Vertigo: When they ring the golden bells for you and me

Distance: 20.07 miles
Time: 2 hrs 09 mins 16 sec
Average: 9.3 av
Maximum: 25 mph
Calories: 1,436
Miles in 2011: 244.28
Total Miles: 1,093.32

Today's bike ride took me to Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. It is a non-profit Massachusetts Historic landmark. From the website it says, 'Longfellow's Wayside Inn—a nationally significant Massachusetts Historic Landmark—is the oldest Inn still operating in the United States and has been serving travelers along the old Boston Post Road for almost 300 years. What began as a two-room home in 1707, the Howe family ran a successful tavern and innkeeping business on this site from 1716 to 1861.' It is a very beautiful place, and I recommend checking out their website. I already told mom that we must go there and try out their dining, since it smelled heavenly when I arrived there. I saw their menu and they have many historical meals and drinks. It looks like a very popular place since it was full when I got there. Also, it is a popular venue for weddings.
The reason that took me to the Wayside Inn is actually more... morbid and sad. I was watching Dateline on ID episode 'The Friday the 13th Murder' about the killing of a local man, Ed Schiller. It is always interesting when you see your local town on TV even when it is about a murder. Long story short, Mr Schiller is a local guy and was killed in Newton back in 2006. He was dating a woman who was the love of his life, and her ex-husband had him killed. They were planning on marrying at the Wayside Inn. When I saw the story unfold on TV, I thought it was romantic and the scenes of the Wayside Inn lovely. Thus, I decided to go there.
I have never biked to Sudbury, but I have driven there a few times. It is a lovely town with lots of farms and quiet roads. I took Grove St in order to reach Route 20 where Wayside Inn is located. The massive mountain on the topography shows you how challenging it was. I was biking at average of 8 mph because everything seemed uphill. The (J) part was at the top of a very difficult hill, and when I saw the downhill part was beginning, I screamed 'Jesus!'. I mean, it felt like I was biking off a cliff! I usually check out and meticulously study the topography of my trip, but I didn't this time. It made every hill and turn interesting. Sudbury is a lovely place, and I hope to go back there soon to do their history tour. Enjoy the pictures!

Grove St. -- Autumn is slowly creeping in!

Built in 1693 by Jeremiah Pike. He and his descendants were Town and Militia Officers, Yeomen and makers of spinning wheels in the Colonial Period; occupied by the same family for eight generations. (source)

My scenic route towards Wayside Inn.

In 1716, David Howe expanded his own home and began a small tavern along the Old Boston Post Road, one of the first mail routes in the country. Business thrived by way of the busy coach traffic to and from the cities of Boston, Worcester, and New York. In 1746, David Howe passed the family business to his son, Ezekiel, a Lieutenant Colonial in the Sudbury Minute and Militia. Each generation expanded the Inn’s main building as business thrived. (source)

Henry Ford moved the Barn onto the property in the 1920s to add to the agricultural buildings for the historic village he envisioned.

Wayside Inn

The Martha-Mary Chapel was built by Henry Ford, the Inn's last private owner. Its secluded setting, perched at the top of a grassy knoll and framed by a backdrop of towering white pines, makes this a very popular place for weddings.

I didn't know this... this was a pleasant surprise! I was singing 'Mary had a little lamb' all the way home!

The Redstone School (so named because of its former location on Redstone Hill in Sterling, MA) is a classic New England one-room school, dating from 1798 and moved to Sudbury in 1927. The building was used as part of the Sudbury school system from 1927 to 1951, teaching grades one through four.

Too bad you can't read it... but George Washington passed by the Inn on his way to Cambridge to take command of the Patriot Army.

The Martha-Mary Chapel was built by boys from the Wayside Inn Boys' School operated by Henry Ford on the Wayside Inn property. Wood for the building came from trees felled by the historic hurricane of 1938. The Chapel celebrated its first wedding in 1941.

The Martha- Mary Chapel is one of six non-denominational chapels built around the country as a tribute to Henry and Clara Ford's mothers, Martha Bryant and Mary Litogot Ford.