The next part of our trip we were “proper” tourists, visiting Salem and Boston. This being 60 lark also has some advantages as some museums class us as senior citizens which gives us a discount!!
We left Canada and headed down the coast dodging the lobster pots again. We decided to go up to the town of Ellsworth which was along the very narrow Union River. We visited the local brewery, well you knew we would, but we did go for a purpose they were holding a quiz night. It was rammed. There were a few rounds based on American music. Some of the locals took pity on us and did help with some of the answers. Ellsworth was very welcoming. They aren’t used to many visitors by sea, let alone British ones. On our way out of the river the water was luminous green which can be a result of harmful Algal Blooms.
We were sailing along (yes motoring obviously) and over the VHS radio a lady said if anyone is in the vicinity of “wherever” (can’t remember exactly) there is a hump backed whale. Well as luck would have it, it was just ahead of us. We could see six or seven boats all milling about waiting for the whale to surface and it didn’t disappoint us. Water suddenly sprayed in the air, the whale up and then flipped his tail and down again.
We mooched along the coast, stopping at various places. York Harbor was a pretty place. They had a bridge called Wiggly Bridge, which is exactly what it was! The bridge took you through woodland where we saw squirrels running around and one very kindly posed for a great photo, spreadeagled on a tree.
Next stop was Salem. For those of you who studied English Literature when I did, you will know this is the home of the Salem Witch Trials and is the story of “The Crucible”, the play written by Arthur Miller which we studied at school. If you didn’t know that Salem was associated with witches you would by the time you left. Even the police cars mention it.
We, of course, visited the Salem Witch Museum which is housed in an old church.
We took a walk along Chestnut street, constructed between 1796 and 1805, which has lots of old federal houses. Many of the houses had plaques to say who they were built for. Some of the houses are enormous.
One house was ready for Halloween. Although I suspect every day is Halloween in the Witch City.
There is a memorial to the 20 victims of the witch trials of 1692. Alongside is the Charter Street Cemetery which has the grave of Richard More who arrived on the Mayflower just six years old along with his two brothers and one sister without his parents. Interesting story is that their mother’s husband, Samuel More, did not believe they were his children, apparently she didn’t deny they weren’t and so he had them shipped off. Quite an interesting story if you google him. Richard’s tombstone is the only original gravestone still in existence for a Mayflower passenger.
We next went to Boston. We’d found a marina in Winthrop which was a train ride into Boston. Boston is famous for its connection to the American Revolution and of course the Boston Tea Party. We had to go to the Boston Tea Party Museum. We all sat down in a meeting room and there were actors playing the parts of people who were involved in the Boston Tea Party. It was interactive and Maggie took on one of the roles which had a speaking part and Ian was given the identity of a local drunk and a bit of a trouble maker, what can I say!
The Boston Tea Party happened because American colonists were angry about the British Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773, which granted a monopoly on tea sales to the British East India Company and maintained a tea tax. The colonists had no representation in the British parliament and thought it was unjust that rising taxes were being thrust on them “No taxation without representation”. So, on December 16, 1773, American patriots dumped 342 chests of black tea off British boats into Boston Harbor.
We had a guided tour of the Freedom Trial. Our guide dressed in suitable attire from the 18th century met us at Boston Common, which is America’s oldest park, established in 1634. The trail is 2.5 miles long and takes you along 16 historically significant sites in Boston, Massachusetts, that played a key role in the American Revolution and the nation’s early history.
In September 2024 we were in Ermoupoli, on the Island of Syros in lovely hot sunshine and with a group to celebrate Colin’s big birthday. This year we were in Boston and not quite so warm but weather was ok until late afternoon when the heavens opened. Luckily we found a cocktail bar and we had an excuse, not that we really needed one, it was Colin’s birthday
September 2025