Leaving my campsite behind I headed east to visit the historic site of Salem. How could I pass up the opportunity to visit Salem while in Massachusetts? I couldn’t, so it was time to put on my touristy hat and see the sites. Getting into town in the early morning I went to see if I could get into Winter Island Marine Park, a campground and historic site. The park is located on the former site of the Fort Pickering Coast Guard Base.
Winter Island Lighthouse
The harsh light of the day made it difficult to get great shots of the park lighthouse so I decided to head into the town and see what I could find. While checking out the Tourist Information area I decided to do a tour of Grey House, the house that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about in his novel The House of the Seven Gables.
House of Seven Gables
I had a great time learning about the history of the house and the area and not to mention that I was able to use a secret passage in the house. It was pretty cool. One interesting takeaway from the morning was that none of the hangings (and pressings?!) were done in Salem but were committed in the neighbouring town of Ipswich. There are, however, memorials in the Salem graveyard.
Salem Witchtrial Victim
This pressing business does not sound pleasant at all. It seems a pretty nasty business but then again the whole thing was a little weird in my books. After doing the touristy thing around town, filling up the tummy with a lobster roll and picking up some authentic Salem gear I had to back on the road and finally get myself into Maine.
