Autumn in New England
Oct 1st 2007
Claudia DainOn Writing!
I know you’re dying to find out how my road trip to New England is going. It’s going great!
I had to pack TWO bags, one for clothes and one for toiletries, but I think we all saw that coming. I’m not even counting the third bag I had to stuff into the trunk of the car, the one that holds my pillow; that would be Failure on too large a scale and I’m not into public self-flagellation (or even a private version).
I’ve seen Gettysburg, which was extremely moving and atmospheric. I’ve seen the Catskill mountains in their autumn glory, where Rip Van Winkle got so contentedly lost. I’ve seen West Point Mititary Academy, all 16,000 acres of it. Well, I saw a couple of acres anyway, plus the impressive Hudson River where it winds around West Point. I’ve wanted to see West Point all my life, and I feel so honored to have finally walked on its historic grounds.
All that history, all around me, under my feet—for someone who loves history as much as I do, it was a rare treat and I soaked up every second of it.
You know what else I saw? I saw my new book! I saw it at a local Borders. Are you sensing the importance of this? I saw my book in the town where I went to high school! This is history, too, my personal history. This is the town where I turned in my first term paper, where I sat for hours alone and wrote stories to entertain myself, where I walked woodland trails and let my imagination soar.
My book. My once-upon-a-time hometown. Wow.
What place holds your history? What historic site have you seen that moved you? What historic site would you love to see?
50 Comments »
50 Responses to “Autumn in New England”
elsiehogarth on 01 Oct 2007 at 7:51 am #
Historical places that I love and I have been are: my first trip to Egypt and standing at the foot of the Sphinx then seeing the Pyramids of Giza lit at night from my hotel balcony; Montecillo the home of Thomas Jefferson and Mount Vernon the home of George Washington. They are just places that you can picture in you mind the people that were there and what they were doing. What I love is that so many years later that they are still around for us to see and enjoy.
Karen Hawkins on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:07 am #
I loooove historic sites! The place that touched me the most was this house I accidentally ran across in Memphis, TN. They did tours, and we happened to arrive the day before the house was to be sold.
It was a beautiful, beautiful house with all of the original furnishings and had been in the family since the it had been built in the 1840s. It made me so sad to think that the very next day, for the first time ever, the house would be going to someone else. It was especially poignant because when we looked at a portrait of the current owners, we realized that the guy who sold us our ticket was the actual owner!
We talked to him when we left and he was teary-eyed, but said they couldn’t pay to keep the house in good shape and, because they loved it and didn’t want it to fall into disrepair, they had to let it go.
I wish I could explain how beautiful this house was, but I can’t with only 1000 characters, but suffice it to say that I’ve never seen a prettier house ever.
Claudia Dain on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:24 am #
Oh, Karen, what a story! I know that sort of thing happens all the time, and it’s always so sad, but the silver lining is that someone *will* love that house and cherish it as much as the original owners, so the house will live on, loved.
I would LOVE to see the sites in Egypt. Talk about history! I’ve been to see both Monticello and Mount Vernon fairly recently and they are so impressive, so rich in history. I just can’t get enough history!
Freshechelle on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:38 am #
The Hotel Lutetia in Paris. I stayed there earlier this year and a few nights into my stay, someone told me the history of the hotel. It was the Nazi headquarters during the occupation. I had never felt so moved by history before in such an disturbing & uncomfortable way. I didn’t sleep much for the rest of my stay.
cail on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:39 am #
Claudia, where are you headed in New England? I’m off to Vermont in two weeks.
I love historic places. Both in my history, and the worlds history. I also adore places where they have acting interpreters like in Williamsburg VA and Plymouth Plantation
Claudia Dain on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:45 am #
Oooh, Cail, have you gone to Mystic Seaport in CT? Amazing. And then, just in from my on-site guru of Great Places in New England…the White Mountains in VT makes a lovely drive this time of year. And he should know. *G*
Freshechelle, I would have reacted just that way to seeing a Nazi site. I’ll bet your glad you saw it, even if it was troubling.
Karen Rose on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:52 am #
I once sat outside the Pantheon in Rome and watched the people go by. In my mind I could see the years fall away and imagined what it was like sixty years ago in WW2 and several hundred years ago during the Renaissance and all the way back to Roman times. It was amazing.
