MA.

We started out from Mystic around 9:00am and got on I-95 headed for Salem, Massachusetts.  We quickly exited Connecticut and entered Rhode Island.  Rhode Island zipped by and in seemingly no time we were approaching Providence.  Mona was navigator and while looking at the maps she noticed that Plymouth was only about an hour out of our way.  We decided that we’d probably never be any closer to Plymouth Rock so we did a little rerouting and headed to the coast.

Plymouth Rock Ravillion

Mona and the Mayflower

Plymouth is a quaint little town right on the coast.  It didn’t take us long to find a parking spot about 500 feet from “the rock”.  Plymouth Rock is about 6 feet by 4 feet, set under a little pavilion of columns.  Not a lot to it, but it’s pretty cool to see the rock we’ve heard about all our lives.  A little to the north of the rock is a replica of the Mayflower which we toured.  Amazing that 102 people lived on this tiny boat for 9 weeks.  Afterwards, we did the walking tour of Plymouth….seeing the memorial park, the grist mill and several old homes.

Witches Literally Everywhere!

Now we headed north on Route 3 and then on I-93 through downtown Boston.  Loved the tunnel!  (Well, at least I did…Mona was driving and her story might be a little different.)

Salem was our destination and we quickly checked into the hotel and began our walking tour.  This city is typical of the other seaports we’ve seen, but with a decidedly different twist.  Witches. Witches.  Witches. Everywhere you look you see witchy things…signs, shops, museums…all about witches.  We walked through much of the downtown area, visiting a couple of witch shops and two museums.  We learned how the witch frenzy was widespread throughout New England back in 1692 …over 150 arrested for witchcraft.  Twenty humans were executed, all in Salem, and three dogs were tortured and executed as familiars.

 

At 8 PM we joined the Ghost Tour of Salem.  Our guide walked us through the dark streets to points of interest including cemeteries and homes where murders had occurred.  There was also a stop at a church where they had built an addition to the church on top of a cemetery.  They took the headstones and incorporated them into the interior masonry of the church walls.  The tour ended up with a visit to the home where Captain John White was murdered in 1830.  This murder story and the home served as the basis for the game of Clue and the lead pipe and the knife were actually the murder weapons!

The Home that Inspired Clue

We took lots of pictures on the tour, hoping to catch an orb or apparition…..no such luck!  However, many people have seen such things on their tours and some of their pictures are posted on the Ghost Tours site.  Feel free to check them out:  http://www.salemghosttours.com/apps/photos/

Salem is interesting,(and it's amazing how bloodthirsty the early colonists were) but it’s time to move on.  Maine is our next destination…..just not sure where in Maine.  We’ll find out tomorrow!