Minute Man National Historical Park

The last stop of the northern leg, along the Lexington–Concord road where the Revolution actually began. I had no idea what "minute man" even meant going in — it's militia trained to mobilize within a minute's notice. Confusingly, Lexington's own militia, led by John Parker, technically weren't minutemen at all; they were an older-style "training band."

The famous Parker quote — "stand your ground, don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here" — is probably part real, part 19th-century polish, popularized decades later by his own grandson, who wasn't there. And nobody actually knows who fired the first shot at Lexington. It's genuinely unsolved — not a cover-up, just chaotic, contradictory eyewitness accounts. This is where the Midnight Ride was headed, after Revere himself was already captured.

I also finally solved my confusion about the redcoats: Washington wears red-trimmed uniforms in some early portraits because that's his pre-Revolution Virginia Regiment uniform — completely different from the blue-and-buff he chose once he took command in 1775, specifically to contrast with British "redcoats."

This whole stop reframed the Revolution as something regular people did. "We the People" popped into my head standing there.