If you’re reading this you already know I love books and bookish things. What you might not know is that I also love to travel and see new places/learn new things. A former co-worker (now retired) and I combine these two loves and take a bookish vacation every couple of years. Our first trip was to Prince Edward Island to do all things L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables. It was amazing! So beautiful and so much fun.
At the house that inspired Green Gables
The “Lake of Shining Waters”
In 2012 we did a much shorter trip, but one I’d been wanting to do nonetheless… Indiana. You might be wondering what bookish thing we would want to see there. You’ll have to go back to the late 1800s to the days when Gene Stratton Porter was alive and writing books set in The Limberlost swamp. My aunt got me hooked on these books and I wanted to visit ever since. Thankfully my coworker was also a fan. We stopped at some bookish locations all along the way. You can see our itinerary here. You can also read a small recap here. Aside from the Gene Stratton Porter locations, Funky Bones (mentioned in The Fault in Our Stars) was my favorite place to see!
Yes, that’s me, in a volgbrothers t-shirt, holding The Fault in Our Stars, sitting on Funky Bones. #nerd
Boston Ideas:
That brings me to this year! On July 6th we’re flying out to Boston! We plan to bum around the city for a couple days and then rent a car to drive out to The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. Of course we’ll hit up the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center while we’re there.
But this is where I need your help! What should we do in Boston? I want to be sure to head out and see the Louisa May Alcott Orchard House one day. We also want to check out Boston’s Public Garden to see the Make Way for Ducklings statue. But other than that we don’t really know. We’d like to walk the Freedom Trail but don’t have anything set in stone.
We were looking at maybe getting Go Boston Cards. Has anyone done this? Thoughts?
I’d love to hear from people who have visited the area or those who live there. What cannot be missed? Restaurants? Sights? Tours? Anything!!!! It doesn’t have to be bookish 🙂
Jacqui
Be sure to go to Authors’ Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – right down the street from Orchard House in Concord. It’s gorgeous and is the final resting place of Thoreau, Emerson, the Alcott family, Nathaniel Hawthorne… It’s a MUST see. http://www.newenglandtravelplanner.com/go/ma/boston_west/concord/sights/authors_ridge.html
Have fun! Boston is amazing.
Courtney @ Courtney Reads A Lot
If you get a chance to go to Salem nearby, which I definitely think you should, there’s a night ghost story tour. Plus, a lot of old houses and cool stores. Not to mention, you can visit The House of the Seven Gables, which is supposedly the setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel. There’s also The Witch House, the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin who was involved with the witch trials. And there’s just a bunch of old houses you can tour that feel like they’re haunted and are actually supposed ti be haunted. It’s got a great atmosphere, if you’re into creepy or history, which you seem to be into the latter at least. 😀 Hope you have fun!
Courtney @ Courtney Reads A Lot
Also you should be really touristy and go on a duck tour. http://www.bostonducktours.com/ It’s fun when it goes from the street into the water. And it’s just a cool way to see the sights.