Salem's seaport (once called Shalom, the
hebrew word for Peace) is brimming with 350 years of maritime history and
no trip to Salem would have been complete without sailing on the Atlantic and
eating lots of fresh seafood The tall ship in the foggy picture is FRIENDSHIP,
a sister ship to CONSTITUTION which berths in Boston.
We had a private
sail aboard the 50 ft schooner, FAME which is a replica of a Revolutionary era
privateer.
Nathaniel Hawthorne predominates literary history in Salem. From the Custom
House on the wharf, he wrote The Crucible... the house of Seven Gables, which
inspired his novel of the same name (above) is now a museum... as is his
birthplace (below)
His grandfather William Hathorne (note the
name change) , the infamous hanging judge from Puritan times, who condemned
local citizens to hanging for allegations of witchcraft, is buried in one
of the local cemeteries (see below)
Oddly enough, it is witches that have had the last
laugh in Salem. Thirty thousand self professed witches
live and work in Salem today... and have resurrected the local economy from
blight to one of the number one tourist destinations on the east coast.
