Day 3 was full of Salem, Massachusetts, the true meaning of our trip. See, Kristi and I had always planned of going to Salem for Halloween to stay at a haunted hotel and see everything else going on. But we wanted to go for a while and ended up going in the summer instead.
We decided to the take the Salem Ferry for about $25 round trip. Not a bad choice... Just wish I didn't have 50 lbs of luggage with me :)
The sights of the city from the Boston Harbor were great. Love the park on the harbor.
We soon set sail for Salem, leaving more breathtaking photos of downtown Boston and the Harbor.
As we took the ferry they did a bit of discussion on the sights we were seeing from the water. Here was Bunker Hill where the British defeated American troops in the American Revolution, but American troops actually could count it as a victory for being so outnumbered and killing so many British leaders.
Soon enough we were at Salem and checking out luggage into the Hawthorne Hotel. I found this hotel in 1000 Things To See Before You Die and it was a bit of a splurge.
The lobby was very nicely decorated and very formal.
After we checked our bags we went out shopping at the small stores by the hotel. Lots of witch-inspired decor in the stores, along with the merchandise. This store, itself, was owned at one time by Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife.
Not even a block from the hotel was this Nathaniel Hawthorne statue. He was the a native Salem resident with a grandpa who was a judge for the Salem Witch Trials. He was famous for writing The Scarlet Letter and House of Seven Gables.
And after so much anticipation, finally made it into a "witches shop." I actually thought there would be these shops ALL OVER Salem, but definitely not as many as you expect. This was probably the pinnacle of them.
Found a T-shirt shop where I was looking for my "Girls Night Out" pink/black Salem shirt I found in the brochure while flying to Boston.
Then we went back to the hotel and got changed for our brunch reservations at The Hawthorne, the hotel's nice restaurant. It was Casey's birthday, so we were going to celebrate in style!
I had a mimosa which was wonderful...the second time around when I got one with no pulp :)
It was actually a Jazz Brunch and the two musicians were great. It was just us and one other (loud) family, and the men came over after playing and visited with us. 
The brunch included three courses: appetizer, entree and dessert. I had the caesar salad for starters.
And the Mexican-inspired breakfast plate with the potatoes was AMAZING! I was so full, though, but I made sure to save some room for dessert. 
And it tasted just as good as it looks :)
After rolling ourselves from the brunch table we set off to explore the Salem Witch Museum. You have to understand we had been planning this trip for almost a year, so the anticipation of the main even here was really high.
Close up shot :) No pictures were allowed inside but you basically listen to a bunch of mannequins and recorded voices tell the story. It was definitely interesting to learn about the witch, Wicca, religion. And to think that hysteria caused those innocent people their lives really was upsetting. But, alike many major events in history, we only hope that we will be smart enough to realize it the next time issues of the same offense arise.
While walking around Salem we came upon the Salem Cemetery. This was a very famous cemetery as there are tombstones here of judges from the Witch Trials and even one from the year 1699 still preserved!
Many of the graves are hard to read but they were mostly from the 18th century.
The oldest was a Pilgrim that had come from the Mayflower! I, of course, was VERY excited to see such a facinating piece of history.
Upon someone's recommendation we went to eat dinner at the Engine House, right on the main road. The pizza was very good! Although it was at a very popular intersection hardly any one of the sales associates in the stores could tell us where to find it. Lol, silly Salem-ites :) It was a great day for us and we went to bed fairly early so that we could be up for a whole day of Salem on Day 4!
We decided to the take the Salem Ferry for about $25 round trip. Not a bad choice... Just wish I didn't have 50 lbs of luggage with me :)
The sights of the city from the Boston Harbor were great. Love the park on the harbor.
We soon set sail for Salem, leaving more breathtaking photos of downtown Boston and the Harbor.
As we took the ferry they did a bit of discussion on the sights we were seeing from the water. Here was Bunker Hill where the British defeated American troops in the American Revolution, but American troops actually could count it as a victory for being so outnumbered and killing so many British leaders.
Soon enough we were at Salem and checking out luggage into the Hawthorne Hotel. I found this hotel in 1000 Things To See Before You Die and it was a bit of a splurge.
The lobby was very nicely decorated and very formal.
After we checked our bags we went out shopping at the small stores by the hotel. Lots of witch-inspired decor in the stores, along with the merchandise. This store, itself, was owned at one time by Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife.
Not even a block from the hotel was this Nathaniel Hawthorne statue. He was the a native Salem resident with a grandpa who was a judge for the Salem Witch Trials. He was famous for writing The Scarlet Letter and House of Seven Gables.
And after so much anticipation, finally made it into a "witches shop." I actually thought there would be these shops ALL OVER Salem, but definitely not as many as you expect. This was probably the pinnacle of them.
Found a T-shirt shop where I was looking for my "Girls Night Out" pink/black Salem shirt I found in the brochure while flying to Boston.
Then we went back to the hotel and got changed for our brunch reservations at The Hawthorne, the hotel's nice restaurant. It was Casey's birthday, so we were going to celebrate in style!
I had a mimosa which was wonderful...the second time around when I got one with no pulp :)
It was actually a Jazz Brunch and the two musicians were great. It was just us and one other (loud) family, and the men came over after playing and visited with us. 
The brunch included three courses: appetizer, entree and dessert. I had the caesar salad for starters.
And the Mexican-inspired breakfast plate with the potatoes was AMAZING! I was so full, though, but I made sure to save some room for dessert. 
And it tasted just as good as it looks :)
After rolling ourselves from the brunch table we set off to explore the Salem Witch Museum. You have to understand we had been planning this trip for almost a year, so the anticipation of the main even here was really high.
Close up shot :) No pictures were allowed inside but you basically listen to a bunch of mannequins and recorded voices tell the story. It was definitely interesting to learn about the witch, Wicca, religion. And to think that hysteria caused those innocent people their lives really was upsetting. But, alike many major events in history, we only hope that we will be smart enough to realize it the next time issues of the same offense arise.
While walking around Salem we came upon the Salem Cemetery. This was a very famous cemetery as there are tombstones here of judges from the Witch Trials and even one from the year 1699 still preserved!
Many of the graves are hard to read but they were mostly from the 18th century.
The oldest was a Pilgrim that had come from the Mayflower! I, of course, was VERY excited to see such a facinating piece of history.
Upon someone's recommendation we went to eat dinner at the Engine House, right on the main road. The pizza was very good! Although it was at a very popular intersection hardly any one of the sales associates in the stores could tell us where to find it. Lol, silly Salem-ites :) It was a great day for us and we went to bed fairly early so that we could be up for a whole day of Salem on Day 4! 
