Or so proclaims one of the many tourist mugs in Salem, once one of the busiest seaports in the nation, creator of the country's first millionaire Elias Derby, whose 1762 home still stands across from the wharf, and home of the infamous Witch Trials of 1629. The mass hysteria accused over 200, of which 15 were hung, and one man crushed to death, before ending when even the governor's wife was considered suspect.
Rich with history and creativity besides infamy, we have visited this charming town before and toured the famous House of 7 Gables, inspiration for Hawthorne's novel of the same name, and seen the house where he was born, as well as visiting some of the Witch attractions, not only for the history, but also to learn about the present day Pagan Witchcraft called Wicca.
Today's exploration with the kids started at the visitor center, where I collected my National Park Passport stamp, and grabbed a photo op with my dashing sea captain husband! The girls would have none of this, but I am always game!
Next stop, one of Emma's favorites from a school trip, the world class Peabody Essex museum.
A fascinating complete Chinese house called the Yin Yu Tang, was dismantled and reassembled here, the only of its kind outside China, and occupied there by the family until 1980. Hard to photograph, so I didn't, but we enjoyed the audio tour and wandering around the rooms arranged around a courtyard, and learning about life there.
The temporary exhibit was one of the Cruise industry, and showed stages of development, customs of the times, posters, and huge replicas...which amazingly I did not photograph!
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| The exhibit space itself was lovely! |
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| a curious dress decorated with sea shells. |
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| an unusual inclusion of Governor Kerry, I recognized him immediately. |
This was fascinating, and filled an entire room. Chris was experimenting with different shots, and I took advantage of including him!
But I really liked this angle.
Walking into another space, I spied our budding photographer lying on the floor for a shot! Good for her!!
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| A small collection of mastheads, reminded me of the huge collection in Mystic, CT. |
Much of this space had been emptied to prevent damage during construction of the new wing, due to open in 2019.
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| Grace often does not want her picture taken, but I grabbed a shot of her chatting with Grandpa. |
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| Emma showing her Mom her shot from the floor. |
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| A section of the old building leading into that beautiful exhibit space. |
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| And the photo shy family shot.....I like it anyway! |
In the lunar exhibit, Chris and Grace had fun while we watched.
Then Emma tried her hand at it....literally!
There is a Witch Trial Memorial, a square with benches lining the walls, and the names of those hanged, and people leave tokens and sometimes flowers in memory. These people were innocent victims of a strange time.
We learned at the Witch Museum that one girl later testified that it was a hoax that brought on the hysteria, which makes the whole thing even more sad.
I love the plagues on the old homes showing the year built and the first owner. These are occupied now, and I wonder what it would be like to live in one.
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| The beautiful Customs House across from the wharf, which was featured in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. |
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| Just one of those pretty old homes. |
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| The House of 7 Gables. I believe all historic places should be fronted with No Parking Zones!!!! |
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| An out of the way witch craft location, but many line the main street. |
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| The oldest candy shop....unfortunately closed when we went by! |
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| Alongside the historic wharf. |
Today's exploration with the kids started at the visitor center, where I collected my National Park Passport stamp, and grabbed a photo op with my dashing sea captain husband! The girls would have none of this, but I am always game! 
The temporary exhibit was one of the Cruise industry, and showed stages of development, customs of the times, posters, and huge replicas...which amazingly I did not photograph!
This was fascinating, and filled an entire room. Chris was experimenting with different shots, and I took advantage of including him! 
But I really liked this angle. 
Walking into another space, I spied our budding photographer lying on the floor for a shot! Good for her!! 
In the lunar exhibit, Chris and Grace had fun while we watched. 
Then Emma tried her hand at it....literally! 
We learned at the Witch Museum that one girl later testified that it was a hoax that brought on the hysteria, which makes the whole thing even more sad. 
I love the plagues on the old homes showing the year built and the first owner. These are occupied now, and I wonder what it would be like to live in one. 
