April 06, 2018

Family Vacation Photos, Part 3: Salem (continued)

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2...

To Recap: We had quite a whirlwind trip! I have a trillion pictures, so rather than bombard you all with them in one post, I'll just post over the next few days with them. Since I haven't felt like writing much lately anyways, this will be a good way to ease back into (trying to) write regularly.

In a nutshell: Jerry, the kids, and I flew into Boston on Wednesday, and spent three nights there; we drove to Salem and spent one night there; then made a road trip south and back north and then south again, winding up in Portland, Maine. We flew out of Boston yesterday and are home now.

I have a ton of pictures from the trip, so I'll try to narrow it down to my favorites. I have to say, I'm very self-conscious about posting these pictures. It could be the depression making me feel bad about myself, but I feel fat and "exposed" in them, if that makes sense. I almost didn't post most of these for that reason, but one thing that I regret about being 250+ pounds was that I avoided pictures like the plague. 

So, even though I'm not thrilled with how my body looks right now (I was up to 143--10 pounds over my goal weight--when we left for the trip. Today, I was up another 5 pounds from vacation weight. I'm hoping to take that off over the next week, since vacation weight is usually temporary water fluctuations, but it still makes me feel bad.)



On Saturday morning, we rented a car to drive to Salem. (The Revere has an Enterprise car rental on the 5th floor of the hotel! So convenient.) I'd never been to Salem, so I was excited to see a new city. 

Caitlin and her boyfriend, Joe, planned to meet us there and then have dinner with us afterward. We had planned to go right to the Salem Witch Museum, but after finding parking, we just stopped at a few other places along the way. We stumbled upon the Old Burying Point Cemetery, and of course, I had to check it out! 

There were a lot of stones that were hard to read, which naturally happens after 300 years, but I was very interested to read a lot of the inscriptions on the ones that I could make out. The poems were definitely more morbid than stones these days, and I found it fascinating.



This one is hard to read, even in black and white, so here is what it says:
"Stop dear youth remember you must die,
Blooming in health as you, so once was I;
A fair and favourite flower of living friends
But death the unexpected summons sends;
One week in perfect health bright as the day,
The next united with his fellow clay.
Fatal sickness spoil'd the manly form,
And death consign'd him to his kindred worm.
Death is a debt to nature due,
I've paid my debt & so must you."

I especially liked the last two lines, which were kind of harsh!
"Death is a debt to nature due,
I've paid the debt, & so must you."

This next one broke my heart. A nine month old baby who died in 1796:
"Happy the babe, who privileg'd by fate
To shorter labour and a lighter weight;
Receiv'd but yesterday the gift of breath,
Ordered tomorrow to return to Death."


And this one is my favorite:
"Thoughtless wanderer turn aside
And read when Stephen Smith died.
You too must die and lay your head
In this cold lodging of the dead.
If you are young, so too was I;
If you are old, you soon must die.
Then listen to the solemn word
Sinners prepare to meet thy God."


I can't imagine ever reading something like that these days, so I find the old gravestones so interesting! Like I said before, I could walk through cemeteries for hours reading the stones.

We went into a few shops while we waited for Caitlin and Joe, and then when we met up with them, we went to a comic book store. Caitlin and I weren't interested, but the boys browsed for the longest time in there. I don't think my kids had ever been in a comic book store.

Then we went into a video game store, and I actually really found it interesting. They had all the old consoles hanging on the wall, like the Atari and original Nintendo. I was psyched to see the Sega Genesis! I had one of those, and all the kids in the neighborhood envied me, hahaha.

From there, we finally headed to the Witch Museum. I wasn't sure what the kids would think of it (or even what I would think of it, since I'm not a history buff). It ended up being pretty interesting--it didn't go into a lot of depth, but basically just gave the gist of the Salem Witch Trials and explained what the modern version of "witchcraft" is. I don't believe in witchcraft, but I found it interesting, nonetheless.


After the museum, we walked to an arcade called Bit Bar. It had a bunch of old school video games, like the ones I played growing up. The boys all played while Caitlin and I sat at a table and chatted with a couple of girlie drinks (I ordered the "Princess Peach").

After the arcade, we went to Kowloon for dinner. It's the Chinese place that I went to with Caitlin, Joe, and John last year, and absolutely loved. It has such a fun atmosphere, and the food is fantastic.

I thought it was hilarious that Joe and Jerry shared a "Scorpion Bowl" drink, Lady & The Tramp style.


I realized I hadn't gotten a single picture with Caitlin the entire trip, so we took a quick one in the parking lot before saying goodbye.


Jerry, the kids, and I headed to our hotel in Peabody, which is right outside of Salem. The kids wanted to swim, so they played in the pool.


Meanwhile, Jerry and I sat in the poolside chairs and relaxed after an exhausting day.


Overall, Salem was very fun! The main street that we walked in town was lively, and there were lots of little shops. My favorite part was definitely the cemetery, and the kids liked the arcade, of course. We all learned a little about the Salem Witch Trials, and got to explore a unique town.

Next up: A road trip through New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont (where we went to Ben & Jerry's!), Rhode Island, and our final destination... Portland, Maine.

To be continued...


4 comments:

  1. I loved Salem when I visited! The witch museum is pretty cool. I wish I had gotten to check out that video game restaurant for lunch though. That sounds awesome! I’m loving your vacation posts! Looks like such a fun time!

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  2. I lived in Salem for 15 years. It never gets boring -- I really loved that city.

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  3. I think we are living parallel lives ;-) We were just in Salem on Saturday and finally went to the Witch Museum! Wouldn't it have been fun to run into you?!

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  4. I just love this! Of course, as you know I am a huge history buff, so I am fascinated by the cemetery stones and the witch museum. I have never seen poems like that on gravestones--thank you so much for sharing! Very moving.

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