Salem, Massachusetts 9/28/1998

There was so much on Cape Cod that I would like to see but I felt I had done well for the short time and so from 6A I crossed the Sagamore Bridge and north on 3 I went. I had spent the morning planning my approach to Boston. I wanted to visit Plimouth Plantation on the way and then earlier plans had me going west of Boston to catch a T and go to the Freedom Trail. Also over there is Lexington and Concord and Harvard and Harvard Square and Walden Pond. Perhaps seeing Walden Pond would inspire me to write better. However, at the last moment I decided I could just save a lot of time if I would stay on 3 to 93 to 1 north and go through Boston being careful not to exit the interstate. The Boston area would leave me with a reason to return.

The traffic was flying along at 75 in the 55 mph speed zone for what seemed like forever. Finally I was in the midst of tall buildings and church steeples, both old and new, and traffic got quite heavy and slowed considerably. I thought surely I had missed a sign and was off the interstate. But no, we were heading through a tunnel and traffic was a little heavy at this point. If only I could have been the only one on the road, what fine views of Boston I would have. I wanted to be sure to get through Boston before 4. At 3:30 I turned toward Peabody and Salem.

In Peabody I thought how patriotic. On MV there were a lot of American flags flying but in this town the center stripe in the road was red, white, and blue. How creative!


Salem was larger than I expected and never have I seen so many old houses in one area. In 1626 Englishmen from Saugus were allowed by Plymouth Colony to settle what was the abandoned Naumkeag fishing village. The famous witch trials occurred in Salem in 1692. This would be a good place to take the one hour trolley ride but I did not.

Salem was also a bustling seaport during the Great Age of Sail. The fortunes gained created some the finest Federalist architecture still in existence. The National Park Visitor's Center provided me with a map to follow. I walked along the green, looked at the buildings and couldn't resist wandering down some side streets. The buildings are quite large, painted an array of colors, but with a lot of dark browns.

After a brief tour I paid the parking attendant $1 and decided to have my own driving tour. I was in five o'clock traffic which was quite heavy with people dashing down the narrow streets to leave the downtown area. I wandered down to Memorial Drive along the bay and found a picnic spot with a nice view of the bay. The sea gulls stood like pet dogs at my feet, but with a little distance, hoping for a crumb. I was having my imitation seafood salad from lunch and spilled a little. What a treat for gulls - seafood. I wonder if they could tell it was imitation.

I drove down Turner where the road goes right down to the bay and stops at a fence. There was the House of Seven Gables of Hawthorne fame and I was just as intrigued by those surrounding it. The House of Seven Gables on Turner Street was once owned by Nathaniel Hawthornes' aunt. I then drove down Essex Street which was lined with old house after old house and when I spotted 1A North I continued north.

Out from town the houses got bigger and bigger as I wound along 127 on the coast. Estates, many surrounded with fences of various types - some rock, some wood - looked out over the bay. I couldn't understand why so many people with such fine homes couldn't get the road paved. The drive indeed is worth being included in scenic drives of New England material.

I arrived in Gloucester, known as America's oldest seaport.