But the one I treasure the most is standing next to a tombstone in Williamsburg, VA. DH and I love to look at old graveyards - it’s a way to see primary sources of history and learn about the people of the day. There’s a tombstone at the church of a man’s wife and infant child - she died in childbirth. I don’t remember the words he used on the stone, but basically he said how much he’d loved her. What I do remember vividly are the tears rolling down my husband’s face. Which of course set me off - and then the children wondered why we were both crying. It’s too hard to describe the swelling of your heart when you see love expressed that way - and know it’s a common link through the ages.
We live, we love.
Karen Rose on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:56 am #
On a chipper-er note - I’m betting a real part of my and DH’s history is recorded for the ages.
DH and I grew up in the Maryland burbs of DC and did most of our dating downtown - the museums are free and we were poor college kids. On my 19th birthday, DH proposed to me on the steps of the Senate side of the US Capitol.
I’m thinking his proposal - and my acceptance - are recorded somewhere on a Secret Service tape - and probably hidden in that big warehouse in DC where they keep the Ark of the Covenant and the real Stargate. Okay, not the Stargate. Everybody knows that’s in Area 51.
Claudia - how perfect that you saw your book in your hometown!!!
Kay on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:57 am #
Oh, Claudia, what a great trip.
Cail, I love Williamsburg, too. We are going there for Spring Break next year. We went to DC two years ago, during the Cherry blossom time. WOW. History and all of those beautiful trees.
My favorite historic town is Savannah. Sherman didn’t torch it, so there are many pre-civil war buildings. LOL DH and I stayed in one for our first anniversary. I love walking and biking in that historic area.
My second favorite historic city is Boston. There is too much to see and do!
After that comes London. Churchill’s bunker was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The Tower is older than old.
Another favorite (can you tell I have a traveling addiction?) is the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon. We went there for my DH’s 40th birthday. It was built in 1905 and is in the most beautiful setting!
Oh, to win the lottery and have unlimited ability to travel, read and write………
Claudia Dain on 01 Oct 2007 at 9:30 am #
Kay, I’ve never heard of the El Tovar and I’ve been to the Grand Canyon many times. Now I can’t wait to go back and try out this hotel. Thanks for the tip!
Karen Rose, I love that your DH proposed on the Capitol steps! How romantic!
Julia London on 01 Oct 2007 at 9:54 am #
There are so many, I can’t choose! I remember the first castle i saw in Scotland, the first Georgian home in England. Versailles. I lived in Washington DC and saw all of the old historic sites.
Personally, my family history is all on the plains of West Texas. In the mid-1800s, my family came from East Texas to live there and ranch. They lived in a dugout — actually dug into the ground — and then later upgraded to a house dug out of the side of the canyon with a stone front. Its still there. I think its used for a summer cottage now. But when I was a girl, my uncle lived there. It was remarkably cool and a little eerie. But very unique.
RachelG on 01 Oct 2007 at 10:19 am #
There aren’t a lot of historic places out here in the west. I have to go east to see anything really historical. The Lincoln Memorial was very moving, but the most moving place I’ve ever been was the Vietnam Memorial wall.
rachelg
Sabrina Jeffries on 01 Oct 2007 at 10:28 am #
This has nothing to do with THIS blog, but it’s a belated answer to Claudia’s other blog about packing stuff. I just did a conference in Richmond, and got off for it in something of a hurry. I forgot TONS of things, including my pillow, but the main thing I tend to forget–a small thing, but it always drives me crazy–is a chapstick in my toiletry bag. As a tropics-lover, I get very dry nearly everywhere, and I keep one by my bed at home because it drives me crazy to go to bed with dry lips. I also keep one in my purse, but inevitably, I’m staying somewhere where my purse is nowhere nearby (my brother’s house), I get in the bed, and then I realize I have no chapstick. And since I’m already ready for bed, I don’t feel like getting out of bed to go hunt down the one in my purse, then risk forgetting to put it back in. I swear, I need multiples of everything! Note to self–put a chapstick in my toiletry bag right now!
Sabrina Jeffries on 01 Oct 2007 at 10:37 am #
I think the site that affected me most was the World Trade Center site in NY. My husband and I went there (he wanted to go; I didn’t really), and it was so upsetting. Since he and I had spent a lovely day at the top of it early in our marriage, I had that memory, too, so it was such a bittersweet visit. I just couldn’t help thinking of all the people who’d died there.
But the worst was going back to New Orleans after Katrina. We both wanted to see what the damage was (we’re both New Orleans natives, but he lived his whole life there until we moved to NC). When we moved years ago, it wasn’t so much by choice as by necessity, so I had a hard time, because I loved the city so much. Going back and seeing what had changed was both heartening and devastating. Some things were very much the same. Some things were gone forever. I cried and cried to see one area where we’d spent many a happy time just completely wiped out.
Sabrina Jeffries on 01 Oct 2007 at 10:38 am #
Sorry to depress everyone! Will try to think of a better story after I get back from lunch.
Freshechelle on 01 Oct 2007 at 10:52 am #
Another place that got a strong reaction for me was the Badlands of South Dakota. Before visiting I read up on the travels of Lewis & Clark and the wagon trains that followed in the decades after. To come upon the harsh, unforgiving Badlands after travelling west in the Great Plains must have been crushing to the women who made the journey. The stories of women giving birth on the trail or having a difficult pregnancy and then having to get right back on the trail immediately after delivering just seem horrifying. To stand at the eastern edge of the Badlands and imagine what that entire journey must have been like is intense. I complain to anyone who’ll listen when I get cramps or a headache, I wouldn’t have lasted to the NJ state line on a westward trek.
Georgie Lee on 01 Oct 2007 at 11:09 am #
I love history and I’ve been all over Europe. I am jealous of Elsiehogarth because she’s been to Egypt. I want to go to Egypt but I haven’t had the chance yet. I just returned from Virginia where I visited Jamestown and Yorktown and a few historic plantations. It was exciting to speak with the interpretive people and learn about 18th century surgery and early colonial plantation life. I am doing research for my next novel and it is such a pleasure to see the actual buildings and to speak with people. It is easy to read about surgery in a book but it is a great experience to be able to touch the surgical tools and to pick someone’s brains for information.
Lisa H on 01 Oct 2007 at 11:12 am #
The place that really touched me was the Louvre. Not only seeing the works of thousands of unequivacally talented people who are well known through history, but also to see Napolean’s appartments, knowing he once lived there.
Being an Italian American, I am desiring to go to Italy someday. Hopefully within the next ten years. But the place I am really longing to visit is Israel, to see where Jesus walked, lived and died. I know that will be a trip to cherish forever.
Maybe when I am in Israel, I can travel to Egypt, another place I dream of going. I have always wanted to see the pyramids.
anneriailin on 01 Oct 2007 at 11:20 am #
I love history!! I love the feeling of walking where so many other have walked before. I grew up in Northern KY and now live in Upstate NY and have travelled alot in the US but never overseas. I loved Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Just knowing the history that happened there was overwhelming to me. Valley Forge was another place. To see where our soldiers fighting for our new country spent a winter and where so many died for our freedom was truly staggering for me. Boston and Salem, MA. Both so full of history. Sturbridge Village with its living history was an awesome place to go. I’ve never been to Williamsburg, though. I’d love to go to England. I esp want to see the Tower of London and as many castles as I can locate! And because we can trace our family back (albeit distantly) to William Cecil, I’d love to see Burghley House. You might recognize it as Lady Catherine de Bourg’s house in the most recent Pride & Prejudice movie.
–dorothy
cail on 01 Oct 2007 at 11:28 am #
Claudia, my bf is from a town right near Mystic. Definitely have been there. I was once in this great ruin in Ireland where supposedly the wife threw herself out a window due to an unhappy marriage. Also in Iceland there is this little hut where an exiled couple lived for many years. That was pretty cool. My favorite part about travelling is seeing ancient places and hearing the stories about people who spent time there in the past.
SuzyQ on 01 Oct 2007 at 11:48 am #
The three sites that are on the top of my list to see are the pyramids of Egypt (like so many others), the Acropolis, and Stonehenge. Oh wait – make that four – Mt. Olympus. What kind of goddesses are we if we don’t want to see that?
I’ve seen a lot of different places but believe or not the one to effect me most was right close to home – Ellis Island. Knowing that so many people came through there with hopes and dreams of beginning a new life and knowing that my grandparents were among them.
