Last year for his birthday lighthouse hunt, Rob chose Salem,
MA as our destination. There are four
lighthouses, and Salem is a tourist
mecca in autumn.
We began at Marblehead Light (1895) in Chandler
Hovey Park
in Marblehead. This cast iron giant
resembles a water-tower, the only such design in New England.
Its history shows the dedication of lighthouse keepers – when the power went
out during the infamous hurricane of 1938, keeper Harry Barden drove out in the
storm and kept the light running by hooking it up to his car battery. I’m also
impressed with the quality of early 20th century car batteries.
We knew Baker’s Island Light (1820) was technically visible in the distance,
but not to our naked eyes. We could see it at all through the park’s coin-operated
binoculars. We got creative – I aimed it at the lighthouse, and Rob fit his
zoom lens into the eye. The image came out pretty cool – no Instagram required.
In downtown Salem,
we parked at a cheap South Harbor Garage on Derby St.
and went next door to the Salem Brothers Deli for lunch. The two
brothers/chefs/owners have a great sense of humor and fantastic food. They had
me at All Day Breakfast.
We walked across to the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. It’s
simple but moving, designed with the belief that less is more. Each victim is
represented by a stone bench inscribed with their name and date and manner of
death, circling a grassy courtyard.
As a history buff and New Englander, I know all the theories
– voodoo, moldy bread, spoiled teenage girls, etc. All of that is beside the
point in this memorial. These people were murdered by our self-righteous
ancestors. This memorial is the only dignified spot in town that doesn’t
exploit that fact.
Although the witch-theme dominates the tourism literature, Salem
is about so much more than that. We highly recommend the Peabody Essex Museum near the memorial. Their most exciting exhibit is the Yin Yu Tang House,
dismantled in Southern China and reconstructed in the
museum (no photography allowed). Amy Tan recorded the audio-guide narration about the generations of the
Huang Family who lived in the house for over 200 years. Everything is original
– the walls, the furniture, the photos. Only the koi fish in the courtyard are
new. The tour is an incredible trip back to another world, another time. After
you exit the house, the hall leads you to the Yin Yu Tang Gallery of photos and
testimony of the family and their descendents up to the present.
The museum also showcases the scope of Salem’s
rich maritime history. The equipment and captain’s logs from ships centuries
ago are very cool. They also have a decent collection of lighthouse replicas.
Not
impressed. It’s tiny, bland, and never open, relit in 1983 as a solar-powered
beacon for private navigation. But it was worth the walk to see the replica of
the 171 ft, three-masted sexy beast “Friendship of Salem, docked nearby. We're
planning to go back at some point for the tour.
We took a detour before it got dark to Winter
Island Maritime Park
to see Fort Pickering Light (1871). It was used by the Coast Guard until 1969,
then left to rot. The blizzard of 1978 took the door off the hinges and it was
left underwater until the new formed Fort Pickering Light Association started
refurbishing in the 80s. It’s also worth visiting to explore the awesome fort
surrounding it.
By then it was getting dark and cold – pizza time! We
finally tried The Upper Crust, a pizza chain in and around Boston.
Fantastic pizza, but illegal labor practices have led to this franchise’s
closing. Apparently this was occurring under both individual franchise owners
and the corporate-owned locations. Personally, that leaves a bad taste in my
mouth, so I’ll be going elsewhere next time. But that night it was pleasant
eating outside, listening to the accordion player at the French restaurant next
door, and watching kids play and pose on the Bewitched “Samantha” statue.
After eating, we didn’t want to leave yet. We turned left
down an inviting path and, unbeknownst to us, lo and behold, there it was, like
a glowing siren summoning us – Harrison’s Comics &Collectibles. Three floors of nerd heaven. In out opinion, this is the best
large comic store in New England. We love the others,
and closer to home we are loyal to Friendly Neighborhood Comics in Bellingham
(we also have no doubt that owner/lawyer/savy-business man Ernie Pelletier Jr.
will one day turn his enterprise into a Harrison’s-size destination). We spent
hours browsing back-issues, listening to the gamers downstairs, and left with
11x17 movie posters for our new living room.
There are
no shelves or bookcases – the books are piled under and onto tables as high
possible. It’s awesome! The owner will happily help you dig out a book – he
stacked them up and he knows how to get them down. You will not like this place
unless you are a hardcore book lover.
Only after that were we ready to go home.
