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Six Days in Historical New England

ew England’s rich Colonial painted over 1000 portraits, including the
history begins with the pilgrims’ face of George Washington which is on
Narrival in 1620 and continues every one-dollar bill. The house remains
through the American Revolution. While largely unchanged, and still features many
New England tours largely focus on of the original furnishings.
Colonial America, other striking elements Day Four takes you to the coast and the
from its long history are dotted along this town of Newport. Here, one neighbor-
six-day excursion. hood proudly showcases the opulence of
Day One starts at Mount Washington, the new millionaires created during the
named for our first President George Industrial Revolution. Touring many of
Washington. It is the tallest mountain the mansions is encouraged to get the
in New England and offers great views of insider’s view of these powerful homes fac-
the surrounding countryside when it is not ing the
too cloudy. elements of the sea. From there, a quick eight minute drive brings you to
Nearby in Franconia is the Robert Frost House where the great New Fort Adams. From pre-revolutionary earthen cannon emplacements
England poet Robert Frost wrote many of his works. It is open free of through the WWII command center, learn more about the History of the
charge from Memorial Day weekend through the first week in July. Fortress once called “The Rock on Which the Storm Shall Beat.”
Day Two brings you into the state of Massachusetts and some of its Day Five brings you back to Massachusetts to Walden Pond and the
many noted historic sites, beginning with the town of Salem. The Salem home of writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau; then onward to The
Witch Museum is a must-see location dedicated to the Salem Witch Trials Old Manse, a handsome Georgian clapboard built on the banks of the
which took place in New England in the 1600s. This town has been per- Concord River in 1770 for patriot minister William Emerson. Some of
manently marked by the witch trials and it is a strong draw for tourists, New England’s most esteemed minds found inspiration inside its walls. In
especially in the fall. the 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne both
Next, travel to Bunker Hill where you can stand in the spot where called the Manse home for a time.
Americans made their first stand against the British, then climb up the A visit to Lexington and Concord and the bridge where the “Shot
Bunker Hill Monument to look out the obelisk at the top, looking over Heard ‘Round the World” happened inspires the patriot in all of us, after
Boston Harbor. which you can wind up the day with an early evening walk through Sleepy
After arriving in Boston, a walk along the Freedom Trail typically takes Hollow Cemetery.
three hours to complete as you wind your way throughout the city, walking Finally, on Day Six, head to Hartford, Connecticut, for a tour of the
in the footsteps of the many heroes and brilliant minds while viewing Mark Twain House before traveling south to the Mystic Seaport in the
museums, churches, meeting houses, and historic markers that make every town of Mystic, a living museum reflecting the state’s maritime history.
step a story of history. There are many ways to explore New England and discover its intricate
Day Three, turn south into the smallest yet historically significant state role in the creation of the United States. Don’t be afraid to take a dirt road
of Rhode Island. A visit to the Gilbert Stuart Museum brings you into the or two to make your own discoveries. For more information and ideas that
home of this famous early American painter. Throughout his life, Stuart coincide with this itenerary, visit wikitravel.org

Route 66

oute 66 was constructed in 1926 passing travelers to view giant blue whales,
to create the shortest, year-round to see live rattlesnakes and other wild crea-
Rroute possible connecting the tures on display in roadside menageries, or
West Coast and Midwest. Running to stay at “Tucumcari Tonite.” Travel and
between Chicago and Los Angeles, "over Leisure highlights such “must-see” sites
two thousand miles all the way" in the along Route 66 as the 30-foot-tall Gemini
words of the popular R&B anthem, this Giant in Wilmington, Illinois, one of the
legendary old road passes through the many of the fiberglass “Muffler Men”
heart of the United States on a diagonal roadside decorations you’ll find along
trip that takes in some of the country’s Route 66; the Route History museum in
most archetypal roadside scenes. Springfield, Illinois that shares the experi-
Before it was called Route 66, and ence of black travelers on Route 66;
long before it was even paved in 1926, Meramec Caverns in Sullivan, Missouri to
this corridor was traversed by the National Old Trails Highway, one of the explore a 4.6-mile-long system of caves in the Ozarks first used as shelter
country's first transcontinental highways. For three decades before and by Native Americans hundreds of years ago; Meteor Crater in Winslow,
after World War II, Route 66 earned the title “Main Street of America” Arizona, where you can visit the crater created about 50,000 years ago and
because it wound through small towns across the Midwest and Southwest, take a tour of the rim; and Calico Ghost Town in California, a gold rush
lined by hundreds of cafés, motels, gas stations, and tourist attractions. town abandoned in the 1890s and restored to its former glory as a tourist
During the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of farm families, dis- attraction. Along the way, you can stop for some fast food at the Original
placed from the Dust Bowl, made their way west along Route 66 to McDonald’s Museum, drive by the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Cafe
California, following what John Steinbeck called “The Mother Road” in in Shamrock, Texas to view a prime example of Art Deco architecture at
The Grapes of Wrath. After World War II, many thousands more expressed this former gas station and cafe, and grab something to drink at Pops,
their upward mobility by leaving the industrial East for the suburban idyll where over 700 different kinds of sodas and drinks are sold. And at every
of Southern California—again following Route 66, which came to stop along the way you are sure to find a souvenir to remind you of your
embody the demographic shift from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt. journey. If you’re looking for great displays of neon signs, rusty middle-of-
Decommissioned in 1985, Route 66 is a bypassed highway today for all nowhere truck stops, or kitschy Americana, do as the song says and “get
but nostalgia junkies and history lovers. Billboards and giant statues along your kicks on Route 66.” To help you plan your road trip, visit:
the highway still hawk a baffling array of roadside attractions, tempting www.roadtripusa.com/route-66

40 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles