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Published: October 22nd 2015
Stickwork
These were designed to resemble drawings. Amazing!Finally!
I headed to Salem today. I love Salem. What a fun, interesting, educational day. I walked my feet off (12,998 steps according to my Garmin).
It goes without saying that New England is beautiful in the fall. I love they way people decorate their homes with a combination of Halloween and Fall. I love to see the leaves falling. I love how the leaves flutter around your vehicle as you drive down the street. I love how you walk down streets of houses that look exactly like you think they would look and then all of the sudden you can see the harbor.
But let's start at the beginning. I had the most fun taxi drivers today. Ed took me to Salem. Ed is a stereotypical Bostonian cab driver - accent included. He was awesome. We talked music, how crazy Salem is around Halloween, and visiting his daughter every weekend, We also talked about Black Mass. He told me some things that weren't in the movie. Then he gave me some tips for getting around Salem.
I started at the Visitors Center in the Armory. It's kind of smack in the middle of the historic touring
Carousel
Something about an abandoned carousel that's creepy. area. I didn't have any particular agenda in mind. Mostly just wanted to soak in the crisp air and the atmosphere. Salem had plenty of atmosphere. I missed getting a picture of him but one of the first things I heard was a sax player. He was wearing a monster costume. Love Salem!
First major stop was House of Seven Gables. It was really amazing. As you would expect there have been lots of updates by owners and just to keep the building standing. They also added some things from the book to make it interesting. I always thought Nathaniel Hawthorne lived in that house but it actually belonged to his cousin, Susanna Ingersoll. It was pretty amazing and the secret staircase (added from the book) was quite an adventure. Tiny, cramped, curving and bypassing the second floor to a small room on the third floor. The one thing that fascinated me was the front door - which is still original - and contains 500 hand made iron nails.
Next major stop was witches museum. It was interesting how they presented the information. No pictures allowed, unfortunately.
The stop that had the biggest impact on me was
Oldest Cemetery
1700s cemetery. The olde way of spelling was interesting as were the sentiments on them. Some of the images were quite ghoulish. the Salem Trials Memorial. It is a rectangular green space with rock walls on either side. Out of the rock wall are large rock formations with the names and dates of death of 19 who were hanged. Some had flowers on them. One that really touched me had a rock that said it was from her 10th great granddaughter.
Next to that was the oldest cemetery which was really interesting.
The rest of my time was spent just walking and taking pictures. I did do a little shopping but I kind of tried to stay away since I don't have much room in my luggage!!
Oh! I forgot this totally cool thing... Stickwork by Patricia Dougherty. It's entitled "What the Birds Know" and was really fascinating and constructed from local saplings.
Back to my cab drivers... I don't remember the names but there were two guys in the van that picked me up. One was an elderly man in his late 60s or early 70s. He was so sweet and was telling me about Salem in the old days and the parades they had. He met his wife in Sandy's bar where Louis Armstrong played. He
God knows I am innocent.
Statements of innocence in the stones that border the entrance to the Witch Trial Memorial. also happens to be a dialysis patient who is living life to the fullest. Awesome. They were both talking about the famous people who had been in those parades.
Well that's about it folks! Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Tomorrow is a travel day so I won't post (unless something spectacular happens). But then. Oh then. Iceland!!
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