Salem, Cape Cod

Sadly, we departed Maine, but happily, we were headed to Massachusetts!  Our first stop was Salem.  In case you didn't know, Salem is where the witch trials of 1692 took place.  The town was pretty dead when we arrived, even though it was noon and just gorgeous out!  We looked at all the witchy shops (I was reminded of being an altar boy at high mass because the incense was so strong in the shops), and visited the graveyard.  Near the graveyard they had built a memorial for the men and women who were hung (or pressed to death in one case) during the trials.  The graveyard was very interesting.  They had people stationed throughout the yard to answer people's questions.  We overheard that each gravestone had approximately eight bodies buried under it.  The only person to actually get a gravestone was the head of the family.  Apparently, they kept digging up the spot and adding bodies as necessary.  

The witch memorial. All of the benches had the name of a person killed during the witch trials.

The graveyard

"This land was once owned by Richard More, the only Mayflower passenger to move from Plymouth to Salem."

Close up of one of the benches. SARAH GOOD HANGED JULY 19, 1692

Gravestone of siblings. Of the part remaining, there were two children, both died at 16 months old, one in 1681 and one in 1684. Very sad.

Grave site of Capt. Richard More, the Mayflower Pilgrim. It is in that same cemetery. He died at 84 years old.

I should also say here that while walking around I got the crap scared out of me by a street monster.  They have this guy dressed up as a monster and interacting with people as they walked by.  I even saw him the first time, but when we walked by him the second time, we stopped to check our phones for some place to eat.  Well, I did.  Chelsea and Wendy just watched as the guy came up behind me.  I finally noticed him and let out a very manly half scream.  

In Salem they've painted a red line throughout the town so tourists know where all the important stuff is.  We followed it for a while and it took us to some pretty neat places.  For example, we followed it all the way to the water, where we found the dock where ships would have been.  They had a ship there that people could walk through, so we did.  It was very cool, but a tall person would have a hard time walking around the bottom of the ship because the ceiling was so low.  

Wendy's note:

During this entire trip I've been fascinated by all of the church architecture.  Salem was no exception, and this was especially cool - we stumbled on the first church in Salem, and the first congregational church in the country, established in 1629!

"Founded August 6th, 1629 O. S. The First Congregational Church in North America. On a day of fasting and prayer appointed by Governor John Endicon for the purpose after a Covenant and Confession of faith had been rec'd and Consent thereto solemnly professed by the church members the Rev Francis Higginson chosen teacher and the reverend Samuel Skelton chosen Pastor were Ordained and to them Governor Bradford and others, deputed from Plymouth, gave the Right Hand of Fellowship. This tablet erected by the First Congregational Society in Salem on the 300th Anniversary."

Joel:

As we walked back into the main part of town, we could see that a lot more people had started to show up.  We looked at a few more places before heading back to the car.  Chelsea had been to Salem twice before, both during the Halloween season.  She says that the place is crazy that time of year with tons of vendors lining the streets.  

We drove south for a few more hours before arriving in Cape Cod.  We hadn't booked a hotel before we left Brunswick, which was really dumb seeing as it is memorial day weekend.  Luckily, we found the perfect hotel in Hyannis that just happened to have a cancellation, so we all did a happy dance and checked in.  

Immediately after loading our stuff into the room, we left again.  We wanted to make it to the tip of the cape.  On the way to the cape we stopped at Arnold's, which is a big seafood place.  Yum.  Finally, we arrived in Provincetown.  Even though Ptown is only 33 miles from our hotel, it took us a while to get there because it's only one lane traffic going up and down the cape.  If you don't know what Ptown is, look up the Castro district in San Francisco.  Ptown is essentially the east coast version of that.  Sometimes I wonder why parents bring their kids here.  They must just think "Oh let's drive to the tip of the cape just for fun!  There's probably a cute New England town up there!".  Yes, it's cute for sure, but might be quite a shock for you and your kids if you aren't ready for it, LOL.  We plan to go back on Monday to lounge on the beach and watch for whales.

Provincetown Town Hall, at the center of everything. Tons of people were milling in the streets. It was a very festive atmosphere.