For those shaped by words, whose dreams are forged between the leaves of books, trips like these are how we become a part of the stories that helped to direct our own. There’s something to seeing the waters that L.M. Montgomery looked out on for yourself, something that helps to flesh out the contendedness her characters expressed despite the wide world just beyond the bay. The proximity of writers’ homes in Concord, MA brings the extraordinary nature of the 19th century literary scene into new relief, and as buildings close in around Margaret Mitchell’s house, you start to understand her claustrophobia in the public eye.