long overdue...salem, massachusetts

the weekend after thanksgiving, i met sam in salem, massachusetts for a mere 26 hours. what a beautiful place! 

we went on long walks around the town, visited the witch history museum, rode on a trolley tour (i absolutely love city driving tours), ate tapas and had several glasses of delicious warm apple cider. 

i know that new england is chock full of colonial history but i believe this was the first time that i actually felt the history around me. you're retold the stories you learned in middle school of the early settlers, of merchants and traders and the witch trials but what really struck me was walking down the streets and seeing the gorgeous houses, some dating from the mid 17th century. just incredible!

many houses were built like this one, with the front door perpendicular to the road. papa speculates that it would reduce the house front tax...much cheaper to build along the side street. ¿?

the public library

the house of the seven gables

the high school from hocus pocus!

allison's house from hocus pocus!

the witch house: actually the house of judge corwin who oversaw the witch trial cases. when someone was under suspicion, they would bring the witch to his house for several rounds of questioning. creepy!

**side note, nathaniel hawthorn's great great grandfather, john hathorne also played a major role in the trials as a judge--author nathaniel added the 'w' in his last name to distance himself from his awful grand grand papa!