Salem, Salem, Salem

Yesterday, Jessica and I took the commuter train to Salem, Massachusetts. It's only 16 miles away from Boston and about a 30 minute train ride. She has a second cousin that lives there, so he picked us up at the train station, took us out for lunch, and then showed us around Salem and Marblehead (adjacent town).

Salem is very cute, really old and kinda weird. The town's economy seems to be built on tourism related to the witch trials of 1692. Everywhere you go, there are witch-related museums and shops, and New Age or Wiccan boutiques. It must be crazy at Halloween time.

The above photo is of the oldest burial site in Salem.

We went to the Salem Witch Museum which wasn't so much a museum; it was mostly just a room with mannequins that told the story of the witch trials. But I've always been interested in the witch trials (I even studied women and perceived "madness" in college), so it was strange to be at the site where 16 women were hanged for their supposed witchery.

We saw a couple sites where movies and t.v. shows were filmed - like a cemetery and house in "Hocus Pocus" and a few spots from "Bewitched" (the t.v. show).

It's all very pretty - right on the coast. I could imagine the Salem houses and town hall as they were in the 18th century. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of them, but I'm sure we'll be back again.

We took a drive around these narrow, winding roads in Marblehead, which is also right on the coast. It reminded me of the crowded areas on Gull Lake, where it's just big house crammed next to big house. Except these were really old big houses. We definitely saw multi-million dollar homes, a lot of "old money" type of places that have been owned by the same families for decades, even centuries.

It was a nice Sunday afternoon out of the city.