Walking Paul Revere's Ride

    The other day, Jim walked to his barbershop in Lexington Center. He stopped at the Visitors’ Center and bought some history cards and a map of Paul Revere’s ride.

I had noticed that map last fall on a visit and was thrilled with his purchase.

Monday, Jim left for a 12-day road trip with his brother Jeff. Jeff’s wife, Nelly, died November 28. Jim and Jeff are both vaccinated, so the planned road trip (Salt Lake City to San Francisco and Seattle) commenced.

That afternoon, I walked the Minuteman Bike path to the historic Bedford Depot. I wandered around, finding the trailhead of the Concord Reformatory Trail and the Small-gauge Railway to Billerica. I passed by the Bedford Flag statue, my friend Brian's favorite monument.

In all, I walked 9.27 miles in under 3 hours.

I had spent Monday morning planning a bigger adventure: walking the length of Paul Revere’s ride. Tuesday morning I took an MBTA bus for the first time in well over a year, and the Red Line subway to North Station. I walked to Rachel and Paul Revere’s house in the North End and struck out for Lexington. I kept a comfortable pace, just under a 3-minute mile, and stopped for pictures of historic markers.

A detour to “Grandfather’s House” in Medford was delightful. It's a large Greek Revival house with imposing white columns. Tufts University owns the property and, yes, it is right on the Mystic River. There are even a few trees, though I'd hardly call it a woods.

I accidently got off High Street and walked over a mile longer than Paul’s ride. I’m usually a stickler for detail, but when I discovered my error, nearly 10 miles into the trek, I decided to press forward. Luckily I wasn't responsible to alert the residents of Medford's High Street between Woburn and Playstead Streets.

It was a delightful day, overcast and cool (48 degrees) to start, but the clouds lifted and much of the way was in complete sunshine. By walking, I got a real sense of the land and what Paul would have experienced (or rather, what the borrowed horse did).

The toughest section was climbing the glaciar-created Winter Hill in Somerville. The drumlin (an egg-shaped feature shaped by clay mounding under a glacier) has changed little since the 1630s, when Winter Hill Road was established (now called Broadway). Little geological change, but very different habitations and businesses.

    I saw no evidence of the “Winter Hill gang,” which was established in 1955 and, according to Wikipedia, is active in organized crime to this day. One of its most infamous members, Whitey Bulger, went into hiding in 1994 and was apprehended in Santa Monica, California in 2011. He was convicted of many crimes, including complicity in 19 murders.

           My feet started to get pretty sore around mile 13. A half-marathon is 13.1 miles and I've walked that distance many times. Last April 18th, I walked 16.59 miles in a 'virtual' half-marathon: a circuit to Bedford, Concord, Lincoln, and Lexington, including about 8 miles on the Battle Road in Concord.

    Now I've done 17.