Salem Cambridge Mas

Salem & Cambridge, Massachusetts

We arrived in Salem on Sunday and toured the town on Monday.  Salem is home to the infamous “Witch Hunt” and trials.  About 19 women were hanged during this hysteria in the mid-1600’s.   It was all started by some mischievous young girls who blamed their poor behavior  (or “fits”) on women they pointed out as being witches casting spells.  It’s a great time to visit Salem, as October is their most popular month (because of Halloween).  We went to the Witch History Museum, The Witch Dungeon Museum, and the Pirate Museum (it is a coastal town that has had it’s share of pirates passing through!)  At each, we were led by costumed guides that gave us lots of history!  By this point, the girls were done with witches – lets just say we had to leave a light on for the girls all night!

Wednesday we spent the afternoon driving around the outskirts of Boston.  We drove first to Cambridge, home of Harvard and M.I.T.  We walked around Harvard for a bit and went to a Semitic History Museum.  We then drove over to Lexington and Concord – the site of the start of the Revolutionary War.  The Minuteman National Park is near and we watched a wonderful 30-minute multimedia presentation about the first days of the Revolutionary War.  We then went to the tavern near where Paul Revere was captured and heard more history from costumed guides.  Finally we went to the bridge where the “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired.”  It’s the site where the American Militia killed the first British officers.  What a fun way to learn U.S. History (for all of us!)