Salem Witches

To celebrate Halloween (without the crowds) we headed down to Salem, MA yesterday to check it out. Salem is the place most famously known for the witch trials in the 17th century. Halloween is a very big holiday for them. They have a big festival and people swarm the town. DH has two "witches" in his family. One of them we recognized on the walls- Rebecca Towne. I was thinking the other was Sara. Probably also a Towne. They were not witches at all and they didn't even practice the religion that is associated with witches. Wicca(r)- as the guide called it- seems to be a fairly benign religion but during that time period it got way out of hand. Dozens died in this country and thousands across Europe after being accused and prosecuted as witches which they perceived as being in association with the devil/evil. Here it all started with a Jamaican woman named Tituba who was brought to New England as a slave who entertained young girls in her house with stories, legends, and little tricks. Then snowball down the mountain... We went through the witch museum, walked around the festivals they had set up, and of course, took a tour of their oldest graveyard.

It was a beautiful day out, so we headed up to Gloucester to finish the day off with a great meal at the Gloucester House for some great seafood! I had bacon wrapped scallops with cole slaw and Art had Baked Stuffed Haddock with very fresh asparagus. We stopped by the fishermans monument commemorating the lives lost at sea for the past few hundred years.