April has been a month dominated by travel – I was away from home for 3 1/3 weeks, with half of the time spent working and the other half with family for an important family birthday 😉 (IYKYK)
Dallas-Fort Worth
My trip started in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, with a heavier focus on Fort Worth than Dallas. It isn’t always easy to get a good feel for a place when you are bouncing between events, your hotel, and the occasional restaurant, but I think I can say I preferred Fort Worth ever so slightly to Dallas. We had decidedly un-Texan weather for most of that first week, with thunderstorms, wind and rain, temperatures closer to 50℉ than the expected 70+. In fact, the Scottish and Texan weather seemed to swap, as while I shivered in my sandals and non-existent outerwear, Scotland was sunny and warm. Not that I am bitter…
One of the most commonly asked questions when I return from a trip particularly to Texas is ‘what did you eat?!’ or more specifically, ‘did you get barbecue?’ Short answer – yes I got BBQ, twice in fact, as well as plenty of Tex-Mex and some southern-style fried chicken. The food is always a highlight when going to a foreign country, and coming from the North East, I find anything south of New York to be as foreign as Europe 😄
Austin
From Dallas, we drove down to Austin where we finally got the proper Texan weather we were hoping for – sun and heat but not too much heat. On our first day we were fortunate enough to finish about 4pm and so took ourselves down to the river where there is a gorgeous walk, miles long, well-kept and winding through trees and gardens. It was impressively busy, with probably hundreds of Austinites (I googled, this is apparently the correct term) out for a walk, run, or cycle.
The city of Austin is fascinating, both for its position in the US tech world (a second Silicon Valley according to many) and for its variation in green space and architecture. There are plenty of modern sky-scrapers and apartment buildings, but also the occasional older-style house, and rows of older shops, bars and restaurants. I desperately hope that I can go back, as I really feel I only scraped the surface of what Austin has to offer.
Part of that surface was, of course, the famous Terry Black’s BBQ. An informal friendly atmosphere, this restaurant requires you to wait in a queue, and even gives you the option of buying a beer or drink while you wait. Inside you loop past merch (t-shirts, hats, and so much more) and have plenty of time to think about what you want to order. There were more than 10 sides, 5 or 6 meat options, and plenty of drinks.
After your meat has been slapped onto your tray – no plates, just paper-covered trays – you need only find a place to sit in a method reminiscent of a high school cafeteria. The meal once you get to it is more than worth it. We had been on a good 4-mile walk in the heat, and felt we had more than earned our delicious dinner.
Another Texas institution that we were required to visit, particularly on our drive, was Buc-ees, the most incredible rest stop I have ever seen. The appeal is multi-faceted: the restrooms are clean and many; there is parking and gas pumps enough for 18-wheelers and plenty of cars; there is an impressive line of soda dispensers in numerous different home-made flavours; and when it comes to shopping, where to begin? They have standard car snacks like crisps, nuts, candy; jerky in numerous flavours; a bakery; a fudge stand; every refrigerated drink you could want; sandwiches; fresh fruit; a pulled-pork BBQ stand; sauces and spices; car supplies like window wash; Buc-cee’s and Texas merch – and so much more I have forgotten.
Of course, I did get a selfie with the Buc-cee statue.
Marblehead
After only two days in Austin I flew up to Boston for a family get-together and week at home. The other half joined me from Scotland, and after the big event took place early in the visit, we had a gloriously relaxed week seeing friends, taking walks, sleeping and reading. It was the holiday we both desperately needed, and the weather was mostly very good.
Concord and Lexington
One small adventure we did take was a visit to the town of Concord, MA. We had originally planned to go later in the week, but the preparations for the 250th anniversary of the Shot Heard Round the World meant that hotel costs skyrocketed. So, we went a bit earlier, taking advantage of how short the drive was (about 50 minutes from Marblehead).
To start with, we visited the Minute Man Visitor Center, where you can pick up the walking trail that leads from Lexington to Concord. We were not quite prepared to do that whole path, but did take a short wander along it through the trees; on either side were well-kept Colonial homes and plenty of informational plaques about important buildings that are now lost.