Karen Hawkins on 01 Oct 2007 at 12:15 pm #
You guys have been to some great places! Wowza! The Htoel Lutetia, the Parthenon, the Badlands, the Vietnam Memorial, Sturbridge Village, Eliis Island, and tons more.
I love historical places. Great blog, Claudia! I’m making a list of places I want to see.
doglady on 01 Oct 2007 at 1:45 pm #
Great blog. The pyramids in Egypt! I am so jealous. And I cannot wait to see a book that I have written in my little town bookstore. How fabulous that must have been! Stonehenge was an amazing place to visit. So quiet and strange. I have camped out at Loch Ness. Didn’t see anything, but the idea that I might made it a great adventure. And COLD! It was March. Went to Warwick Castle for a jousting tournament. Loads of fun. jousting is LOUD. I was lucky enough to study at the Mozart Academy in Salzburg. They have originals of many of his works. As a student I was allowed to go into the archive and actually work with the scores. They rotated the ones that were available every day. Thrill of a lifetime. I also visited his birthplace often, especially when I was down. I was in there one day and there were no other visitors. They have one of the harpsichords Mozart actually used behind these little velvet ropes with a glass lid over the keyboard. The guard came in and recognized me,
doglady on 01 Oct 2007 at 2:02 pm #
he attended an opera in which I sang. He said “Would you like to touch the harpsichord?” He didn’t have to ask twice. I ducked thru the ropes,he lifted the lid and I put my fingers on a keyboard that Mozart actually touched. I will remember it til the day I die.
I’ve been lucky enough to visit the great sites in London, Bath, I sang in Canterbury Cathedral. I’ve been to “Dracula’s” castle in Romania.
The most moving place I’ve been is Auchwitz. It too will stay with me forever. The most poignant, sad, chilling, frightening place I have ever been. The wind blows so cold even on a sunny day. Still a faint smell of death. Difficult to describe. I think everyone should see/ experience it. The best part? The gates are open. Wide. There is some sense of triumph in that.
The funniest thing? When we were kids in England, my mother took us to London. On a tour of the Houses of Parliament, my brother got tired. He sat down in an ornate chair. The one the queen uses to address Parliament!
Julia London on 01 Oct 2007 at 3:29 pm #
doglady, I don’t think I could do Auschwitz. I can’t do any of the 9/11 spots, either. I’m such a chicken — and a weepy one at that!
Sherri Erwin on 01 Oct 2007 at 4:05 pm #
Autumn in New England is absolutely beautiful. I live in a picturesque old New England town and I love this time of year. My grandfather used to explain the foliage changes by telling me that the trees were putting on their party dresses for my birthday. I ate that right up. LOL!
Cail, Plimouth Plantation is so fun. I love Plymouth. Just keep me away from the wax museum. I always get in trouble there. Mystic and Sturbridge are also great places to visit.
Nicole Jordan on 01 Oct 2007 at 4:19 pm #
London’s Hyde Park is my fave historical spot!
As for most moving, the Viet Nam War Memorial wins hands down, and it’s not just because my dad served two tours as a combat helicopter pilot. There’s just something awesomely reverent about that place. And I defy anyone who sees not to cry.
gannon on 01 Oct 2007 at 4:24 pm #
What a great blog, Claudia! Glad to hear you are enjoying your trip–New England is so lovely in the fall.
I’ve been so blessed to be able to travel quite a bit–most of it courtesy of life with a Navy husband. I’ve also been to Egypt, and the Pyramids and the Sphinx are awe-inspiring. I would love to go back there someday. Other favorite places: London and all of its many sights, Scotland (Edinburgh, Loch Ness, and the glory of the Highlands), Versailles, Italy(too many places to name, but Rome is one of my faves in terms of history), Prague. I really want to go to Ireland one day. it’s at the top of my list of must see places.
