Side Trips from Boston - Boston 2009 - page 241

Poetry in Motion
Before you visit Lexington and Concord, you might want to read “Paul Revere's
Ride,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's classic but historically questionable
poem that dramatically chronicles the events of April 18 and 19, 1775.

Tips

were sleeping (or trying to) at the nearby Hancock-Clarke House. The warning came
around midnight, followed about 5 hours later by some 700 British troops, en route to
Concord, where they planned to destroy the rebels' military supplies. Ordered to dis-
perse, the colonists—fewer than 100, and some accounts say 77—stood their ground.
Nobody knows who started the shooting, but when it was over, eight militia members
lay dead, including a drummer boy, and 10 were wounded.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE From downtown Boston, take Storrow Drive or Memorial
Drive to Route 2. Take Route 2 from Cambridge through Belmont, exit at Route
4/225, and follow signs to the center of Lexington. Or take Route 128 (I-95) to Exit
31A and follow the signs. Massachusetts Avenue—the same “Mass. Ave.” you saw in
Boston and Cambridge—runs through Lexington. There's metered parking on the
street and in several municipal lots, and free parking at the National Heritage Museum
and the National Historical Park.
The MBTA ( & 617/222-3200; www.mbta.com) runs bus route nos. 62 (Bedford)
and 76 (Hanscom) to Lexington from Alewife station, the last stop on the Red Line.
The one-way fare is $1.25 with a CharlieCard or $1.50 with a CharlieTicket, and the
trip takes about 25 minutes. Buses leave every hour during the day and every half-
hour during rush periods, Monday through Saturday, with no service on Sunday. They
pass the Munroe Tavern and the National Heritage Museum, if you prefer not to walk
from the center of town. There's no public transit between Lexington and Concord,
but the seasonal Liberty Ride tour connects the towns.
VISITOR INFORMATION The Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, 1875
Massachusetts Ave., Lexington, MA 02420 ( & 781/862-1450; www.lexingtonchamber.
org), distributes sketch maps and information. It's open daily from 9am to 5pm
(10am-4pm Dec-Mar).
EXPLORING THE TOWN
Minute Man National Historical Park is in Lexington, Concord, and Lincoln. At the
Lexington end of the park is the Minute Man Visitor Center , off Route 2A, about

⁄ 2 mile west of I-95 Exit 30B ( & 781/674-1920; www.nps.gov/mima). This area of the
park includes the first 4 miles of the Battle Road, the route the defeated British troops
took as they left Concord. The rangers recommend that you begin your visit here by
watching “The Road to Revolution,” a fascinating multimedia program that explains
Paul Revere's ride and the events of April 19, 1775. (Winter visitors can start in Con-
cord.) Also here are informational displays and a 40-foot mural illustrating the battle.
On summer weekends, rangers lead tours of the park; call ahead for times. The Battle
Road Trail, a 5 1 ⁄ 2 -mile interpretive path, carries pedestrian, wheelchair, and bicycle traf-
fic. Panels and granite markers along the trail display information about the military,
social, and natural history of the area. In season (Oct-Apr), this center is open daily
from 9am to 5pm, but schedules vary. Call ahead (use the phone number for the North

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