Day four of our East Coast Vacation began with a yummy breakfast at a little quaint dinner that had great food and a cool name!
From here we drove to the memorial where the actual hangings from the Witch trials took place. It used to be thought that they took place on the opposite side of the current road on Gallows Hill, but that is not true. They took place on the small hill behind the memorial that is now Private property. There was a story on the Ghost Tour about some teenagers that hopped the fence one dark evening. One boy said he felt someone touch his shoulder and turned to see a ghostly figure hanging from the tree. Looking around he said that there were several women hanging from trees on the property. Believe it or not...
On the way to our next destination my wife spotted on interesting street bearing her family name! More on that later...
Next stop was the Greenlawn Cemetery which is rather large so we mostly drove around it.
Back in the city we found a place to park and began our walk around Salem. It was a little different seeing it in the day time!
You might recognize one of the pictures. Yep, they have the Bewitched Statue on a street corner in Salem. Our tour guide, Erin the night before said she thought it a bit touristy at first; but then considered that Bewitched was the first time a witch had been portrayed as good! So true!
Next up was the Merchant Hotel. In case you missed it, you want to go back and read my blog about the ghost tour which includes the history on this hotel.
There are those who seem to want to erase parts of history; thus, here are some famous quotes on the subject...
Winston Churchill: "A nation that forgets its past has no future."
George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Orwell (1984): "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten... Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
Robert Heinlein: "A generation which ignores history has no past and no future."
Moving onward, we did a little trek to the Broad Street Cemetery where my wife had indicated a Leavitt family member had been buried over 300 years ago. It was no doubt one of the many graves where the stone had long since worn out.
We found Salem to be a safe city to walk with much thanks to these guys! Love that emblem!
We went back to our AIRBNB for a rest and later went for a walk out to Derby Wharf Lighthouse.
Which was followed by a fancy dine out night at Finz. We both had the stuffed Lobster. What a treat on our last night in Salem!
