After our lobster meal in Maine, we continued driving, getting into Massachusetts.
(I've been there before, but the rest of my family hasn't, so it was new states for them.)
Oh, and sorry for the bad picture...sometimes the state signs are big, sometimes they are small. Sometimes they come right at the border and other times they are into the state a bit...and if we cross at night, it can be difficult to get a clear picture.
Sunday morning we went to church in a chapel in the Boston area. We met many nice people. They were all hopeful that we were new to the ward, but we had to break the news to them that we were just visiting. When they asked where we wanted to visit, we explained a few places. I loved that they shared good insights and plans. Getting info from the locals can be so helpful.
Glenn quickly made friends from his primary class and played with them for a bit when we were changing clothes and getting into the car. Sarah did well to go to nursery. She is over the fear of going to a different class than mom and dad, and it's great. Whenever we say, "church", she instantly says, "nursery". We are grateful that no matter where we go, we know the Church will be there and that it will have the same structure and same teachings.
The locals talked about how great Salem was. Several people in that ward actually lived in Salem. They said there were so many things to see--and not just stuff that was witch related. From my research, I knew I wanted to walk along the Heritage Trail. We would be able to see many of the historic buildings and things in Salem. It was great that they had the trail actually painted on the sidewalk so it was easy to spot and follow.
While on our walk, we saw a statue of Roger Conant, the first settler of Salem in 1626.
We stopped for awhile at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. Salem was really known for it's shipping and trade business. It was a port town and dealt a lot with trade. Many of the locals became very rich, owing to their trade with the East Indies. Because it was a national park, Glenn was able to get a Junior Ranger badge from here after learning more about Salem's maritime history.
Along the way, we saw this sign, saying that Salem was the birthplace of the National Guard.
That's cool! I didn't know that.
One place that I definitely wanted to see was the Ye Olde Pepper Companie. I found out that this little candy company is selling candy just as it did back in 1830. We tried to do only the free things on Sunday--like the walking trails and such, but we did make an exception to buy some of the candy (and to buy ice cream from the shop across the street).
Another famous place in Salem is The House of the Seven Gables, made famous by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne. We didn't do the inside tour, but we were able to see the house and grounds over the fence.
And of course there was the witch things in Salem. The locals said not to bother with anything that was witch because it's become tacky and fanciful, but we couldn't help but see them while walking around. So even though they had museums dealing with the witch trials, we didn't see any. But we did make sure we saw the Bewitched Statue. Remember that show?!
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