Holt Hill

We made the quick hour and 45 minutes drive up to Salem. Allan had never been during his previous travels, so it was nice to do something touristy in and amongst family time.

Our first stop was the Salem Witch Museum. I don't think it's changed since I was there a fairly long time ago 😂. We entered the first part of the museum with the strange (being polite) statues used to give a quick history of the witch hysteria, which led to the trials and deaths of convicted “witches”.

We then skipped the queue to go to the second part of the museum, which explained the witch hysteria in different parts of the world and how scapegoats and witchcraft are woven throughout history. Allan realised everybody was doing/seeing the same thing, but we were meant to be in the second group… our purple (second group) stickers were now orange (first group). If anybody asked, Allan was colourblind. Allan was not impressed by the Scottish accent on one of the demonstrations 🙊.

After the museum we went for a walk to some key locations, such as the Old Burying Point Cemetery and Salem Witch Trials Memorial for the victims. We also went to Proctor's Ledge which is where some of the convicted “witches” were hanged. Salem has tried to make the names of these people very known and visible throughout the town.

We continued our walk through some more historical buildings such as The Customs House, located directly across from the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. At the maritime site, there's an old colonial ship. The goods would come into the harbor to be weighed. The customs and taxes would then be calculated and collected at the Customs House.

Next door to the Customs House was the Derby House. This house belonged to the son of a wealthy man in Salem. The son became a wealthy merchant and he and his wife lived very comfortably in the house gifted to them by his father. However, once the Revolution began, his wife was not comfortable living directly on the harbor where the house could easily be damaged by canons or attacked by soldiers. So, the family moved into a larger house farther from the harbor info Salem. Unfortunately, this house no longer exists.

Our final stop in Salem was The House of the Seven Gables and Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace that was moved to sit next to The House of the Seven Gables. We had a very excitable tour guide, even for American standards, who enthusiastically took us around the house. Allan found him rather amusing. He said he was the polar opposite to a Scottish tour guide.

The house was built by a merchant and was expanded by further generations. However, despite the immense wealth in the family, one of the heirs had a gambling problem and lost the family fortune, no longer able to upkeep the house. Therefore, it passed to a new family. As generations went on, again, a daughter inherited the house. As she grew older, she had a close friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne. They would spend a lot of time together and it was her and her house that inspired Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables (despite the house no longer having seven gables when Hawthorne visited the house). His descriptions are based on the memories of his friend, the owner.

The house was beautiful and sturdy, with large wooden beams and vibrant wallpaper. There were some additions added by the philanthropist who bought the house after there was nobody to inherit it. She added things to match the book that weren't in the house, so that tourists who came to visit would be able to better relate the house to the book.

After our visit we jumped in the car and headed to Boston!

Allan’s deal if the day: $3 all-day parking in central Salem (compared to $40 game-night parking in central Boston a few hours later).Read more