“I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.” ― Arthur Miller, The Crucible Salem is definitely known for being one of the major sites of witchcraft hysteria in North America, but there is much much more to this lovely city than just 1692. Here are a few ideas of things to go check out if you find yourself in “Witch City!” Street Murals Thanks to the shipping trade, there are a ton of large…
We rarely have weekdays off together, so when they do happen like on Veteran’s Day, we try to make the most of them. This year, we went out to the Hudson River Valley to make a visit to the Home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Presidential Library. Usually it costs $18.00 per person to visit both of the buildings, but because of the holiday, there was no charge to get into the National Park Service site. Getting both sites for…
Happy Halloween!!! Have fun celebrating tonight, especially if you end up going to Salem, MA! Dry up your tears surviving friends Mourn not for me, but for your sins! Die unto sin, but live to God! The grave must soon be your abode.
While others might go in search of ghosts during the month of October, we usually can be found in other places…though no less spooky: historic burial grounds and cemeteries. Luckily, New England is chock full of old stones! There are 3 general designs being used during this time period: The winged death’s-head which began as very ornate and then became less elaborate. The winged cherub, which looks like a much more pleasant version of the death’s-head. Finally, somewhere near…
Could you imagine living in this house? What a beautiful building! Officially called the “George Drowne House,” it was built in 1862. By that point, Benefit Street was already populated with colonial houses, but this house was definitely one of the stand outs for me! Located at 367 Benefit Street, there are 10 condos inside this house now which rises 2 1/2 stories above the ground. The rest of the street is pretty amazing as well. I was told that…
Just in time for Lizzie Borden’s birthday, we took a trip to Fall River to see some history related to the case. Trying to avoid the heat of the city, we drove down to Fall River in search of cooler breezes and spooky history at the Lizzie Borden House. Getting there was very easy, but upon arrival, there was no one to give the tour and the price totally turned us off. Not only that, some other people wrote in…
Did you know that this year marks the 100th birthday of what is considered America’s best idea? The National Park Service will turn 100 years young on August 26 and is celebrating this year with programs, special events, and lots of cake. While many people believe that there are only the 59 “National Parks,” in reality there are many many more UNITS of the system. There are 409 units of the National Park Service from Acadia National Park in Maine,…
The other day at work, a person asked me if the water coming out of the water fountain was filtered. I was taken aback for a moment before I remembered that so many places in the world do not have good tasting water even with filtration. Boston, however, is incredibly lucky that our favorite beverage (no it isn’t beer! haha) comes from a special place called the Quabbin. In recent taste and quality tests, Boston’s water has scored either in…
Happy Halloween! Living in New England, we have the chance to be spooky almost all year round with our historic burial grounds scattered throughout the area (as long as the snow isn’t too high!). Here are some of my favorite photographs that I’ve taken at cemeteries this past month: The Death’s Head is one of my most favorite images in the world. Watching it evolve from the simplistic circle with two dead eyes and a long nose over to…
This week marked the final week of summer before school starts and Eric has to get back to work. We took our annual trip to Cape Cod late in August, and we planned to follow our normal routine of reading novels, swimming at the beach, and grilling dinner. This time, we made two additional trips to historical sites in the mid-Cape region. Col. Benjamin Godfrey Windmill The Col. Benjamin Godfrey Windmill in Chatham is a working grist mill located just…