The museum includes a short video presentation that teaches visitors about the events at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 – definitely worth a watch! Despite my having grown up nearby and being indoctrinated with Revolutionary War history from a young age, I had forgotten more than I realized and it was great to bring it back again. Also to learn – which I’m not sure I had – that the shot was significant not as the first shot of the Revolutionary War, as the British had been shooting at colonists for years. Rather, it was the first time the organized militia shot back. The start of a long rebellion, and one that would spread…
As we could not yet check in to our hotel, we decided to visit the important historical site of the North Bridge, which is where the shot actually took place. There is a finely-restored brick home that serves as the visitor centre and overlooks the Concord river, down to the bridge and Minute Man statue. The path from the visitor centre is well-kept and winds gently down the hill, across the bridge, and back up the far side where it passes the Old Manse. This beautifully rambling colonial building was home to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne at various times; it was not open when we visited.
With our Revolutionary War history refreshed (or in the case of the other half, informed), we headed back into the town to check into our hotel, the Concord Inn. It was a lovely spot, with impeccably-restored colonial features. There are older, more traditional rooms in the inn proper, though we were housed in the more modern addition. While I wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed with the staff, and the room was incredibly warm, we were nonetheless comfortable for a night.
We did take one more walk around the town of Concord, down the Main Street and circling through the neighbourhoods to visit two graveyards. The first was the Old Burying Hill, located just off the Common, and the location of the original meeting house. The second was the more famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where there is an entire section devoted to famous authors of the greater Boston area. Here are buried, amongst others, Henry David Thorough, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (who we never did find)
Our afternoon of exploring was brought to a relatively quick halt when dark clouds rushed in quite swiftly, blocking the sun. We made it back to the inn with about five minutes to spare before the heavens opened.
The following morning, we did make a short stop in Lexington before heading back to the north shore.
Back in Marblehead
Finally, we finished the week back in Marblehead meeting friends for dinner and attending Easter Sunday services. As I mentioned on my Instagram post from the day, I am not a particularly religious person, but the music is always emotional. Furthermore, this is the church we attended for most of my childhood and in which I was baptised, so there is always a pleasant feeling to return.
I have written about Marblehead several times, including an entire post on the best views, but I thought that I might include here two views I have not, I believe, included before. The first is taken from the causeway leading out to Gerry Island; this is a small island that is only accessible at low tide (or probably from about half-tide really), and walkers have to be very careful not to be caught. The tide can come in very quickly, and in a matter of minutes you may go from ankle- to knee-deep water. So why the appeal? For me, it is very simple: this was where I played when we lived nearby, and visited Gas House beach regularly. I have a feeling I may write a post just about Gerry so I won’t go into too much detail, but I think it safe to say that the island has a special meaning to most people who lived in this area in the 80s and 90s, at least. The second photo is from the island, looking towards Fort Sewall and Marblehead light.
One last note
There is one last issue about which I wish to write; I have changed my mind several times about whether to address this topic.
For this trip, I was of course travelling in the US, my home country. It is something I have done for both business and pleasure numerous times, but I have to admit that this occasion did hold some heightened anxiety. The news and the internet have been flooded in recent weeks and months with stories about the state of the US border, and the number of visitors who have experienced difficulties upon entering or attempting to enter – phone searches, entry refusals, even imprisonment. I was relatively confident that as a US citizen travelling from Europe for business, I would be in a good place. But academics and those who travel from Europe were also flooding sites with questions: will my phone be searched? Should I have a burner phone, as the posts suggested? Is that worse? Would my partner, with his British passport, experience an additional difficulties? Neither of us use social media for politics (in fact he does not use it at all), but I think if there is one pervasive message of the last few months it is that very few things that we used to take for granted can still be considered in that way.
So, anxiety was high for this trip. But, for the record, neither I nor my partner had any difficulty at all with border control, and in fact had the exact same experience we always had. My flight cancellation and attempt by the airline to send me to Dallas via Portland (Oregon) were less fun, but in the end we both got to the US with relatively little drama. As I mentioned above, I have debated whether I even wanted to address these anxieties in writing, but decided that I found it important to do so. Because I was scared, I was worried, even if I could assert out-loud that I was not.
The Wandering Medievalist 