Janet & I are both educators and have been on dozens of field trips. I love field trips. It’s always a chance to go someplace and learn something new. Sometimes I already know a lot about the place and have been guilty of prompting the guide to tell us more, or I will supplement their spiel. Janet doesn’t hate field trips, but it’s not the favorite part of her job. When she was young, she visited many of the historic sites of Massachusetts as field trips. It’s always a joke in our home that she will not climb the stairs of Bunker Hill because of the many times she did it as a kid. I have yet to do that, but I’m sure I’ll get to it someday.

Today’s adventure was back to Concord, MA. I enjoyed my day there last year so much I wanted to share it with her. It was around the July 4th holiday and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the founding of our country than a place where it all began.  It was a hot day, but I insisted we get out and do something. She enjoyed the main street, going into antique stores and seeing the quaint shops.  We ate lunch at the tavern on the square, reputed as one of the oldest in America. I showed her the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery I’d visited last year, and to top it off, took her to the bridge and visitor’s center. It was here I learned a valuable lesson, field trips are not adventures. Walking the 1/4 mile trail to the bridge in the heat and back again wasn’t as much fun the second time around. I can’t blame her. These places were new and exciting for me because I was not accustomed to living in such close proximity. I hadn’t thought that her history might have been visiting these places as school field trips.  Please don’t hear me throwing my wife under the bus. This was only our first month living together in New England and we had a lot to learn as we explored an area that was familiar to her, but new to me. Suffice it to say, future adventures needed to steer clear of field trip material.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller