Finally drawing to a close with these travel posts, having only one or two more after this one, I couldn’t fail to include Salem being a place of historical interest.
Hopping on a ferry on yet another glorious day (complete with furious sea breeze) was a fine idea that we collectively made, even if I do say so myself, which I just did.
Whilst leaving Boston, not only did a couple of planes fly low over us on towards the airport runway but the beleaguered tour guide whose voice was blown away by the ever-present wind informed us that one of the islands was the location of the film Shutter Island which I quite enjoyed and coincidentally was on last night.
Looking (with a bit of imagination) like the L.A. skyline from the A-Team credits, it was good to get wider perspective of the city which looked like it was built in Minecraft.
Not what I expected to greet me in Salem and resembling something from Baltimore docks, it nevertheless provided an intriguing beginning to the town which has a good bar call In a Pig’s Eye which is interestingly a phrase meaning disbelief (of a statement) and some pretty grim artwork.
The Salem Witch Museum is worth a visit to get a short history of the trials and the reason they came about, yet for such a serious subject it was a shame that some of it was so unintentionally comedic. After such a chronicle of tragedy, it seemed tasteless to have all the kid’s witchy souvenirs in the gift shop, it did take the edge off of what was a terribly wretched time but also lessened the impact of its lessons.
Fun fact 1: No witches were burned at the stake in America, it was just the savage Europeans who did that sort of thing.
Wandering around The Old burying Point cemetery, this tree caught the eye for its tangled, almost tormented forms which is enough to inspire plenty of stories and helps add atmosphere to a graveyard in use since the 1630’s.
Stickwork by Sculptor Patrick Dougherty is a curious collection of structures which I am sure I saw in The X-Files once. Fun Fact 2: The witchcraft act was only repealed in Britain was only repealed in 1951.
Salem is a small place, which wasn’t explored due to the time constraints and it was a bit disappointing that nowhere did I see a sign like Salem’s (parking) Lot or some sort of other pun. It was soon time for heading back, I enjoyed my time in Salem and I got a decent amount of book read too.
Book to the Future 
This was a very interesting post. And Salem’s (parking) Lot, that would be funny xD
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I was really excited because I thought it would have been done, I just wanted a photo but now I think I ought to buy the name just in case.
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Hi Ste, really interesting to see. So good to explore places elsewhere, while still loving home. I noticed you said we – who did you go with?
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I wandered over with my friend and travel enthusiast Tom and met fellow blogger Morgan for a couple of days as well. Getting away is key to keeping us sane, I believe.
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Hi Ste, yeah! Guess I am going to be insane for long time. Had to cut back on going away! Piggie comes first and then my business stuff! Went 5 times to London last year!
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Well, you’re going to have to take another trip, Ste J. I just loved seeing your photographs!
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I shall hopefully go somewhere again before Christmas, book a week or so off work and take a wander somewhere in Europe probably. I enjoy taking photos, giving a glimpse of the world although my commentary didn’t have as much insight as Berlin being a more relaxed holiday. Each trip is different though so who knows what the future holds. Thank you for accompanying me on my journey.
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I’d imagined Salem would be Gothic and old, so it’s a surprise to see how modern it looks!
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There are the usual wooden houses but it’s no different from other small American towns. I thought it would be packed with witchy types and souvenir shops everywhere, I can’t say I was too disappointed to not see the latter but the former would have made me happy.
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Nice post
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Thank you, I do my best!
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NIce photos
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Thanks, I am not the best photographer but by the law of averages by taking hundreds, some have to turn out well!
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Hahaha I use the exact same method. Have a good day.
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The stickwork is very creepy! I like it. I had no idea that witches were not burned. What did they do to them?
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Those found guilty were hung or ended up spending a lot if not all their lives in jail, it was a terrible time and the artwork seems to carry on that atmosphere as well. I’m sure they inspire a lot of stories.
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Salem is an island ? I didn’t know that !
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It’s not but the ferry trip goes around the headland and the fifty five minute trip is much more preferable to the land drive and much more refreshing.
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The photographs are nice and so are the ‘fun facts’ 😀 Salem’s (parking) Lot…hehe… putting up a board or something like that sounds like a good idea, they should mull over it. 🙂
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I want a free book on the local history for the idea, I think that sounds fair, there were plenty in the museum that could send me, hehe.
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Hehe…definitely…..they should do some nice work like that… 😛
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Some very nice photos. Sounds like a great trip.
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It was a grand day out. Perfect weather, some grim history and getting my sea legs. You really can’t beat that combination.
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Thanks for the quick tour of a city I have not visited. I didn’t know that witches were not burned in our country. I always learn something new when I visit your blog. 🙂
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I really should have got more photos but I kept forgetting my camera was in my bag, I need to get better using it, having said that the town itself seemed standard American town fare and I did spend at least an hour and a half reading a book as well! I have to teach you something after all you teach me.
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🙂
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Well, Steve, you have seen something of Boston that I have yet to see. That will have to be another add to my list of Boston sights.
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Get the ferry, it’s a great trip with cool beverages and a bit of a tour at the beginning as well. We didn’t do that much xploring either so it will be good to go again when I am next that way.
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Ok. Thanks for the tip.
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A fantastic set of travel posts – thanks so much for all of them, and the opportunity for vicarious exploring.
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To which I extend the same thank you to you as well. I like to think we save each other money in the short term but probably inspire an outlay later on to go to these places!
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Oh well, c’est la vie!
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It’s been a while since I toured Salem, and it’s probably true that no witches were burned at the stake in the U. S. at the time, but weren’t some of them hanged and jailed? I thought so. Less gruesome and painful, I guess, but still….but maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. Or the punishment where they were put in a pit and had stones piled on top of them until they suffocated–where does that memory come from? (I hope not from a past life!).
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Yes both hanging and jailing and one bloke got crushed by a door with rocks piled on top. Your pit idea is particularly gruesome, you need to stay in more!
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I have enjoyed these posts very much and love the photos too. I thought the stick sculpture was wonderful! I had a feeling it was only us Europeans who had enjoyed a bit of burning at the stake.
Shameful business.
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Thank you for journeying with me in my haphazard fashion. It is amazing and tragic that things could have taken the turn it did there, although the public backlash against the trails was quick to come, relatively speaking, it wasn’t enough to save the twenty executed and the five that died in prison.
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I associate these executions and imprisonments with ethnic cleansing, the cruelties perpetrated by the Klu Klux Klan and other groups, abuse of minorities etc carried out by people who think they have right on their side.
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It is amazing that the hysteria came from a few claims by teenage girls and spread. In these situations sense never prevails just hate and paranoia, it is a frightening thing.
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It is. It is also not surprising that teenage girls set it all off.
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Did you read The Crucible while you were in Salem? I had no idea there were no witches burned at the stake here — what a morbid ” fun” fact!
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I didn’t, as per all my travel experiences I neglect to research the literary merits before hand and then regret it whilst there. You think I would be more on it with a book blog but it’s something to get better at.
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I had every intention on scrolling down to view the beginning of your trip to Boston, however your Salem post caught my eye.
I visited Salem for Halloween when I first moved to Mass, it had been packed full of tourists in costumes. We did however go on a haunted house tour, where we learned of many suicides, murders, and those sort of things, all in all the visit was all right, definitely not what I had expected, but it was interesting to hear about all the witch stuff.
I liked a few of your facts too, I didn’t know that they had only been hung and not burned. Something that our haunted house tour guide never mentioned.
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Halloween is pretty much the best time to go there I would imagine, you timed it better than I. It is a strange place but with enough ghoulish detail to keep the tourist intrigued. It’s funny we avoid the news because it’s so grim but marvel at the often gruesome stories of yesteryear. I am sure I missed out on plenty of macabre facts as well.
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Salem has a strange vibe in general. You know the town will be forever haunted. It’s certainly not a town I’d want to reside in. The timing is definitely better around Halloween, if you don’t mind crowds, but I am glad that you at least got a chance to visit it.
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It was a wonderful experience and there are plenty more places to go to as well, despite my timing, it is wonderful to see unique places and I am looking forward to my next jaunt whenever that will be.
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I didnt realise no witches were killed in America. Though from what I’ve been reading lately, the term ‘witch’ may have been made up by Christians (along with some of their views of them and what they did), even though Pagans existed. There is very little evidence of what they did or believed in the old times.
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Witches were killed in America, just not burned at the stake. Old Christianity did take a dim view on healers which has probably lost us a lot of natural medical knowledge. A lot of Pagan belief was subsumed into Christianity to smooth the transition between religions, it is strange how some things carry over whilst others were hounded out of the public sphere.
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This is fascinating and I love your reference to Minecraft. You’re so right! 🙂 And I saved the pic of that tree 😀
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The tree was fascinating, I took loads of photos of it, probably something that would be a good edition to Minecraft as well.
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I really have a thing for trees. I wrote a book in which one of the main characters was a tree 🙂 I keep hoping someone will want to publish it. It’s a longer storybook in an age where the publishers want “short, shorter, shorter” in illustrated books. We’ll see what happens with that.
AND I think you’d enjoy a blog post I did on my other blog: https://2creativitycookbook.com/2015/10/01/c-c-minecraft-the-creative-video-game-that-built-its-way-to-the-top/
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There is always the self publishing route to take as well, you already have a blog with which to reach your potential readers.
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Ah, Ste J, whenever even a hint of self-publishing wisps through my desperate mind, it makes me cringe. I will have had to exhaust EVERY possibility of traditional publishing to resort to it. I can’t imagine I’ll ever do that unless it was in a very small, limited way so people I know would buy them, not for “the public.”
I haven’t yet submitted to small houses, though that may eventually happen. I’m able to open some doors with the big NY ones (I’ve networked quite a bit) and haven’t given up on that route. You’re so sweet thinking my blog is a good avenue 🙂 I have a handful of followers and you need thousands to even have a chance of that helping a book be a success. I have a friend who’s actually a successful author and she did a blog post on just that subject. She has thousands of followers and it didn’t help affect her book sales in a substantial way :-\ That’s the reality of that one, my dear! We’ll see what happens 🙂
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That’s interesting, you would think the blog would be an effective tool, it makes me wonder how good Twitter and other social media are at being effective too. It’s good that you have been networking, that’s the best thing you can do and I wish you luck of course. I do like the idea of an exclusive run for your friends and family, put me down on the list for one!
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It’s not that it’s not an effective tool to spread the word, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into sales. People may like you, they may like the blog, but it doesn’t mean they’re automatically going to spend money on your book, unless, of course, they REALLY like it that much. I want to buy many more books than I do, though it does get to be a bit silly. And I have a lot of friends who publish books, some of which I’ve purchased to support them, not necessarily because I can’t live without owning the book. Some I’ve sincerely loved 🙂 And I find Twitter to be an extremely valuable tool, generally speaking.
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I find Twitter a wall of noise, so to speak. I am reminded of a phrase I saw on Facebook, ‘people love your work, until they have to pay for it’. I think a lot of people are like that, I get a fair amount of free books but there are plenty of authors whose works I would buy and that has been through the blogging word but that is my primary link to all internet booking. Too many books, too little time my dear.
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ALways too many books, too little time *sigh*
And Twitter, when I first got on it, was overwhelming. But once I got to meet people I knew, liked and knew would be good to be connected to, that helped honed in what I pay attention to. It is now a rare thing that I allow myself to get lost on my home page of incessant tweets. There are two chats I frequent (#kidlitchat Tues.9pmEST,#kidlitart Thur.9pmEST) and a once-a-month book club (#SharpSchu) that I won’t miss. I also have notifications sent to me. Twitter gleans from people I follow and hands me recent tweets. The ones I want to participate in, I do. I either have quick little, fun conversations, pass along info worth passing along, or gain info myself. My “home” page that never ends IS like noise ’cause it’s just way too much and the more people you follow, the noisier it gets.
What I still haven’t done is made the list of people whose profiles I won’t to go directly to and scan. That’s when it’s fun and truly valuable 😀 And I’ve met people I never would’ve met otherwise. It’s all who you’re connected to and how you use it.
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Maybe I need to make the time to get into it, you introduce to so many things I need to check out and get involved in…however I am hoping to get into something like that soon, of which I may ask for your help. I need to get it all sorted first though before I mention anything.
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It takes a bit of getting used to and if I can help, I’d be happy to 🙂
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Thank you!!!
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And I forgot to address the self-published thing. IF I were to ever do it, I’d let you know, my dear 😉 But it’s literally the last thing I intend to do unless it is definite, before I die, that it will never be traditionally published. THEN it’s more of a possibility 🙂
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It makes sense, to go the traditional publishing route saves you a whole lot of work and means more advertising. I look forward to either possibility my friend.
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Thank you, Ste J 🙂 oxox
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