I was too "busy" getting rested to really see Boston, but I do have to admit that it's a fun city to ride a bike in. There are quite a few bike messengers zipping around at all times and the drivers are used to their erratic navigation. I found myself laughing as I pumped through the endless lines of cars and busses. It was almost as fun as driving a car in New York city.
The route was mostly flat and I was pretty well rested after having a day off, but it didn't last long. By the time I reached Salem, MA I was pretty tired. Luckily, Salem is a really good place to take a break and play tourist. As I was riding around the town, I saw a sign for the Salem Witch Dungeon and just had to go. Almost all of my notes were taken in pitch black, so if I've misquoted names or anything, feel free to post comments with corrections. A lot of my notes are completely illegible.
So it's 1692 and there's been a really harsh winter. Salem Village (about 550 people) seceded from Salem the town and became Danbury. As a result, the new town doesn't have much order. Farmers are arguing land boundaries and a lot of the disputes are going unresolved. George Corwin, the sheriff, and Reverend Paris are basically the only folks with any governing power over the town. Reverend Paris has a slave from the West Indies named Tituba and she spends some time talking to some of the local girls about the supernatural and shares some stories about the practices of folks "back home."
The girls are fascinated and start acting out. Their families don't know what to do and the town doctor can't find any physical ailments, thus deeming them as "bewitched." This is the story of the Salem Witch Trials in which 19 women, 5 men and 2 dogs were hanged based on accusations made by the "afflicted" girls. All of this was, of course, nonsense that the girls made up. By the end, the group of girls had grown from the original 3 to about 10, ranging in age from 12-20.
I was especially interested in the dungeon, so I went in to purchase a ticket. They had an offer to get a combo ticket - entrance to the Witch Dungeon, the Witch History Museum and the Pirate Museum - and I took it. After the play that the tour of the dungeon opens with, they announced that the dungeon we'd be walked through is actually a recreation. The real thing was discovered in 1956 by the telephone company as they were inspecting a building for renovation. At the time, there wasn't much of an historical society in the area and the original was demolished. Oh good...I just purchased tickets to the Disney Land version.
All three sites had very informative tours and the guides seemed to really enjoy their jobs. It almost reminded me of being at Renn Fest. Unfortunately, all three spaces were virtually unlit, so I have no pictures. Pictures would not be beneficial anyway as it's all recreation.
While I was in town locking the bike up to go take one of the tours, a random man approached me "You know anybody that'd want to buy one of these?" It was a camp chair. I blew him off and was very happy when I came out of the museum to find my sleeping bag and tent and, well everything, still intact. After playing tourist, I made my way to the Salem Beer Works for, um, lunch. Lunch included a variety of beer, one of which was watermelon, and all of it quite good.
As I was about to leave (reluctantly) and finish the day (18 or so miles), I was greeted by Katie and just had to hang out and have another beer. Katie wrecked her car when she was 26 by plunging off a cliff and into a tree. The impact took place about 6 feet off of the ground and left her with a fractured #10 thoracic vertebrae and paralyzed from the waist down. She's a lot of fun and has travelled a lot and we spent the afternoon and evening buying rounds of beer and sharing stories. In the middle of that, she gave me a ride to Gloucester (where the story of the Perfect Storm originated) where I spent the night at a campground. It was a blast and I can now say that I've ridden in a vehicle with hand controls - quite fascinating!
Statistics for the day: 24 miles of actual riding, 21.0 max speed, 9.7 average speed, 2:28 of riding time.
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