. There was no weirdness, no drawers opening and closing, no disturbances whatsoever. I slept like a baby on the comfortable rollaway, enjoying my forty winks in the house of forty whacks.
The great New England road trip of 2012 will continue…
The image of Lizzie’s father looks remarkably like Bob!
Dave Chasteen
September 11th, 2012
First of all, I admire the fact that you went to Winslow Homer’s final resting place, but I’m sorry that you didn’t get a picture. It would have been interesting.
My favorite pictures in this posting are fw27 and fw43.
Peter
September 11th, 2012
I visited the Borden house several years ago, but all I got to see was the outside. Nobody was available to provide the “tour” of the inside. I was hoping to see if the blood-stained carpet and sofa were still there, but from your photos, it looks like everything was cleaned up!
Bill
September 11th, 2012