Dang RV

After hundreds of years, Salem is still best known for it’s infamous witch trials in the 1600s. Many, many tourists go every year to hear about a time of religious hysteria when hundreds were jailed and 19 were killed having been accused of being witches. Several young girls of the town began it with their weird convulsions, twitching, and accusations of evil sorcery. No one knows why they did it, perhaps not even they. The leader of the girls did eventually stand up in church years later and apologize. In the 1950s, a movement got most of the imprisoned “witches” exonerated. It was not until the 2000s however when the last few names were cleared of all wrong by the governor.

18 were hung including those who dared to stand against the witch trials. 1 was pressed to death under a board upon which were piled boulders to force him to confess since he refused to speak on his own behalf. He knew if he was convicted, all his lands and property would be taken from his family. Better to die before a sham trial that would surely find him guilty as it had all the other innocents. It is said that before his chest was crushed, he cursed the sheriff and ever since then every sheriff has had to leave office due to death by heart attack or issues with their hearts.

Once spectral evidence (testimony of dreams, twitching in court, etc.) was banned, the trials petered out for lack of true evidence.

There is much more to Salem than just witches, however. It was a major seaport in its time with much wealth being made in shipping. The Parker brothers of the gaming company fame grew up in Salem. Author Nathanial Hawthorne wrote several of his books here including “The House of Seven Gables” and “The Scarlett Letter”. He didn’t particularly like living in Salem and left once he got payment for the latter. Perhaps it was still too puritanical then for him.

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No trip to New England would truly be complete without a visit to the Fishermen’s Memorial in Gloucester, MA to pay homage. For centuries man has survived and died with fishing. It is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and yet men and boys still go off to sea. For many generations of New England families, this way of life is all they know. It is not uncommon for grandfathers, fathers, uncles, and sons to crew together. A look at the names listed on the memorial plaques of those lost at sea each year shows particular names over and over again such as the MacDonalds. I also found one lost sailor with my last name. Could be a relative. It is good these men will not be forgotten.

For you fans of Bewitched, I first saw the memorial in an episode of Bewitched where Samantha had to attend a witches conference in Salem. In that episode, the fisherman came alive.

The town of Gloucester is very old and a typical fishing village. The streets are very narrow with typical old multilevel beach houses pressed in closely to each other. A great many of the houses have verandas to look out to sea and watch for the men returning home. The streets are not necessarily perpendicular or parallel which can make driving there “interesting”. A roundabout leads into town. I’m getting to like those after traversing several of them now.

The RV parks in the area are fairly expensive so I only stayed a few days at Cape Ann Camp Site. This is a good place to stay to catch both Gloucester and Salem.

More pics click here.

Onward to Maine! Looking at the map, I could see the trip around Lake Champlain was going to be a pretty long one. Considering the extremely high cost of gas in New York, I found it more economical and time-saving to take the ferry across the lake rather than go around. Somewhat apprehensive about taking my trailer on the ferry, I knew I didn’t want to take the nearest ferry over to the heart of Burlington, VT. The landing drops you at a steep slope up to a very busy narrow street where I would have to manage a left turn to get to Route 2. OK, I chickened. I dropped down to the Essex ferry instead with a nice smooth flat end landing out in a rural area. Driving onboard was a little nerve wracking and Jesus didn’t seem to want to take the wheel either so I put my trust in the deck hands and my mirrors which all worked fine.  Well, it was actually pretty cool.

I drove through Vermont quickly and on through New Hampshire. It’s not like they are all that big anyway. I got to see the White Mountains and went past various tourist traps I had heard of until I crossed into Maine and pulled into Bethel Outdoor Adventure and Campground in Bethel, Maine for the night. It’s a Passport America Park and seems to be pretty popular with the river enthusiasts. They provide canoes and kayaks as well as transport to the river. I might have stayed a while but it also was host to numerous enthusiastic mosquitos all day and night. I HATE mosquitos (acid rock, flower smells in soaps, barking dogs, etc.).

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