I have to agree with doglady about moving places. We went to Dachau about two years ago, and just imagining the horrors those poor people went through in that concentration camp moved me to tears. I also think that everyone should experience it at least once. My eldest son said it best, “it’s both enlightening and horrifying.”
darkshire007 on 01 Oct 2007 at 4:34 pm #
Claudia, congrats on seeing YOUR book in your hometown! That must have given you a great sense of pride (and proud you should be as you write amazing books!) As for todays subject line; I don’t have any place that holds my history. I am one of six children to military parents and Houston is the one place we lived the longest. I have never been to any place historical (that I can remember) and I truly can’t think of any I would like to see. I prefer to take my truck and drive out to desolate places. Places where the wildlife does not fear me because they rarely (if ever) see humans. Destruction Bay in the Yukon Territory is one such place. S&G sang of the sound of silence and until you stand in a place where there are no other people, no buildings, no nothing; you don’t understand just how small you really are in the big picture.
colinfirthfan on 01 Oct 2007 at 4:35 pm #
KarenR, I just saw the movie Stargate this weekend. I loved it.
My favourite historical site - The Colosseum in Rome. I also loved the staute of David. I spent awhile just gazing in awe and imagining how someone could carve something like that from a block of nothing!!
My 4 yr old was tickled pink that David was nude……
Another site I love is Montezuma’s castle in Arizona. Every time we drove to the Grand Canyon we’d stop visit.
Claudia Dain on 01 Oct 2007 at 5:17 pm #
Hey, I’m just back from a long drive through the CT countryside where I stopped and took photos of 1) an old chimney of stacked stone, 2) a covered bridge over a rocky stream, and 3) lunch at an inn called The Drum and Fife. I’m in heaven!!!
There are so many great and inspiring places to see in the world. How am I going to fit it all in? Keep the Great Places of History ideas coming. Like Karen H, I’m making a list!
How I’m going to afford all this travel is the subject of another day! LOL
TinaLouiseF on 01 Oct 2007 at 5:27 pm #
So far my favorite historical location that I’ve been to see is the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA.
I want to see Egypt, Great Britain & the Winter Palace in Russia
twolilhahas on 01 Oct 2007 at 5:36 pm #
Yay! I made it home from my first day of training for my new job at the post office. Boy did we have fun today! And the sad news is, it shows in my employee picture ID badge. I didn’t even know I could smile that big, but every single tooth in my entire head is showing. Yeah, I look like I was high on happy juice…and I’m stuck with it forever. Great, huh? At least I can look back on it later and say, “Hey, I was so freakin’ happy that day. It’s all good.”
As far as historical places go, I love Olustee, Florida. They do the Olustee Battle Re-enactment every year. I love all things Civil War, and I always feel so reverent when I’m standing there where all those soldiers camped, and fought, and died, and rejoiced, and mourned. It’s beautiful.
Karen Hawkins on 01 Oct 2007 at 5:50 pm #
Oh, I thought of another moving place! The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. It made me cry, but also made me appreciate many other things I take for granted. The historical aspect is so well presented - it really lets you ‘travel’ back through time.
TinaLouiseF on 01 Oct 2007 at 5:59 pm #
Congrats twolilhahas on a great first day of work.
Ronlyn on 01 Oct 2007 at 6:16 pm #
woo hoo, what a great trip!!
I’d love to go visit the old Civil War battlegrounds, but being how my ILs live right near one (and actually do Civil War re-enactments) I need to wait until my boys are older to drag them out there.
I LOVED touring Greece. Too many specific spots to name, but as far as historical areas, that was my all time favorite.
Closer to home I’m always moved by the area of the Battle of Little Big Horn (custer’s last stand.) it’s so moving, just the rugged terrain, then to know that ego played such a big part of it all. Amazing.
Claudia Dain on 01 Oct 2007 at 6:19 pm #
TinaLouise, more, more on the Winchester House. I’ve heard about it for years and would love to hear someone’s first hand impressions.
Another moving place for me…the memorial at Pearl Harbor. Standing, looking down into that blue water at that sunken ship, my eyes just welled up.
twolilhahas on 01 Oct 2007 at 6:21 pm #
Thanks TinaLouise!
Claudia Dain on 01 Oct 2007 at 6:22 pm #
Twolilhahas, Gettysburg was amazing, so powerful even after all this time, monuments to every brigade of every conceivable state proudly placed on the long, rolling field. I don’t know more than the basics about the Civil War, but this had me speechless and in awe. It was my first Civil War battle site; I’m sure it won’t be my last.
colinfirthfan on 01 Oct 2007 at 6:34 pm #
I live 45 mins from San Jose (and go there frequently) but have never been to the Winchester Mystery House. I hear it is awesome especially during Halloween.
