I remember my parents giving me the Little Women movie for Christmas when I was little and watching all the time. Even as an adult, I watch it once every few years. :)
Louisa May Alcott wrote this classic, and grew up in Concord, Massachusetts in a home they called “Orchard House”. The story she wrote, honoring her family, was also based here, in this house.
I’ve always wanted to see it and take a tour, so we planned a trip north for my birthday this past year. I was so excited, not just to see the house but to be back in the New England area because I just love it so much. I was really looking forward to seeing it in all of it’s cozy autumn charm.
We flew into Boston on an early flight so we could leisurely get brunch before our Orchard House tour that afternoon. The drive to Concord was quick and easy, and we arrived to the cute little small town with plenty of time to explore.
After some coffee, pancakes, and eggs benedict at the Main Streets Cafe, we walked around to all the different shops and picked up some little treats at the cute international Chocolate shop called Graem. I thought their logo was so clever and fun. And before venturing over to Orchard House in time for our tour, we stopped by Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau lived for two years, two months, and two days.
We arrived at Orchard House right on time and it was just as I thought it would be. This was the actual house the Alcott family lived in, and even though we weren’t allowed to take pictures on our tour, I had to secretly capture the little window desk where Louisa wrote Little Women in just a few short months. Her father built this desk for her, with just enough space for some papers and a quill pen, in perfect window light.
I loved touring the house. One of my favorite parts was seeing Beth’s piano, and Louisa’s youngest sister May’s (Amy in the book) paintings and drawings all through the house. They were on the walls, furniture, and ceilings, with framed pieces hung everywhere as well. Fun fact - May studied art abroad and ended up becoming a mentor to Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial. I thought that was so cool.
The day before we landed in Boston, a serious nor’easter had come through and damaged many parts of the cape, hitting Plymouth the most. We had trouble finding a place to stay that evening because so many hotels were either without power or housing electricians who had come in from all over the east coast (including Florida!) to help out.
Usually when we travel, we plan ahead and make reservations, but we decided to be more relaxed this trip, to give ourselves freedom to explore without the restriction of needing to check in somewhere specific by a certain time. Luckily, we found a hotel just outside of Plymouth, and woke up the next morning, ready to find a breakfast sandwich somewhere and be little tourists for the day.
Most all Plymouth businesses were closed due to power outages, but we found a place along the Harbor that was open. The touristy attractions like the Mayflower II and Plymouth Plantation were open as well, having worked hard the day before to fix fences, pick up tree limbs, and get generators up and running in order to hosts their guests. It was fairly busy (being right before Thanksgiving) and there were several buses of field trip students seeing things along with us.
We enjoyed seeing everything and asking questions to the “living history” historians who were acting as if they were still in the 1600s. It cracked me up see a current-day staff member grabbing a broom from Governor Bradford’s kitchen closet… :)
We loved the gift shop there and spent several hours perusing and browsing… Leaving with a few special little items and books.
We headed further up the cape to a cute Airbnb called the Starlight Lodge where the sweetest woman (and her little Boston terriers) greeted us and welcomed us. We loved it there. It was the perfect location to stay because of the close driving distance from everything else we wanted to do while we were on the Cape, so we booked it for two nights, settled in, and ventured out for dinner.
Just a few miles away was an old historical Tavern called The Old Yarmouth Inn. It was the middle stop between Plymouth and Provincetown, and would host many travelers on their way in between these two towns. There is such an incredible amount of history and storytelling in this one little place.
Words can not express how much we loved our experience here. We can not wait to go back when we have the chance and get the fig and mascarpone ravioli again… Their calamari was perfectly breaded and so light, and our meals were just divine in every way. I could go on and on about how incredible everything was. Our server was so friendly and we connected with the owner/manager as well. He grew up upstairs at the restaurant because his parents ran it. He offered us some clam chowder on the house, which was so kind, and it was delicious. We still talk about the meal we had there… Highly recommend making reservations here if you visit the Cape.
(Tyler got the halibut special and I ordered braised beef ribs.)
The next morning we drove south east to Chatham to grab breakfast, walk around the shops, and see the beach. It made us a little leery to see a shark warning sign in the sand… Not sure I’d want to swim here but it was pretty and peaceful.
On our way back, it began to rain so we ordered a NY style pizza and went back to our lodge to rest and watch reruns of The Office for the evening before heading back out around 9 for dinner and wine at the local Italian restaurant down the street where Tyler had the most incredible veil parm of his life lol. Clearly we were craving Italian food that day.
The next morning, we got up early and checked out, heading up the Cape to Provincetown. We stopped a few times along the way for breakfast and a little shopping anywhere we’d pass a place that looked to have magical little things inside. :)
Provincetown was pretty and very active with lots going on, but we didn’t spend much time there because parking was tough to find and we wanted to keep moving because it was our last day for exploring. I wanted a lobster roll from the Lobster Pot but they were closed unfortunately.
We headed back down south, stopping at a cute coffee shop called Nirvana and moving onward to see Plymouth again, now that it was a clearer, sunnier day with a higher chance more places would be open with their power fixed. We had a really nice evening there, walking the rocky pier and watching the boats. We ended up seeing one of the living history girls from the Plymouth Plantation Museum so we talked to her again for a bit. She was in her normal clothes and on the phone with her mom, lol. Time travel must be exhausting. :) We had an early dinner at Wood’s Seafood where I got my lobster roll… not as good as the one I had on Martha’s Vineyard, the roll was dry and not buttered but it was still delicious fresh lobster.
That night, we drove straight up to Boston and rented a room at the Godfrey Hotel downtown so we would be close to the airport for our flight the following late afternoon. It was fancy and comfy with a big king-sized bed. The hotel bar was closed so we walked down to a little pub for some drinks and apps which was nice. It was Halloween night and the city was full of people walking around all dressed up in different costumes.
The next morning we were up and out early, and walked to the Tatte café down the street for breakfast. It was such a pretty space with so many fresh pastries and breads.
We wanted to make the most of our last few hours in town, so after breakfast, we bought tickets at the Tea Party Museum for a tour before driving to the airport. The tour was fun and we were really touched by some of the historical details we were reminded of, especially as we live in our current modern day.
After the tour, it was time to head to the airport and come home.
The flight was so quick and easy, and before long we were cozy back in our own space at home, snuggling with Baxie with a couple of hot teas and our newly made memories.
It was such a nice birthday trip and I came home feeling blessed and thankful, and inspired to learn more about the truth behind our country’s history, not just what I was briefly taught in elementary school. We really liked Boston too and would love to go back up for a weekend sometime and really see the city.
If you’ve been to Boston or anywhere along the Cape, I’d love to hear about some of your recommendations and experiences, so please don’t hesitate to comment! :)