Thursday, May 8, 2014

Mary Had A Little Lamb and We Can Show You the School


We went to the historic Wayside Inn for Paws in the Park. Mom grew up in Sudbury and is familiar with the history of the area. She decided to have us take some shots while we were there.


Her favorite is always of the Redstone School thought to be the site of the incident of Mary and her lamb. However, at that time the school, more commonly known as the Little Red School House was not located in Sudbury, but Sterling, MA. It was moved and used as a school by Henry Ford and later the town of Sudbury. While they seem to allow lambs in school, no dogs are allowed which is why we are taking pictures outside. (Actually, even Mom couldn't go in because there were no interpreters there today.) Mom had to attend school here for a very cold week during the Bicentennial as a kid. She was very grateful to go back to a place with heat and bathrooms.


As you can see unlike the lamb, we behaved ourselves. Well that’s our story and we are sticking to it. Mom has no real evidence after all in the pictures we look good.


Next door is the Martha Mary Chapel, one of the hottest wedding destinations in the area. People book years in advance. Mama went there once for a wedding and was kind of surprised by the attention it gets. It is a beautiful location and with the right package, you can even get a horse drawn carriage, but it is kind of plain on the inside. The first time she visited as a little girl I think she expected a Cathedral of some kind based on all the talk she had heard about the place. While nice, she couldn't imagine waiting years to book there.


The scariest place of all we visited is Mama's favorite picnic destination. The Grist Mill was a working mill in the time Henry Ford was using the property. Over the years it has had some people who made use of it. In more recent years its primary function has been a tourist attraction. Years ago Mama used to bring her Gram here to celebrate her birthday. Gram loved to watch the wedding parties emerge from the Martha Mary chapel across the street. Many use the Grist Mill as a backdrop for their wedding pictures. Even couples who don't get married at the Church or Wayside Inn still sometimes come and take pictures there. There are also lots of people who bring families and have picnics. While we love outings, this is not our favorite destination.


When the water is running, it is loud and it splashes on you. We thought there were far better places to visit back at the primary Paws in the Park location. We refused to get up close for a shot. No treats are worth facing that scary beast.


When Mom was done getting her historic shots done, we got to head back to Paws in the Park. Oddly enough the one shot Mom didn't get was off the Wayside Inn. Go figure. After Friday Flowers, Mama has one more post to share about Paws in the Park.




Get the code here...


Get the code here




17 comments:

  1. What a great place and the church is fabulous. Have a tremendous Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. That is amazing! I had no idea it was a real school

    retro rover

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  3. What a wonderful place to visit....loved the water wheel. You know we always though Mary Had a Little Lamb was an old english poem?

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    1. This one is actually American. There is quite a bit of debate over the story. Sara Josepha Hale is given credit for writing the poem in 1830, but there is debate over if she actually wrote it or not. The strongest case for Mary is Mary Sawyer of Sterling. However, much of that has to do with Henry Ford's push after he purchased the school to move it to Sudbury in 1926. He even had a book published to push the claim, but there is little factual evidence to support his claims, mostly legends. However, we the locals tend to go with the story. It pleases the tourists.

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  4. OMD we have been WAITING to see and hear all about this School. THAT is sooooooo Cool... TOO cool fur a School, in fact. BOL
    NOW we have wanted to share this story with YOU. When our Mom was in Third Grade... somebuddy Gave her a Lamb fur Easter... and she wanted to show it to her classmates.. SO her mom loaded LAMBKIN in the car and took it to school one day... and guess what... Lambkin PEED behind Bill Gary's CHAIR. TRUE Story.

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    1. If Mary had brought a Sheltie to school with her and the lamb, things would have been under control. Just saying. Sheep need to have a dog around.

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  5. That is so neat. Mom loves visiting places like that.
    Lily & Edward

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  6. Oh wow! Lovely photos!!!
    Looks like a great place to go and check out!
    Thanks for sharing and for linking up with us!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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  7. Thank you for joining the blog hop!!

    What an interesting post. I love visiting historic places and hearing those old stories, and I don't blame you one bit for not wanting to go closer. :-0

    I'm sometimes surprised by the wedding venues people choose,especially those that seem to be so popular and yet I can't see what is so special about them. Le sigh....to each their own I suppose.

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  8. What an exciting story. My mom love those buildings and the history about them. Sniff and wags from Laika and Vaks.

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  9. Great history lesson and such cute dogs with their scarves!

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  10. I agree that scary beasts are not worth the treats! Glad you found a safe spot to relax.

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  11. Thanks so much for joining the hop. What a neat place and what beautiful pictures. I love grist mills. We visited one several years ago (in Indiana I think) and it was still working so I bought some freshly ground corn meal. :) I thought that was kind of neat.

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  12. Looks like you two had a great time. And we KNOW you were both perfectly well behaved. You would never be naughty, would you? :)

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  13. That water wheel did sound scary. I hope u two got extra treats fur getting as close as u did to that scary beast.

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  14. What a beautiful place! Thanks for the tour. I'm pretty sure my pack would be scared of all that water at the grist mill, too :-)

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  15. Thanks for sharing Thoughtless Thursday hop! Gorgeous shots of the red colors. See you next week friends!

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