Today was a very adventurous day! We started out with the Nathan special breakfast – eggs and sausages and then headed out on our way to Salem, MA. Salem is one of those towns that you hear about in school and you always go, gee, I wish I could go there. So off we went. I won’t get into the details of what happened along the way, but let’s just say that I don’t approve of MA speed traps!
Once we arrived in Salem, we decided to walk around and see if we could find anything. Thankfully, we found a NPS Visitor’s Center that pointed out all the good places to see. Pretty much the only thing really neat was the Salem Witch Memorial that has these cool stones coming out of walls that has people’s names and when they put to death for witchcraft. The rest of the area was full of goofy museums that charged way too much and quirky little Wiccan shops that look like Patsy’s Mom ran them.
So back to the car we went and then headed over to the House of Seven Gables – made famous by the Scarlet Letter Man himself – Nathaniel Hawthorne. Again, a nice, quaint little museum with an $11 guided tour through a dinky house that we passed up. I especially liked the “Garden Cafe” which was a little alcove that was all closed off. Well, it is the off-season.
Having had our fill, we then set off to Maine! I was so excited to visit two whole states in a mere hour. First up is New Hampshire, which is mostly noted for having state Liquor and Lottery Stores heavily promoted and visible from the turnpike. Also, NH is famous for the random $1 toll for no apparent reason. Personally, I could have sworn the taxpayers had paid for all of the Interstate Highway System. The whole tollbooth looked like it was something rigged for a reality show. The countryside was beautiful though, and I can only imagine how much more so it will be in the summer and fall.
Before we knew it, we were across the border in Maine. More beautiful homes and scenery. We stopped to pee at the Tourist Info center just inside the border at Kittery. So technically, I “visited” Maine first. We were disappointed that we did not have enough time to visit a life-sized chocolate “moose” which was located too far away. Nathan mentioned that the quaint town of Ogunquit might be a nice short jaunt, and then I mentioned we should try and see if the Bush’s were home in Kennebunkport.
We took the former exit 4 (now exit 7 – apparently Main re-numbered a lot of freeway exits in a big scandal – personally, I don’t think it is exit 4’s fault) and meandered through some cool small Maine towns and finally made it to the Ogunquit beach. They were having a wee carnival on the beach in honor of Patriot’s Day (which marks the April 18th anniversary of Paul Revere’s midnight ride among other things). We decided to partake in a local fundraiser and bought some food from a booth, and then headed on down to the beach. I decided it was time to touch the Atlantic, something I had managed not to do in any of my east coast travels. It was very exciting and cold!
It was then time to head to Kennebunkport, which turned out to be full of HUGE mansions amid wonderful scenery. The actual small town has a neat little shopping village and some nice churches. No sign of Elder Bush, so we decided to set sail for home. Getting back to Boston was a breeze and I made sure to make a pit stop in NH so I could mark my territory.
Back in Boston, Nathan and I did some shopping at the grocery store and decided to cook some steaks on the Hibachi. They were mmm-mmm good, despite the huge flames and the worries of the next-door neighbor that we were going to torch the whole complex. After dinner we sat down and had a low-key night watching the tele. It was a perfect end to a great day.
Tomorrow I have lots of time to kill before my plane leaves at 5pm. I was toying with the idea of hopping on the commuter rail and heading to Providence, RI – if for nothing else to just knock another state off. I would have two hours max in the city, so I am not sure if I want to take the hour trip. I guess it all depends on my feelings in the morning. Otherwise, I’ll just likely wander around locally since the Boston Marathon tomorrow will make a mess of getting around. Then again, maybe it’ll make some good Gorn shots.
I certainly want to come back to New England to spend more time in the rural parts of Main, NH, and heck even go all the way to Vermont. But right now, this long weekend was very nice, and just what I needed.