The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (2 page)

 
Bloody Angle Battle Demonstration.
Saturday, around 1 p.m. Unlike at the other Battles of Concord and Lexington reenactment sites, which are relatively compact, the action near the Hartwell Tavern historical area of Minute Man National Historical Park is a running firefight taking place over a half mile, which gives the spectating crowd plenty of room to spread out. In addition, this portion of the park has been restored so spectators see a battle surrounded by trees, not modern-day buildings and traffic. “With the militias moving through the field and jumping over stone walls, it really feels like the original Patriots’ Day,” Sideris says.

 
Initial confrontation on Lexington Green.
Monday, 5:30 a.m. This reenactment details the initial confrontation on Lexington Green, and despite the early hour, literally thousands of spectators will be on hand, many spending the night. John Ott, the former director of the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, says the sight is unforgettable. “When you see this red mass of troops coming down the road, you hear the drums, and it’s amazing. You still get choked up.” After the battle, the crowds head to pancake breakfasts at several nearby churches.

Those are just the major presentations. You can also see a Paul Revere reenactor rushing to the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington warning about the soon-to-arrive British at eleven o’clock Sunday night, or catch parades in Lexington and Concord on Monday.

If you can’t make it on Patriots’ Day, there are other ways to experience the events. Some locals prefer catching the dress rehearsal of the Lexington Green reenactment, held a week or two before the actual event. The crowd’s much thinner and it’s scheduled for the afternoon, eliminating the need for a predawn wake-up call. In early March, there’s also a reenactment of the Boston Massacre—a 1770 event that led to the Revolution. You’ll find the full schedule at
www.battleroad.org
.

CONFRONTATION AT GETTYSBURG

Less than 90 years after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, another revolution shook America. During the U.S. Civil War, the country nearly tore itself apart. The turning point came near an obscure Pennsylvania town. And after the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederates’ invasion of the North came to an end, as would their rebellion two years later.

During the first week of July, thousands of reenactors and tens of thousands of spectators again invade Gettysburg for a three-day reenactment. Unlike the events near Boston, these battles aren’t held on the actual site of the confrontation. Instead, they’re staged a few miles away on a farm field; plus admission is charged, about $25 a day with discounts for multiday tickets,
www.gettysburgreenactment.com
. The events are even more spectacular and heavily attended on the five-year anniversaries of the 1863 battle. Spectators watch the battles from bleachers or many bring lawn chairs. Often visitors come for the morning and head back to their motel to swim returning later to catch an afternoon battle. The biggest crowd arrives on the last day to see Pickett’s Charge, which some historians say marked the end of the Rebel cause. The desperate infantry attack resulted in more than 2,600 Confederate casualties. Watching it today, one can see the carnage and sense the desperation the men must have felt that afternoon.

Even if you can’t make the reenactment, visitors can see soldiers most weekends during the summer at no cost. The
Gettysburg National Military Park
(717-334-1124,
www.nps.gov/gett
) hosts visiting “companies,” who hold living history demonstrations and are eager to answer questions, which are usually about camp food and battlefield medicine. You’ll also find reenactors most weekends camped in front of the
American Civil War Museum
(297 Steinwehr Ave., 717-334-6245,
www.gettysburgmuseum.com
, $5.50) in the town of Gettysburg. Although the museum charges admission, there’s no cost to visit with the soldiers.

Lodging fills up during reenactment weekend, with hotels running from $100–$150 a night. Check with the Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau (8 Lincoln Sq., 866-486-5735,
www.gettysburg.travel
) for availability, or look in nearby towns, like York, Chambersburg, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Frederick, Maryland, all within a 45-minute drive. In Gettysburg, most everyone tries
General Pickett’s Buffets
(571 Steinwehr Ave., 717-334-7580), where you dine to Civil War–era music and eat your fill of soup, salad, meatloaf or Virginia ham, and dessert for $10–$12.

Lodging can be tricky for this popular event. There are a couple chain motels in Concord. Or look to similar lodging in neighboring towns like Bedford. Both Lexington and Concord have a variety of eateries. In Concord, pick up sandwiches or a picnic at
Concord Cheese Shop
(29 Walden St., 978-369-5778), which dates from 1860. In Lexington,
Via Lago
(1845 Massachusetts Ave., 781-861-6174) offers breakfast and lunch specials like veggie quesadillas ($4.99).
[$
PLURGE
: For a little splurge, try the famous chicken-pot pie ($13.95) for lunch at
Concord’s Colonial Inn
(48 Monument Sq., 978-369-9200), a historic spot in its own right. It housed some of the Colonials’ munitions during the 1775 battles.]

