Little Women

We promise we haven't forgotten about Part IV of our trip report (and the beer-drinking photos from Munich). We're having some problems with a memory card we purchased in Germany, but we expect to address the issue soon. In the meantime, we'll report on the visit of our dear friend, Ann Mah, last weekend.

We were so excited to have Annie to visit. Annie and I (Sherry) met as sorority sisters and were also sorority house roommates in Chi Omega at UCLA (click for link). We have been friends ever since, and were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. Ann was also roommates with Brian for a time (in 1998), when Ann was working for Beacon Press, Brian was doing research at Beth Israel, and Sherry was at the Kennedy School.

Annie is a talented writer, and works now as a freelance writer, contributing to publications such as Conde Nast Traveler, the International Herald Tribune, and the Washingtonian, among others (click titles for links). She also has a great cooking blog you can read here (click for link), and is in the process of writing a novel. Ann is married to a wonderful guy named Chris, a diplomat for the State Department. Ann and Chris spent several of the past years living in Beijing, and moved back to the States (Washington, D.C.) last year. Chris travels quite a bit in his Washington post, so Ann came up for the weekend.

On Saturday, we had brunch with Brian at Brian's and my favorite brunch spot, Aquitaine (click for link) in the South End. Then we ditched Brian (he had to work anyway) and had a girl's day out and about downtown Boston. We walked around Beacon Hill and the Boston Common and Public Garden. While there we took a tour of the Nichols House Museum (click for link) which museum offers a unique glimpse into 19th and early 20th century Bostonian life in a historic Beacon Hill townhouse. Then we walked up Newbury street and did some window shopping, eventually ending up at Top of the Hub (click for link) where we relaxed and caught up over a glass of wine. It was very relaxing.

We spent early Saturday evening cheering on the Bruins (click for link) in the Final Four at Jillian's (click for link) with Brian, and our friends Darren, Laura, Mike, Cheri, and Courtney. I'm not going to discuss how that turned out, but we did have a good time hanging out with everyone. Later, we had a nice dinner at Bricco (click for link) in the North End.

Since Ann has lived in Boston before, we didn't go to many of the attractions to which we take first time visitors. Instead, on Sunday, Ann and I indulged our love of literature (we were also both English majors in college) and headed to Concord, Massachusetts (click for link). Concord is a beautiful, charming town of both historical and literary significance. It was the location of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War (War for Independence) on April 19, 1775, when the “shot heard ‘round the world” for liberty and self government was fired. And during the mid-19th century, Concord was home to some of the greatest literary and transcendental minds in America. Authors Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson and Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne all lived, worked and wrote in Concord. There is so much to see in the darling little town, from The Concord Museum, to Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, the Old Manse, the Old North Bridge, Minuteman National Historic Park, Emerson House, and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Walden Pond, inspiration for Thoreau’s Walden, is nearby as well.

There's obviously too much to see in one day, but we did manage to check out the historic North Bridge and Old Manse (former home of both Ralph Waldo Emerson's family and Nathaniel Hawthorne) (see Ann in front of it, above left). After a lovely little lunch at the historic Colonial Inn (click for link), we also took a tour of Louisa May Alcott's former home, Orchard House (click for link; photo to the right is from the website, since I forgot to take a photo of the actual house!). We had a great time picturing Alcott penning Little Women in the the house and her sisters on which the characters were based going about their daily lives in the various rooms. We ended our day perusing the Concord Bookstore.

It was so much fun getting to catch up with Ann. No matter how much time goes between our telephone conversations and visits, it always feels immediately like I just saw her yesterday. She's hilarious, fun, fashionable, talented, poetic, and most importantly, a terrific listener and a wonderful friend.

Ann flew back home, and we were so sad to see her go. She and Chris will be moving to Paris soon. (We tease them that their life is so glamorous!) We hope to see her some this summer, when she'll be at Middlebury College (click for link) in Vermont studying French in preparation for their move. Chris, who speaks fluent French (and Russian, and Chinese . . . !) will make the move in early summer, and Annie in late summer.

For more photos from our trip to Concord, click here.