Nearby: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

I've been quite busy as of late and haven't had as many opportunities for adventuring as I would like. Hopefully, that will soon change and as the weather turns for the better so will my schedule. These pictures are from a trip to Sleepy Hollow cemetery in Concord, where so many of our beloved American authors are buried. It was a lovely thing to find them buried so close to one another-very sweet and appropriate, this collection of creative souls resting on a ridge together. 

Nearby: Macaron Sweeterie

On the way home from my Concord outing, I stopped in Lexington for the sole purpose of visiting this place: Macaron Sweeterie. Over the past two years, I have developed an unhealthy, overly indulgent attachment to these delightful french pastries.  I shamelessly make weekly purchases of these little nuggets of joy at the Thinking Cup cafe downtown, my go to cafe during the week. But I wanted to come here, a place that is distinctly devoted to the macaron. And of course, they didn't disappoint. I picked a medley of them-from lemon (my favorite) to salted caramel to honey lavender to a mint chocolate. All were delicious. Eating macarons is an expensive habit-one alone can cost around 3 dollars, depending on where you purchase them. But they are just oh so good! And I'm afraid I don't have the patience to perfect their creation at home-my mother and I tried in earnest last year to make them-after two rounds, we grew a bit tired of the effort. Luckily, I am not the only one in this area with a macaron obsession. But for my wallet's sake, I should probably give them another shot in the kitchen. 

Nearby: Old Manse

Today I ventured to nearby Concord, a place I have visited only once before. 

That visit occurred about ten years past and my memories of the visit are quite fragmented. As such, I arrived to Concord this morning with fresh eyes and a hope to hop from one place to the next-first, I stopped at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery followed by Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House (which I will write about in subsequent posts) and then I headed to Old Manse, pictured above. Concord is such an exhilarating place to visit because of it's significance in both 18th century colonial history and 19th century literary tradition. It's like a playground for history lovers! 

Old Manse is a National Historic Landmark, and for good reason. Ralph Waldo Emerson AND Nathaniel Hawthorne both resided here for a short time. In fact, today I stood in the very room where Emerson's famous essay "Nature" was penned.  A small, simple room but one full of light, as you might expect. Later, when Nathaniel and his wife Sophia lived there, they etched messages on the windows that you can still read today-entertaining, sweet messages.  I wonder if they imagined they would last. But that was not the sum of Hawthorne's production in the house-he did in fact write a short story collection entitled Mosses from an Old Manse that serves as a tribute to the home. 

 The house was originally built in 1770 for a minister and is in a typical Georgian style of the period. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed within the interior of the house, but I actually found the grounds and surrounding area more interesting-mainly because the location of the shot heard around the world is only just a 5 minute walk away, if that. So it was here, in April of 1775, that the American Revolution officially began. How wonderful it must have been for Emerson and Hawthorne to have a view of the very spot as they wrote in Old Manse. 

Brattle Square Florist

Brattle Square Florist is precisely where it's name suggests: Brattle Square in Cambridge. From the outside, it's rather unassuming and I myself have walked past it on several occasions without a thought to venture inside. Last weekend, however, I spent the morning jaunting to and fro about Harvard Square and thus was extra close by.  

I was also desperate for tulips. Somehow their presence helps me believe spring is near. So I entered the narrow trove of flowers, delighted with the sweet scents filling the air and the dazzling selection of blossoming creatures. A step inside a place like Brattle Square Florist is like a good dose of medicine. It's ever so relieving to be surrounded by cheerful flowers and that's exactly how I felt in Brattle Square. So after lingering for a good fifteen minutes, I left with my bouquet of red and yellow tulips under my arm, feeling slightly more optimistic than when I arrived.