BOSTON — When you're a grandmother, you really want to hit it out of the park when it comes to providing great experiences for grown-ups.
During this recent week of school vacation, I had a revelation: incredible adventures — the kind my millennial daughter would call “Core Memory” — don’t have to cost a fortune, take hours, or even be exclusive. Here's this grandmother's story about a free, open-to-all, Bay State-based adventure that's perfect for a family day trip.
Background: If you grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts like I did, Rebecca and Abigail Bates' story, “American Army of Two,” is practically engraved in your DNA. Yet outside of this beautiful coastal town, it is barely known.
The Bates sisters were two of nine children who lived with their parents near Scituate Harbor and at the Scituate Lighthouse. During the War of 1812, troops guarded and trained there, marching to the sound of their fife and drum.
One day, while their father, Captain Simeon Bates, and the rest of the family were in town, the two sisters spotted a British warship anchored at the lighthouse point, with soldiers ready to row and attack.
Thinking quickly, the girls grabbed the fife and drum and played “Yankee Doodle,” over and over, behind the tree line and sand dunes, fooling the British into believing that American troops were waiting for them. They withdrew and left. Rebecca and Abigail were – and are – presented as heroes of this war, saving not only Scituate Harbor but also the new nation.
The Adventure Begins: We started at my house, where I gave my two grandchildren their own copies of “An American Army of Two,” by Janet Greeson. They sat on the couch and took turns reading aloud, learning more about the war, the South Shore, and the Bates family.
We jumped in the car and, on the way, the grown-ups read it again, asking questions as we went. “What is looting?” “Why would the British want to attack the city and the ships?”
We turned the corner and drove through Scituate Harbor and I explained that this was the “town,” the place where Captain Bates and his family lived when everything fell apart.
“So, was he at that Dunkin?” “” one of them asked, giving me the opportunity to describe how different the “city” was back then. After the port, we stop at Museum Beach, where some nice new benches have been installed. I pointed it out and said, “That’s it!” The lighthouse where it all happened! The girls were intrigued.
We continued on and parked in front of the lighthouse itself. The children jumped and stared in wonder. From there, they could see the mouth of the harbor, the ocean beyond where this British ship was, and the configuration that allowed the Bates sisters to carry out their plan.
I opened the trunk of my car and pulled out a surprise: a fife and a drum so the kids could reenact the exploits of the American Army of Two. They headed straight for it, marching up and down in front of the lighthouse and along the high sea wall, drumming and fifting and, from time to time, shouting, “Turn away the British!” »
It was really fun ? They insisted on walking “Two more times!” Twice more! » and of course I left them. I thought, “How have I never thought about this with my own children?” The people at the lighthouse (there are always people there) were watching and clapping. It was glorious.
We then toured the exterior of the Bates “town” house. You can visit the Scituate Historical Society (scituatehistoricalsociety.org) for more information.
The Bottom Line: We continued with lunch – Scituate Harbor has so many choices. On a warmer day, I would have given them another Scituate history lesson: how to order from Maria's Subs. But on this sunny, cool day, we chose TKO Malley's waterfront pub, where we could gaze at the lighthouse while eating.
The girls returned home with their books, stories to tell and of course, that fife and drum. They regularly parade around their house playing them, announcing that they are America's Army of Two.
History, literature, landscapes, music and entertainment, all in a day accessible to all. I'd call that a grandma's victory.
