Salem/Boston Passage

Sorry for the lateness of the Salem/Boston post...been having too much fun in Vermont!

Well we stayed at a RV park in Salisbury and took the train into Salem (aka the town of the witches), we arrived just in time to hop on a trolley to take a tour of the town to learn about the history and the witches. One interesting thing that we learned on the tour was that there were actually no witches burned at the stake they were hung however, there was one witch that was crushed by rocks (can you imagine?!) It was a little disturbing knowing that anyone could be accused of being a witch, age or gender didn't matter. If your neighbor or someone didn't like you or someone wanted your property they could turn you in for being a witch...the accused would go to trial and in most cases be sentenced to death...what a scary time in history! We went by the America's oldest candy company, Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie established in 1806, apparently candy has always been a necessity lol! After our tour we had to go to the Witch Museum to see what that was all about...well a little disappointing because it was a little redundant to what we learned on the town tour however, we did learn that in 1692 there were 20 innocent people that were actually put to death for being accused of being witches. Hard to believe that this all took place so many years ago. By now we are ready for food and a beer so found a good local place that had great craft beers and very tasty goulash..yum!! For a cold rainy day, it sure was perfect for some witch hunting!!
We only stayed 2 days in Mass so we took in the sights of Boston on day #2, of course took the train into Boston and already had scheduled a city trolley tour (best way to see the city!). This trolley tour you can hop off and on as you please, which is perfect. Our first hop off was at the original State House, wow, the history that lies within those walls, to think that we were in the same place that the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and that the Boston Massacre happened...such an historic building, actually the oldest surviving public building in Boston. We also popped into the 2nd Cheers bar just to take a picture, watched a street performer outside the historic Quincy Market, had to walk through the market to check out all the die for food! Then back onto the trolley to our next hop off which was the oldest tavern (Bell in Hand from 1795) and the historic Union Oyster House from 1826, of course we had to stop and have a beer at the oldest tavern in the U.S.! Hopped back onto the trolley to finish the tour we went by the original Cheers, Fenway Park and many other great historical parts of Boston. Our last stop ended up being our last, as we were about to hop on the next trolley that was suppose to end the tour however, we decided to take a restroom break and realized that we were at the Marriott that our good friends Steve and Fran were staying at....we walked in and checked the bar first and nope not there... we were on our way out when we saw them at the concierge desk, we went and surprised them and the night is history haha! We enjoyed catching up over drinks and an excellent dinner, what a great night we all had, perfect way to end our stay in Massachusetts. Boston is such a historical city with so much to see and do that this one is definately a come back to place in the future, one day is just not enough to take it all in! Never enough time...maybe when we are retired!!
Now off to Vermont for 2 weeks to enjoy the colors!! Can't wait!

The historic State House

The historic Faneuil Hall

The historic Quincy Market - where you could gain 100 lbs once you hit the end!

Look at these amazing pizza bagels - sold inside the Quincy Market - 1 of many gut wrenching foods!

The Oldest Tavern in the U.S. 

The oldest restaurant Union Oyster House 

An old cemetery in the middle of the city, some of the tombstones were from the 1600's and some are so old that they are not legible. 

Salem's Most visited Witch Museum 

Look who we found flying around Salem...picture opp!

Mmm our yummy goulash - time to dig in!

The council chambers at Faneuil Hall

The inside of the Quincy Market - You could walk in weighing 150 lbs and walk out weighing 250 lbs...so much food!

Jerry hanging with the Cheer's gang!

The current State House of Boston

Us with our great friends Steve and Fran - Good times!