I can truly and honestly say I know more about Lowell now than I do about our home town of Harrisburg. We came here to visit Jack Kerouac's grave but we ended up learning quite a bit about the industrial revolution in the process. How could you not? Lowell was the heart of textiles during the industrial revolution, as we have come to know through the many videos and placards Lowell has offered to us in the form of exhibits. I knew nothing about Lowell until today.
We wandered into the welcome center at a late 11:30am. ( All day today we've had exactly one hour upon arrival until each place closed, except of course for the welcome center itself.) There we watched a video about Lowell and it's role in the industrial revolution, gathered information and also bought a shiny new bandanna for Tony's long locks.
( He's apparently decided to grow it out and I'll be honest, I support it! He has really pretty hair and what can I say, I think ponytails are hot! I'll admit it.)
The Revolving Museum, an art museum that displays local art of all ages, was our first stop today but they were sadly closed. So we went to an exhibit called "mill girls" about ( bet you can't guess)mill girls. It was actually really informative and interesting. Lowell attracted young farm girls to work in the factories.
They worked 14 hour days and stayed in strict boarding houses. They were also women earning their own wages and gaining some independence . This was in the 1830s and 40s where as the 19th amendment wasn't passes until 1920! Also if you find that this tidbit interests you too, read "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis. I read it in a women's literature class and it really makes one think about how nasty the conditions were for factory workers before regulatory laws such as minimum wage were enacted.
We also saw Kerouac's backpack and typewriter. We almost missed it because the display was so tiny in comparison to the mill girls bit.
After seeing it I immediately turned to Tony and said " I think we can carry less stuff!" It was amazingly minimalistic especially when compared to our vehicle crammed with things.
From there we went to his memorial laid out in a Buddhist pattern.
Then to the textile museum for more Lowell info. ( Plus I played with a loom!) And then finally we drove out to the cemetery, the whole purpose of our adventure to Lowell today and we paid homage to another man we never met. Although others before us have left him booze , poetry and cigarettes we left nothing but the words we spoke to him. "Well Mr. Kerouac, I doubt very much that we would be on this grand adventure today if Tony hadn't read your book as a teenager. For that we thank you. From one generation of travelers to another."
To top the day off we stopped at a grocery store and grabbed a few things. Then we did something that I feel people may frown upon but as we are basically living out of our car for three months can't be avoided. We ate dinner in the parking lot and watched " O'brother where art thou." In the car as people walked passed. I thought... " Gee, this is weird." And then I shrugged it off and enjoyed my husband's company.
Last we met up with a family of super cool couch surfers but I'll tell you about them tomorrow. ( We decided to check out some Thoreau and Emerson stuff and make it a true writers weekend!)
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