Salem

The story goes, in February 1962 two young girls, age nine and eleven, fell ill and began to act in unusual ways. Eye witnesses of the time accounted they would scream and throw objects across the room. At times their bodies would contort in inhuman ways, while other times they seemed to be suffering paralysis.

The family housed a maid name Tituba, likely of Jamaican or similar decent.  When the girls began acting strangely, town authorities claimed that they were possessed by the devil and that Tituba, a witch, had cursed them. Tituba and two fellow towns-women, Sarah Goode and Sarah Osborne, were the first to be tried and jailed as witches in Salem Village in 1692. Over the course of the Salem Witch Trials, more than 150 men and women, but mostly women, were accused of witchcraft, 20 people were hung for witchcraft and 4 others, including one infant, died in prison.

Belief in the supernatural was wide-spread in puritan communities. Witchcraft was said to be a power to harm others given by the devil to his most faithful servants. The histeria was escalated by a deep-seated fear of outsiders and those that didn’t follow puritan ways and religious beliefs, as well as feuds between families.

Modern day Salem is pretty much run over by tourist-driven witch stuff. There’s the Witch Dungeon, Witch Village, Witch Wax Museum, and many local businesses are named after something witch-related – Witch Cafe, Brew House (with cauldron), etc.

While in town I chose to visit the Witch House, which is the last standing structure in Salem actually connected to the Witch Trials. It’s also really old. Built around 1675, there are still a few pieces of the house that are thought to be original. The house was occupied by the Corwin family. Jonathon Corwin was a town magistrate, was one of the first to examine accused witches, and was a member of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, the group that ultimately sent 19 of the alleged witches to the gallows.

The house itself, however, is more a picture of puritan life in the 17th century – how they ate, stayed warm, made clothing and raised families.

Additionally, Salem is home to the the Salem National Historic Maritime Museum, which offers a perspective into merchant sailing, trade, and other sea-faring business in the puritan colonies.

Rockport, MA

Rockport is a cute little beach town north east of Boston. The drive there was a bit of an adventure, as we made a slight detour through Portsmouth, NH on accident… whoops. But the drive down from Portsmouth back to Rockport was beautiful. Driving the 1A along the coast offered stunning ocean views as well as some huge, gorgeous east coast mansions.

Arriving in Rockpost, we drove to the very tip of Bearskin Neck out to the ocean front.

After strolling through beach shops and enjoying a bite to eat, we hopped into sea kayaks and headed onto the open waters.

After about a 45 minute paddle, we attempted to get out onto the island. Sadly, we kind of failed, but did have a different kind of adventure trying to get our boats unstuck from a clustering of rocks. Either way, the weather was perfect – sunny and 75 with just a mild breeze. Great last day on the East Coast!