Events of Saturday, October 16, 2010

          One of the things that most people think about when considering the east coast, especially Salem, Massachusetts, is the witch trial period. During this time, nineteen innocent people were hanged and one was tortured to death because they were believed to be practicing witchcraft, which, at that time, was against the law. As we planned our tour of Massachusetts, we wanted to see something on the witch trial period. We wanted to find an unbiased museum to inform us about the history of the Salem witch trials. But I’ll tell you more about that later. Our day started in a KOA campground in Maine. We were in much need of showers, and so, after breakfast, we showered, had our quiet times and hung out for a while. After everyone was ready to go, we hit the road and drove along a scenic coastal drive on our way to Massachusetts.

          Since the beginning of the trip, Lindsey has been wanting an “I ♡ ME” shirt from Maine, and we hadn’t found one yet. As we left Maine, we searched along the border for a T-shirt store. While searching in one T-shirt store, Daddy found an extremely fuzzy hoodie that was just my size for only $5. Thinking that a Maine welcome center might have the T-shirt, we went into a welcome center and were helped by two extremely nice ladies. They found us a lobster place just before the border of Maine that served lobster rolls, and recommended a candy store to find the Maine T -shirt in. We went to the candy store, called Yummies, and we looked around, but sadly didn’t find any “I ♡ ME” T-shirts. But we did find over 10,000 pounds of candy on display, all of which looked really good. After wandering around for a while, we went to the lobster place, got lobster rolls, and then we drove for a while looking for a scenic lunch spot. Finally we found one in New Hampshire and had a delicious lunch. Breakfast in Maine, lunch in New Hampshire, who knows where we will be for dinner.

          Now, it was on to Massachusetts. As we entered the Boston vicinity, which basically takes up half of the state, we started to experience some of the Boston driving that is so infamous. The streets were crammed, and everyone seemed to be headed for Salem. As we drove we wondered what all the excitement was about and noticed that everything was themed Halloween. After following a series of signs for the National Park Service Visitor Center, in very heavy traffic, Daddy dropped us off at the Salem Visitor Center, and left us in hopes of finding a parking spot for Harvey. We went inside the packed visitor center and used the restroom – even though it included a wait in a line out the door. After that, we went over and asked one of the Park rangers if Salem was always this way. She said that it was a typical October and that the Halloween season was always very popular (because of the Salem Witch Trials). Then Mommy told the ranger that Daddy had gone off in the RV and was trying to find parking. She then asked the ranger if it was possible that he might find parking. As Mommy said, “Will I ever see him again?” a group of ladies passed by and, hearing this, laughed, and told us probably not. They were in a car and it had taken them two hours to find parking. Discouraged, but trusting that Dad would find parking, we went through the exhibits in the visitor center and then went into the gift shop. It was during this time that Lindsey spotted Daddy and we were once again united. We went in to see the introductory movie about the park and the area and were surprised to see that they didn’t talk too much about the witch trials at all. It was mostly about Salem’s history. We learned that Salem was once a very populated town, before Boston came to be. In the1700’s, it was an early settlement, in the 1800’s it was a port city and the center for sea faring, and in the 1900’s it was full of factories and pollution, swept away by the industrial revolution.

          After the movie, we left the visitor center and hiked about a mile to the RV, just in time to drive to Costco and shop before it closed at 6 pm. At Costco, we did a high speed shopping spree, ordered dinner, piled everything, including dinner, in the cart, and headed out to the RV. We unloaded the cart and went inside the RV for a delicious Costco dinner in Massachusetts. Daddy had asked the manager if we could boondock at Costco for the night and after some hemming and hawing, he had said yes. Since the store closed at 6, the parking lot was soon empty and dark when we finished dinner. Mommy had bought the movie ‘RV’ at Walmart, and we wanted to see it again. Before our trip, we had rented it, and thought it very funny. But now as we watched it, we understood a lot more and sympathized with the characters more. We finished the movie and headed to bed –not sure what the next day had in store.