historical walk
For our adventure today I took the boys and a friend to Minuteman National Park. We walked a couple miles from the Concord end of the path to the Hartwell Tavern, where we had lunch and saw the historic sights, then we walked back. All three boys and I did the walk barefoot. It was nothing to them; they did all the hiking of the recent camping trip shoeless as well. My feet didn't mind the rocks on the trail, but that's the longest I've walked barefoot in a while and I felt it in my calves a little. As we got close to the tavern I told the kids how, if they'd been driving sheep or cattle to Boston Market, they would have been able to stop for refreshment there; and also that kids in those days probably would have been walking barefoot. They approved. The tavern doesn't serve refreshments any more, so we brought our own.
living the history
You'll notice shoes are on in that picture. We brought them all that way so we could go into the tavern without getting in trouble. It does feel a little funny to put shoes on to go inside, but we're used to it by now. Such is modern America; even when it's pretending to be the olden days. They probably wouldn't have a place to put sheep if we'd brought them either.