They have midnight tours and everything.
twolilhahas on 01 Oct 2007 at 7:16 pm #
Oh, Claudia, I’d love to see Gettysburg. It just amazes me to go online and read the letters they have from Civil War soldiers to their wives and girlfriends, and then to find out where they were when they wrote it. There are several letters online from soldiers waiting at Olustee, written right before the battle. I live not far from Olustee and go to the re-enactment every year, and to walk around that site, having read their letters, I can almost see the soldiers sitting under the pines in the palmettos thinking about home. Powerful is the only word for it.
Kay on 01 Oct 2007 at 7:39 pm #
Twolil–Congrats on a great first day. I think Olustee is great. We took our kids and my parents there last year. I love all of the restoration work done to Civil War places by the CCC. My grandfather was in the CCC, and worked at Andersonville. That is another very sad place to visit.
Nicole, there is a night time tour of the monuments in DC that is amazing. They all look so different than in the daytime. The Korean War memorial is eerie at night. The statues of the soldiers look like ghosts. I wonder if it was designed that way,or if it just happened.
Karen Hawkins on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:10 pm #
Ooops! I missed twolil’s post. CONGRATS on a fabu first day of work! Sounds like you’re at the Right Place. That’s always a great place to be!
See? All those nerves were for naught.
By the by, my fam used to go to Williamsburg. That was a GREAT place to visit. I just love the architecture of that period. Very classy and elegant.
twolilhahas on 01 Oct 2007 at 8:28 pm #
Thanks, y’all. haha Showing my southern roots. You were right, Karen. The nerves were for naught.
Suzanne Enoch on 01 Oct 2007 at 11:22 pm #
Blenheim Palace in England. Aside from being just plain gorgeous, when I got my first glimpse of it I knew it. It was exactly what I had pictured for the home of my Griffin family series. I’ve never felt so…at home in a place I’ve never visited before.
BTW, Churchill was born there.
Dot C on 02 Oct 2007 at 8:00 am #
Claudia…PLEASE tell me you stopped into that bookstore, introduced yourself to the staff, and signed your stock!!!!!
I can’t stress this enough….to all the traveling authors, nothing makes a better more treasured gift for a customer than a signed copy of a book. AND it can often mean the difference in what some people are willing to give a first try to. ALSO, every book store staff has at least one romance junkie they employ, and that person, I GUARANTEE, handsells LOTS of romance books to customers who just aren’t sure what they want. If they can say that they met you, that personal connection will prompt them to recommend your book (especially if it’s signed!).
I hope your trip is awesome, and don’t forget those John Hancocks!
Dot
SuzyQ on 02 Oct 2007 at 8:49 am #
Twolilhahas, congrats on your new job! Wish you all the best!
TinaLouiseF on 03 Oct 2007 at 2:33 am #
Claudia, The Winchester House was great. The house was the reason my best friend and I went to San Francisco on vacation in 2002. We let Lisa’s husband tag along on our vacation. Lisa, Mike and I had the behind the scenes tour in addition to the regular tour. With two of us taking photos, I don’t think we have very many duplicates. Unfortunately we don’t have digital pictures, so I have no way to e-mail them.
Aspen on 04 Oct 2007 at 9:32 pm #
100% Off topic
Hi Suzanne!
I Loved your Touch of Minx.
I have just finished “A Matter of Scandal” Loved it. It had a Pride & Prejudice feel to it and I absolutley LOVE P&P. Thanks!
Aspen
Anna Small on 10 Oct 2007 at 8:36 am #
My favorite historical site was in little Concord, MA (and I lived in England for 10 years!). I was working in Natick for only a week (we lived in NJ, and yes, I always write with a lot of parentheses!!!!), and my dh was with me. He traveled around during the day while I was at work, and when I was finished, picked me up and raced me out to Concord. We are both big US history buffs, and it didn’t really dawn on me where we were until we were walking down the main road and stood in front of a simple brown 2 story house. I stared at it and then screamed, “Orchard House!” Yes, it was Louisa May Alcott’s family home. She was one of my first fave authors. I then continued to scream “Thoreau’s House! Hawthorne’s house! Emerson’s house!” and ended up in tears of joy and excitement as we walked to the Old North Bridge, where it again took me a minute to realize where I was. We had an amazing time in Concord and still talk about it, even 12 years later.