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Concord Chamber of Commerce,
15 Walden St., Ste. 7, Concord, MA 01742, 978-369-3120,
www.concordchamberofcommerce.org
.

Lexington Chamber of Commerce,
1875 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington, MA 02420, 781-862-2480,
www.lexingtonchamber.org
.

Minute Man National Historical Park,
174 Liberty St., Concord, MA 01742, 978-369-6993,
www.nps.gov/mima
.

be corny

MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA

The Indian Corn, or Maiz, proves the most useful Grain in the World.

—
JOHN LAWSON, 17TH-CENTURY BRITISH EXPLORER

2 |
South Dakota knows a thing or two about eye-catching monuments, and though the massive presidential sculpture of Mount Rushmore on the state’s western edge is far more famous, the Corn Palace in the small prairie town of Mitchell, 65 miles west of Sioux Falls, is a wonder in its own right.

First created in 1892 as a monumental advertisement for the area’s agricultural bounty, the Corn Palace was moved to its current site in 1921. This structure isn’t a sedate midwestern show hall—it’s a fantasy of Moorish architecture topped with minarets and kiosks. But the real attention grabber? The massive murals that depict American history and achievement, made of 275,000 ears of locally grown corn, plus grains and grasses.

A new theme is chosen each year. Giant tar-paper drawings of the new murals are affixed to the palace in late summer; a crew of about 20 works into the fall to nail the corn in place as the new crop becomes available.

Though sometimes bashed as the “world’s largest bird feeder,” the Corn Palace and the festival that surrounds it evoke fond memories from many who have seen it.

“I first visited the Corn Palace sometime in the ’60s as a youngster with my parents,” posted Buck Jones (aka “Sandhills Guru”) on a city-data.com forum devoted to the Corn Palace. “I would venture to say that we still visit it yearly…Our kids even as adults like to go with us.”

Free tours of the 39,000-square-foot Corn Palace are offered throughout the day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But the palace is at its liveliest each August during its four-day namesake festival, when the grounds are transformed into a midway, rollicking musicians take to the stage, and the toasty smell of roasting corn fills the South Dakota air. Some 40,000 visitors fill the blocks around the palace, eating corndogs and fried Twinkies and barbecue, and catching concerts by name entertainers that, over the decades, have ranged from John Philip Sousa to Willie Nelson and Rick Springfield.

The Corn Palace Festival is part of Mitchell’s business week, which includes an agriculture fair called Dakotafest and the Miller Lite Bull Bash riding competition. The Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo takes place in July, a month before the Corn Palace Festival and Bull Bash.

AN ORIGINAL AMERICAN FOOD

Corn is one of our continent’s true local foodstuffs, first cultivated by peoples living in what is now central Mexico some 7,000 years ago. Today it’s grown throughout the world, but Americans still think of it as an icon of the American landscape.

Celebrate it with a few hours at a corn maze. Dashing through the stalks is great fun, and many mazes have outdoor tables for bring-your-own picnics.

Most open in mid-to late summer (after the corn is tall enough) and stay open into the fall. Naturally, most are in rural settings. Each maze is individually owned, so activities and prices vary, though you can expect to pay around $10 per adult and half that for children under 12.

At the
Sauchuk Farm
(Rte. 58, 781-585-1522), near Plympton, Massachusetts, kids can get their faces painted and ride through the maze on a child-size train. At
Guffey Acres
(1603 N. 400 W, 765-864-0006) in Kokomo, Indiana, small children can romp through a hay-bale maze while bigger kids and adults traverse a convoluted, full-size labyrinth. In Washington State,
Stocker Farms
(8705 Marsh Rd., Snohomish, 360-568-7391) invites locals to design its wacky maze; come Halloween, the corn zone becomes a creepy Field of Screams.

Whether you visit during the festival, the Stampede, or at another time of year, you’ll want to check out the Corn Palace memorabilia, local historical exhibits, and a domed mural by WPA artist Oscar Howe. All are on display at the nearby
Carnegie Resource Center
(119 W. 3rd Ave., 605-996-3209,
www.mitchellcarnegie.org
, closed a.m. & Sun.), founded as a library in the early 1900s with a donation from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.