The House of Seven Gables

Visiting the House of Seven Gables in Salem was so much fun. It's funny how you can visit a place and then decide to read the book that has been a classic for years! I downloaded the book for free on my Kindle and read it the entire plane ride home!



The hidden staircase and the secret rooms were really worth the crouching and sliding along the small spaces.

Hawthorne lived here while he wrote the book and he was known to be quite reclusive.

Check out all of the beautiful hydrangea flowers! They were simply everywhere.

If you look past the gardens and over the roof..... well, that would be the Atlantic Ocean!

I especially loved seeing the little "cent- shop"?????

Here is the opener of Hawthorne's famous classic:

On one of the side streets of a New England town stands a seven-gabled house with an enormous elm tree before its door. It is the ancestral Pyncheon house, owned by a family with a long tradition. It was built on the site of the house of Matthew Maule. Envious of the fine location, Colonel Pyncheon had helped convict the house's owner of witchcraft and was instrumental in having him hanged. From the gallows, however, Matthew Maule cursed Colonel Pyncheon: "God will give him blood to drink!"

Salem Massachusetts

Upon getting off of the Ferry boat that takes you to Salem you exit at the pier and this is the street entrance. There were so many little quaint little New England style houses and you can smell the salt in the air of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a drizzly cloudy day and perfect for the setting of visiting all the Witch places that we had on our list.


I just love this photo. Beautiful old home but the power lines and phones lines! Seriously?

My mom and my Aunt Jan making friends!

Who is the fairest of them all?

Oh My Gosh! The food on the coast is oh so delicious! This fish and chips were out of this world and it was just in this little out of the way diner. And the coleslaw.............was out of this world.

BTW......It was pouring rain while we were eating. Perrrrfect.........

This stone and the following were taken in the Old Burying Point Cemetery off of Central Street. These stones date back to the 1600's. This hallowed ground had almost a sense of sadness and darkness. It was such a dark time here in Salem with all the Witch Trials. When you start to understand this time and really know the story it is ....oh so unbelievable.

This is the Captain William Bowditch grave, died in 1793. I thought it was very interesting that on most of these old graves it always said "here lies the body of".........

Hmmm......they believed even then that the soul would leave the body and that they were not one.

This is the memorial for Bridget Bishop, the first woman to be hanged for being a witch.
I never really knew all the details but I guess I thought there were a lot of people accused of being witches but it turns out there were only 20 that were put to death. 18 women and 2 men and one of the men was a poor old man of 80yrs.... who was pressed to death.

This is the Witch Trials Memorial that is next to the Old Burying Point Cemetery. Each of the stones you see has the name of these 20 accused and hanged persons.

Of course these persons could not be buried in a Christian Cemetery.

It's hard to imagine all this Witch Hysteria and It had alot to do with the coming of the Puritans.

The Witch Hysteria not only enveloped Salem, but all 34 towns and villages in Essex County. Hundreds of accused witches filled the jails awaiting trial. Some died in captivity. A Salem minister, accused by teenage girls of being the devil, was captured in Maine hanged here in Salem and had his head removed by another minister. Salem's leading merchant and his wife escaped the hangman, but returned a year later to plot revenge on the accusers and the lawman who tormented the victims.

Salem Massachusetts....

We were so excited to spend a day in Salem. It was just a short Ferry ride of about 45 minutes out of Boston Harbor.

Look at me already making friends!

I love this picture! When we first walked by here there was no ship and then 6 hours later it just appeared! It was like magic...........We did walk up to it and I guess you can go on board and then it sails for a short trip. It is called "Friends of Salem". There was not enough time but you can bet if I ever get back this way we will be sailing away.

Who doesn't love ice cream?

O.K.............This footprint brought us to just pure sillyness! Before I left on my trip someone had been telling me that Salem has been taken over by all these so called "wiccan people". I was like really? So..........we kept watch and never saw one wiccan! How disappointing for us but........every odd looking person or animal we would come across we would look at each other and say " that's a wiccan"!!!!

So........of course the footprint was that of a "wiccan"!

This is Marble Head Island and it was on the way on the trip over from Boston Harbor to Salem. Talk about some zillion dollar homes here.

This ship was huge and just sat out here all day. The guide on the ferry boat said it is an oil tanker. I had to look it up when I got home and this is what I found out:

Offshore loading and crude oil transport ships.

Knutsen OAS Shipping is a privately owned shipping company located in Haugesund, Norway. The company has a modern fleet purpose-built shuttle tankers, chemical carriers and product tankers world wide. Knutsen OAS delivers technical and end operating solutions to the main oil and petrochemical companies of the world. The fleet consists of 41 shuttle tankers, chemical carriers and product tankers. In 2009 the company had an onshore staff of 64 to handle projects and operation of the fleet, 430 administrative employees offshore and about 800 foreign employees.

This boat looks like it should be in a James Bond movie!

I know I have been a bit of a lazy blogger lately but let's face it......

I have been on vacation! Be prepared everyone as I have taken over 500 photos from Boston and Salem. It was an amazing time for sure. My moms older sister Jan, who is also my Godmother came to hang out with us for three days and we had the most wonderful time together. Family is so important to me and I am so glad that she was up for some serious running around in these two magnificent cities.

Vegas Birthday

Mom and I left way early on Friday so we could meet up with the kids in Vegas at the California Pizza Kitchen for some yummy food. We didn't fly out until 10:30PM........yep....PM.!!

We love being together! My little Wynter is so stinkin cute! She really doesn't eat many sweets, ok ....hardly any sweets. When the waiter brought the birthday Sundae out her eyes just about popped out of her head.

Mackenzie is probably thinking..........really mom?

Cutest picture ever of Wynter............He nana loves her so much!!

Up On Kolob Mountain

Two weekends ago I joined up with Mackenzie and the family up on Kolob Mountain. Kolob is only about an hours drive from me here in Zion and a very much "hiked" area. This time of year it is a bit refreshing for the Vegas family to come and enjoy the cooler temps.

I was so excited to walk over to the little mountain cemetery and then I discovered there were only two burials here. What? I mentioned it to someone at church the following Sunday and he said "I'm sure there are alot more remains scattered throughout the mountain acreage".

Hmmmm........

My sweet Mackenzie............

Kolob Mountain Resevoir

Kolob Mountain Cabin Day

This is my son in law Joe with his homemade potato launcher. Seriously!

This was hilarious. This cannon launcher shoots potatoes so far you would not believe it.

Boys and their toys!

Nana and baby Wynter

Cindy reading her book and enjoying the amazing view!

Wynter playing Peek-A-Boo in the cabin window.

Silly Wynter!!

Mama and sweet little Winnie!

She loves driving Nana's car and really who in the heck cares up on the mountain!