At this point, the style of our travel has started to change as for the first time we are entering more populous areas. On Thursday, we arrived in Salem, Massachusetts, a name that we tend to connect with the era of the Salem witch trials of 1692. The witch folklore was not something we were interested in, even though the badge for the local police says the “Witch City,” so we stayed away from many of the tourist attractions.
There are, however, other points of interest that Salem has to offer. Our campsite was in Salem Harbor, right up to the edge of the water, and the view was awesome. So that we could have dinner watching the bay, we did not turn our front chairs around to face the inside of the van. We literally spent a few hours just watching the magnificent harbor and the hundreds of ships docked there.
Next to our campground were the ruins of Fort Pickering, a 17th century fort operated as a strategic coastal defense for the port of Salem, which by 1790 was the 6th largest city in the U.S.
The next morning we took a walk around one of the oldest neighborhoods of Salem. Many of the houses (people are still living in most) have signs giving the date they were built (late 1700s to early 1800s) and who built them. Among the buildings we saw was the oldest house in Salem, the Narbonne house, built in 1675 and occupied until 1963 when it was turned over to the National Park Service. At that time, an archeological dig of its backyard garbage pit (today’s garbage is the treasure of the next millennium) was done, and since Salem is a port city and most of the first houses were built not far from the shore, many of the finds were of European pottery that came over on ships – items that people living farther inland would not generally have.
We also visited the Custom House – built in 1819 and famous for being featured in the introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (he also worked there) – where taxes were collected on imported cargo. Note the gorgeous wood furniture and bookcases!
In the early afternoon we headed to the Circle CG Farm Campground, an hour’s train ride outside of Boston, where we stayed over Shabbat. We had decided to go to Boston just a day before – it was not on our original itinerary because we had planned to stay away from large cities, but decided to make an exception for what is really an exceptional city – and tried to find accommodations with a community in the city. It didn’t work out (thank you Heshy for your efforts), so we were glad to have campground reservations about as close to the city as possible.
On to Boston August 6, 2017
After having a quiet but rainy Shabbat, it was time to head into Boston. Sunday morning the sun was shining, the air was fresh, we got a ride to the commuter train station from the campground, and we rode a comfortable train for about an hour into South Station, near the city’s financial district.
As we walked out of the station it hit us: We have been living in Israel for over 20 years and traveling for the last three months in mostly rural America, and we were a bit awestruck at seeing the massive skyscrapers and crowds of people. Admittedly, the enormity of it all was both intimidating and disconcerting, and it took a while to get used to, but used to it we did (we are, after all, from Chicago).
One of our first objectives was to walk the Freedom Trail, a 2 ½ mile walking tour of many of the famous buildings and sites from the Revolutionary War times. Conveniently, the city either painted or paved a red line in the sidewalk for tourists to follow the trail. And what we learned about fifty years ago in history class was right there, in front of us. Among the highlights:
Boston Common – America’s oldest public park (from 1634) and used by both the British and Colonial troops.
The Old State House – The government seat of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Massachusetts from here on July 18, 1776.
Old South Meeting House – Location of many town meetings, the most famous of which saw Samuel Adams signal the start of the Boston Tea Party.
Old North Church – The famous two lanterns were hung from the church in April 1775, signaling that the British coming to Lexington and Concord.
The Boston Massacre Site of 1770.
Paul Revere House – Where Paul Revere lived and the oldest home in Boston (about 1680).
We followed the trail all the way across the Charles River to the Charlestown Navy Yard and the U.S.S. Constitution. Old Ironsides (as it is known) was launched in 1797 by President George Washington and is the world’s oldest commissioned ship. She is known for her involvement in the War of 1812 against England and for fighting the Barbary pirates. Visitors have not been allowed on the ship for the last two years because of restoration (first two years in dry dock and now in the water but still undergoing repairs), but plans are to allow visitors again in September 2017.
Even today, the U.S.S. Constitution is a formidable ship, and it brought back memories of when I built a mode of this ship as a kid.
Near the U.S.S. Constitution was the U.S.S. Cassin Young, a naval destroyer of the World War II era (and reactivated during the Korean War) with a distinguished record of service. We were allowed to go on this ship and explore.
During our walk we also came across street performers in Revolutionary era costumes, and two marching bands participating in a parade commemorating a holiday of Italians of Sicilian descent in the Little Italy section of Boston.
Boston Day Two: The weather report for the day was a strong possibility for rain in the afternoon, so we were glad we visited the sites we wanted to see the day before. We grabbed our rain jackets, put them in our packs, and headed out to simply walk around and see what we could see, do what we could do.
The first objective was to revisit the Boston Holocaust Memorial which is located on a green patch of land between two busy streets near Boston’s government center. It is also just a bit off the way from the Freedom Trail walk, and the proximity seems deliberate. We had seen the memorial the day before, but as time was running late to catch the commuter train back to the campground, we only had time for a quick look.
The Holocaust Memorial is stunning and moving. It consists of six glass towers, each 54 feet high, along a black granite path; each tower represents a major Nazi extermination camp. At the base of each tower is a grate over a pit from which steam rises from coals at the bottom – an emotional hit. Engraved into each tower and covering all of the panels from top to bottom are (random) numbers representing the six million who perished. Etched in the panels are statements from survivors.
At the entrance to the memorial is a large black granite cube with key historical events of the Nazi persecution from 1933 to 1945, and the word “Remember” in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish. A quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower describing what he found, and the need for his first-hand witness so that in the future no-one will be able to deny history, was also very moving and – in this day – important.
So effective is the memorial that just about every person that we saw who approached it (and many were not Jewish) read every word written.
Next, we just walked. We feel we get to know a place by simply walking and, indeed, using our maps, we did get a great feel for the area of Boston we chose to explore – notwithstanding the fact the Boston streets go every which way, designed like spaghetti. We happened upon North, Quincy, and South Markets, walked to the harbor and strolled along the wharfs, including Griffin Wharf where the Boston Tea Party took place,
revisited Boston Common, had lunch, and walked some more through downtown Boston and the financial district. As we were heading back to the train station, we saw a sign saying, “Public Observatory on the 14th Floor” (it was the Independence Wharf office building). So, up we went for an amazing view of the city.
It was then back to South Station for our train to the campground and we said goodbye to the city of Boston. We did not see and do everything there is to do; after all, we did not see the Red Sox/White Sox game, but we were left with a very impressed opinion of Boston and the rain held off until we returned to our campsite.