Connecticut and the Coolidge Detour
Monday, October 22nd, 2012
Bob and I began our sixth day of travel through New England on the morning of Monday, July 9, 2012, at the Comfort Suites in Norwich, Connecticut. We had a nice breakfast and then headed toward our first destination of the day, the Trumbull Cemetery in Lebanon, Connecticut, about 2o minutes north of our hotel. This is the final resting place of Declaration of Independence signer William Williams, not to be confused with any of the other dozen or so famous William Williams throughout history. This one had been elected to the Continental Congress to replace Oliver Wolcott, and although he arrived too late to actually vote for it, he became a signatory of the Declaration on behalf of the state of Connecticut. Read the rest of this entry »
Calvin Coolidge was our nation’s 30th President, serving from 1923 through 1929 during a time of great prosperity in our country. Some criticize his notion of small government and laissez-faire ideology as leading to the Great Depression which then ensued in the 1930s after he had left office. Although highly skilled at giving speeches during his Presidential campaigns and press conferences, he was known as “Silent Cal” for his dour, stiff disposition and quiet personality at social events. Some speculate that this was part of an act to give the public what they wanted. Others think that his sadness grew out of the death of his son, who died from blood poisoning after getting a blister while playing tennis at the White House. 
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. 
Although Bob and I had been tooling around various part of Massachusetts, mostly just outside of Boston, and even occasionally inside of Boston, I really hadn’t gotten the feeling of experiencing the real heartbeat of Boston. That was rectified on Friday, July 6, 2012. Looking back, it is amazing how full this day actually was. It began when we woke up in Braintree and started as early as possible. The Adams National Historic Site didn’t open until 9am, so that was the best that we could do. 