We headed out from our on the beach campground into Massachusetts. From the name of our next campground, it seemed like we would be on another beach, but sadly, it wasn’t the most picturesque campground. And to make matters worse, they also didn’t allow swimming. Sigh.
Luckily, there were pretty things to see outside our campground! We took a quick drive to Sandwich, Mass and admired the pretty (and weird) things at the Sandwich Glass Museum.
We wonder what’s up with the ducks and geese in Sandwich.
We attempted to walk along the Sandwich Boardwalk, but it was under repair. Here’s the Sandwich Beach instead.
May 24
We took off early from the campground, and headed out to Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod. And I got all sorts of National Parks stamps along the way, as we stopped for sights along the National Seashore.
Highland Lighthouse
Further out along Cape Cod, the Province Lands Visitor Center.
For the first time, I didn’t have to talk Doug out of going in for a swim.
Somewhere in, or slightly before this photo, is a seal.
Then we made it all the way to Provincetown, grabbed some lunch, and got ready for our whale watching tour!
It was windy, and wavy, and cold, but we got some amazingly close views of 5 humpback whales. The photos and videos can’t capture how amazing it was to see these fantastical creatures.
It was a little windy
May 25
With Cape Cod under our belts, we headed further up north along the coast of Massachusetts. And we spent a few nights in another odd little campground, just 2 miles from the center of Salem. Little did I realize, when I booked the campsite at Winter Island, that we would be effectively camping in (officially adjacent to) a parking lot. Also part of a trolley tour.
You can see the Salem Trolley tour passing behind Ora
But, we still had a fine time with our stay in Salem. We did a lot of the Yellow Line (previously known as the Red Line) walking heritage tour. The Witch Dungeon Museum did a surprisingly excellent reenactment and tour! And the tourist trap shops were highly entertaining, despite Salem’s love/hate relationship with tourists.
Doug met a turkey on the sidewalk
May 26
We took a quick drive north of Salem, to visit the Hammond Castle. It was fascinating that there was a secret room beneath a secret staircase, which also had a secret wine cellar! Doug was also entertained that the circular library had the weird voice amplification effect, which his workplace also (accidentally) has in places. It seems Mr. Hammond was a bit of a quirky mad scientist, because in addition to his inventors lab, the guest room doors sneakily were wallpapered to blend into the walls, so guests would be confused and concerned when they woke up and couldn’t figure out how to exit the rooms.
Conservatory
First robot dog
A curse, in Latin
After our castle tour, we headed back to Salem to catch some lunch and a few more sights, before we headed to what ended up being a private tour of the Daniels House. It’s one of just a few original homes in Salem and our tour guide did an amazing job weaving the history of Salem into modern day parallels. Doug and I were both struck by one of his phrases, “History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes.”
House of Seven Gables
Imagining the fears of the past
Carvings to protect the home from evil influences.
After our private tour, we also toured Salem’s Satanic Temple.
Having exhausted ourselves, we headed back to our campsite, and Doug was thrilled beyond belief to be able to recreate the visitor guide’s cover shot of the sailboat by the lighthouse right outside our door! A fine ending to our time in Massachusetts.
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