World United States Massachusetts Salem

Pretty Damn Nice!

Gloucester and Salem Jul 13, 2009

Today, we headed east back towards the coast to explore more of Massachusetts. We wound around through the little towns of Ipswich and Essex, both established in the 1600's. We couldn't see the ocean, although we could smell the salt air and the breeze was brisk, even though it was sunny. The houses and towns along the way were pretty, although they were not crisp and pristine like Vermont or even Cape Cod.

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We decided to turn east and explore the Gloucester (pronounced Glowster) area first. Gloucester is probably best known for being a working fishing village and in fact, when you first come into the little village, there is a popular statue of a fisherman looking out to see. The village was cute and the streets were narrow and it had a fishing feel rather than a beachy feel, although it is located right on the bay. There was a lot of activity in the streets and harbor and everyone seemed busy. We followed some of the street signs to the historic district and passed beautiful churches and old buildings with plaques that said they dated back to the 1600's and 1700's. You could almost imagine horses galloping down the narrow streets. It looks like all the pictures of a fishing village you have ever seen. There were lots of fishing boats in the harbor with trucks running back and forth, probably delivering the catch of the day.

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We followed the stream of traffic out towards the harbor (it is going to be hard for me not to always call it a haba now) and turned down a street named Beach Street. At the end, up ahead, lo and behold, there was a beach - a huge beach, as a matter of fact. We found a parking spot and headed down the boardwalk to the water. The tide was way out and it seemed that the beach was a half mile wide until you got to the water. There were lots of people out but they were all sitting way up on the beach in the dry sand, away from the water. Did they know something we don't know? I don't know if it was because the tide comes in really fast or the water is really cold and they don't go in the water anyway, or it is just easier to carry your chair and stuff to the end of the boardwalk. The only ones down by the water were the brave little kids playing in the cold water. But we walked down by the water. It was a beautiful beach that was easy to walk on with all the hard sand. The sea breeze was heavenly and without it, it would have been way too hot and muggy. We walked probably a couple of miles down and back to an island that people could walk to due to the low tide, which we declined to do. There were gorgeous houses built all along the bay which all appeared to be empty, probably second homes. By the time we got back to the car, we were starving.

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We decided to continue our drive around the bay in the hopes of finding a spot for our picnic lunch. The views were spectacular, but there wasn't any parking. We stopped and asked a couple of ladies walking in the street if there perhaps might be a spot somewhere but they said it was all private beaches. They said they had lived their whole lives there in Gloucester. We kept looking and enjoying the views which reminded us a lot of the Monterey area. Finally, John spotted a picnic table in a playground on the marina. We ate our lunch overlooking all the pretty boats and lobster traps stacked on the dock. We thought that our picnic spot the other day was pretty hard to beat, but today's spot was pretty perfect.

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After satisfying our tummies, we headed back towards the west towards Salem, Massachusetts. We passed through more small towns, again noting how pretty it was but not as prosperous looking as we had seen in Vermont. We finally came to a little town but we weren't sure if it was Salem or not. We couldn't find any signs or indications. We consulted the free map we had and after several turn arounds, located a parking spot on the street close to where the visitor's center should be. We put money into the meter and walked down the street, past more buildings that indicated they were old.

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We asked the clerk at the visitor's center if there were any historical museums in Salem that did not charge admission. There are a lot of things advertised in the brochures in Salem that cost money: the Witches Museum, Pirates Museum, Frankensteins Lab, Ghost Tours . . . you name it - all tourist traps. The clerk directed us to the walking tour which would take us over near the wharf and past the House of Seven Gables and the Witches Museum. We decided to check out what was supposed to be a museum near the wharf only to find out from the ranger that they offered tours of three of the old houses - for a fee, of course - but no free museum. We asked the ranger if there was anything historical in Salem to see and she looked at us blankly for a minute before answering, not really. Well, I guess I really didn't expect much, anyway. I mean, there wouldn't be witches or pilgrims walking around, would there? We were getting tired after all of our walking and decided we had seen enough of Salem, so we headed back home.

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We really wouldn't recommend a visit to Salem but we can say we've been there. We did love Gloucester through very much. I wish we had just spent the entire day there.