Gloucester, MA - 08/23 to 08/29

We drop down to Cape Ann in Massachusetts - this will be our base to tour the Boston, Gloucester and Salem areas.

After getting set up in the fog and mist, we take a brief tour around the downtown area.














And of course we have to locate the famous
Gloucester Fishermen's Memorial to:

"They that go down to the sea in ships ..."

We spent two days touring Salem, MA which it turns out is a really great historical town.

We opted to start out with the Trolley tour so we could get a good overview of what all was there.

The come on is all about the Witch trials but it's kind of over played ....  They certainly did happen here but it was really unfounded fear and mass hysteria.  That being said people were actually imprisoned and hanged.
John's family actually had a witch that was burned at the stake but it turns out it was in Connecticut where they had a similar situation.

The old part of Salem is really a cool place with lots of very old brick and cobblestone streets.

And who knew that it was the home of author  Nathaniel Hawthorne.  We toured the real House of Seven Gables ....









The Peabody Essex Art Museum was pretty impressive, especially for a town of this size.










Mary finally gets to enjoy an East Coast Lobster that is prepared the way she likes it!
Plus a beautiful sunset on the deck overlooking a picturesque little harbor.

And then came two full days in Boston ...

We took the commuter train from Gloucester to Boston and then used the Trolley system to get around town.  The trolley tour came first to get an overview of all there was to see followed by a harbor tour that was included as part of the price.  We then struck out on our own and saw so much history there that we just can't put it all into the blog on pictures.

Lots and lots of walking and trolley hopping to Paul Revere's house, Old North Church, Bunker Hill, USS Constitution, the Boston Common, Beacon Hill, Cambridge, MIT, Legal Seafood, the Cheers Bar and the list goes on ....

Yikes we wore ourselves out ... but what an experience.

Oh - OK - A few Boston pictures ...

The Old State House and site of the Boston Massacre that sort of kicked off the Revolution

Quincy Market - one of the first open air farmers markets and it still is.

USS Constitution - "Old Ironsides" - launched in 1797 and most famous for her actions during the War of 1812.  Named Old Ironsides when the British cannonballs actually bounced off her sides.

Unfortunately undergoing some renovation.

Bunker Hill Monument - site of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution

Old North Church made famous when Paul Revere hung the lanterns in the bell tower - "One if by Land and Two if by Sea" and later chronicled by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.

Cheers! in Beacon Hill

(Looked for Kelsey Grammer but couldn't find him)