By Christina Valhouli

If you’ve heard of Lexington and Concord, it means you were paying attention in history or English class.

These adjacent Massachusetts towns, just on the outskirts of Boston, are known as the birthplace of the American Revolution. On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, on his Midnight Ride, alerted locals that the British were coming. The next day, the first battle shots were fired on Lexington’s Green. The rest, as they say, is history.

If you visit Concord and Lexington today, their colonial history is still very much alive and present. Each April on Patriot’s Day, Lexington practically shuts down to host a re-enactment of the battle, with actors in full colonial garb. And neighboring Concord should be well known to any lit major; this was the stamping ground of the 19th-century writers Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott.

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But the towns are hardly stuck in the past, boasting farm-to-table restaurants, trendy coffee shops and boutique accommodations.