As we made our way back south to warm up again, we stopped by LL Bean’s flagship site and explored the Maine coast.
We returned to our friend in New Hampshire to recover from the cold and prepare ourselves for a long stint of camping. After a tearful departure, we made our way to Salem.
We found a really cool podcast to listen to (Witch Hunt!) as we made our way to Salem explaining the history and setting leading to the witch hunts. Despite thousands of people being put to death in Europe for witchcraft, Salem has become infamous for its small contribution. This is attributed to its isolated nature and that it occurred nearly 50 years after the last of the trials in the old world, due to a culmination of conditions: the time period was considered to be a mini ice age, livestock and crops were dying off, and there was an Indian war raging about 20 miles away. Combine that with religious zealotry and *poof* we get mass hysteria, resulting in the deaths of 20 people, mostly women (approximately 200 people were accused)…but I digress.
We found a campground on Winter Island, just a short walk or bike ride to the town of Salem, complete with the remains of an old fort. We were able to set up the tent and avoid driving for a couple days.
In Salem we got to check out Witch House, the House of Seven Gables, the Peabody Essex Museum, and various other historical sites. White at the Peabody Essex Museum we were even asked to check out a new exhibit and received free tickets for our “astute critique”…insert sarcasm here.
From Salem we drove through Boston and grabbed lunch at Legal Seafood on the harbor.
After crushing some New England clam chowder, we continued to Plymouth Rock for another round of historical studies (in other words, we found another podcast). Those Pilgrims man. You gotta feel for them. After two previous attempts to leave England, they finally successfully depart… but in September. They land on Cape Cod in November just in time to freeze their asses off. Literally. Obviously, they have no shelter, so they are living on the damned boat while they build the beginnings of their community on land (jumping in and out of the Atlantic all winter as they commute to and from the boat). Half the folks die; if you have the pleasure of being sick enough to be considered terminal, you get to walk into the woods for your final days to “guard” from the Indians and then they leave your body there for a couple bonus days propped up with a gun. Fun times. And let’s not forget the only reason they were tolerated there was because a couple tribes of natives from the area were all killed off thanks to smallpox from some other settlers. Happy Thanksgiving!
We went to Mayflower brewing to discuss our history lesson over some porter and IPA, and then continued on to camp, or so we thought. We made it to a mostly abandoned campground, with no one in the office (mind you, it’s before 5 pm). We had already reserved the space, so no big deal, we just proceeded to our reserved site. Then we realized we can’t stay there cause the bathrooms are closed. While we don’t mind “going rogue” we realize that this is meant for rv’s or trailers that have their own facilities and we’d just be the dirty hippies peeing in the bushes. So we move on to a KOA and decide to hunker there for a couple days cause a nor’easter is bound for us. Prior to the storm striking, we got a day to explore Cape Cod. But first, doughnuts. Tony had to pop a curb to get them because he was in too much of a hurry to wait for parking lot traffic to clear. And he wasn’t about to wait for me to get out of the car either.
But back to the cape…it was beautiful (and both Bee and Tony’s first formal meeting of the Atlantic).
After the cape we ran to Harbor Freight for a tarp and prepared for rainpocalypse 2018. The next day we hunkered, played games and cards, watched movies, made lentil soup, did laundry and generally avoided the rain as much as possible.
The next day we dried everything off, met an old high school friend of mine Isabel and her husband for breakfast, and proceeded to Rhode Island. It was dry and sunny so we were able to recover quite a bit. We explored the beaches, got some delicious food and drinks, and watched the deer cutting through our camp.
From Rhode Island, we drove to Mystic, Connecticut and got some amazing lunch at the Engine Room, complete with decadent dessert.
Then we made the long and hard journey to one of my old high school teachers. Long and hard because Tony decided we MUST drive through Manhattan in Snowball. At the end of the day, I’d say it was worth it. Bee was a hit, as she hung out the window greeting all the New Yorkers.
We made it to New Jersey and were greeted by my teacher (now good friend) and her sweet family. They even bought Bee a possum toy we dubbed “Gerald” or “Jerry” for short. We got spoiled the next few days with them. Our first night consisted of a fabulous dinner, piano lessons with her two wonderful kids, and Bee got to chill with her new buddy Jerry.
The next morning we were bound back to New York for a boat tour and we strolled around Manhattan seeing the sights.
We then returned home to a Halloween party and got to see fabulous costumes and enjoy the adult party while the kids went trick-or-treating.
Not sure who is scarier?? Me either.
The next day we were spoiled by my teacher’s husband and got to go…flying. Yup, highly unexpected treat. Tony and I both got to fly and we had the pleasure of experiencing the “$100 hamburger”, where you effectively fly to another nearby airport, grab a quick meal, and fly back. $5 for the burger, $95 for the fuel. We had such an amazing time! Tony got a little sick thanks to the previous night’s festivities, but I’ll leave it at that.
We made it back to the house in one piece and had dinner with another high school friend that came up to visit us. Yet again, more amazing people going out of their way for us. We are so thankful to this New Jersey crew, you guys are the best!
"Purposefully Unrushed" 