Going East: One Final Stop!

I know, you thought it was done :). Almost there, I promise!

We woke up the next morning to join many other from the wedding for breakfast. 

We got to give out well wishes to the newlyweds, who were excited about leaving for their honeymoon the next day.

After eating, it was time for our last adventure. While we had a couple options in mind, I got sold on visiting Salem, not so much for the witch trial history as the day to day pilgrim era history.

Also, the literary history :). Our first stop was the House of Seven Gables, on which Nathaniel Hawthorne based his book upon. 

We really enjoyed this, though  neither of us had read the book. I got the most enjoyment of just seeing all the details of this very old house. Of course, I did really enjoy going through the secret passageway installed in the early 1900s to reflect events in the book. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but really enjoyed the group tour that allowed us to get a very good idea of what homes were like hundreds of years ago. 

The views from the property were spectacular (though we were told that such bay front property was actually not prized, as all the drying fish on the shores was quite odoriferous). 

Other historical buildings had been moved onto the property as well, which gave us even more to look at.

There were also beautiful gardens on the property. 

Of course we had to go into the "kiddie" cottage, and check out the activities that were in place to entice the youngsters.

It was all research for my classroom. Really :). 

Even this room had a great view.

Nathanial Hawthorne's birthplace was actually moved here, so we got to tour that as well.

After all the touring, we enjoyed just sitting for a bit. 

Our last stop was the oldest house on the property, built in 1655.

With a few last looks, we said goodbye. 

After the house, we stopped to pick up some soup and sandwiches and head to a park we had found earlier for lunch. 

It was the perfect spot - shaded and with a great view. 

While we could have stayed there for a long time, we were on quite a time budget, so once we finished eating it was time to head on to the most anticipated place on my list!

(Sorry, I was going to try to finish the trip in this post, but as I'm very excited about the next destination, I think it deserves its own post)