Today was Day 2 of touring in Concord. We toured the Concord Museum, Emerson's house, and Fruitlands. My favorite thing we did today was the Emerson house. It was so beautiful. Currently, the house is closed, but they opened it up just for us. Our tour guide, Marie, was very enthusiastic. This house was obviously more expensive than the Old Manse and the Orchard House. It has big, open rooms with high ceilings. All of the furniture is original to the house, and most of it is in the same spot as when Emerson lived there. (Except for his study, which is in the Concord Museum.) And we even got to sit on some of the furniture in the parlor, which is very unusual for museums. (I've sat on Emerson's couch! How cool is that?! It wasn't comfortable.) The house was full of family portraits and paintings, so we got to see what the family looked like. Our guide showed us several parts of the house that most people don't get to see, such as Emerson's silk robes that he taught in. The gardens in the back were also very pretty. We took pictures by the path that leads to Walden Pond. Our guide told us Emerson was an avid walker and would often walk the few miles to the Pond. Visiting this house, I really got the feel that this was where Emerson was at home. Like Rutledge said, you can almost imagine Emerson coming back today and fitting right in. This house is definitely my favorite place that we have visited so far.