“Cold to Cold” (Part IV) – Salem

Posted on April 5, 2013 by tomobert63

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[We boarded the train at Boston’s North Station for the half hour commute to Salem.  We were going to pay a visit to “old” D.C. friends, Rose (a native Minneapolitan) and Dick (a native of Massachusetts) McMullen, who had just moved their winter residence from Rockport to Salem.  Salem, of course, is famous for its witches – and look, here are two right now!  😉 ]

Editor’s Note:  It’s April 5.  Though temperatures have stubbornly remained 20 degrees below normal, we have had significant snow melt in the last two weeks because of sunny skies.  It was looking into the past – the remaining snow on the ground probably fell in December and January.  Today, it’s snowing again.]

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[Salem, like all places in the Northeast, is noted for being really old.  There are some nice things that go along with that.  Rose and Dick bought a condominium in a 200-year old building.  The size of the rooms and height of the ceilings are impressive.  This was our bedroom – the guest bedroom!  We could have played a basketball game in here!]

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[A fireplace therein.  And two floor-to-ceiling windows.]

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[And a personal blogging area with wet bar!]

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[From the wet bar.]

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[The kitchen, just off our bedroom and bathroom, looking out into the dining room.]

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[The entry/dining room.]

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[Looking back to the kitchen.]

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[The living room (and below).]

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[The view out their living room windows, overlooking Salem Common.  Exactly the kind of place the supervisor and I are looking to for our Medicare years in Alex!  😉 ]

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[The art in our bedroom.  Made us feel right at home!  🙂 ]

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[Rosie and the supervisor lead us off for an exploration of Salem.]

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[Rose had her Minneapolis blood working – I was freezing!]

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[Their condo – the 2nd floor.]

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[A monument arch in Salem Common.]

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[Historic homes all around the Common.]

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[Approaching the far side of the Common.  Our host house is directly across following the side walk.  And yes, that is a skating rink on the left side.]

1-26-13-24[The Hawthorne (another famous name in our history) Hotel, directly across the Common from Rose and Dick’s.  A lovely place in which to enjoy Happy Hour!  😉 ]

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[Spooky!]

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[Scary!]

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[Let’s go check for other eerie places!]

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[Ghoulish!]

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[A ghost ship?]

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[Let’s see what we can find downtown?  The windchill is keeping attendance down.]

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[Ye Old Town Hall]

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[When you’re in Salem, you’re “Bewitched”!]

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[Let’s do lunch!  Cutest young waitress with a nose ring . . .]

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[Roger Conant, founder of Salem in 1626, or 286 years before Oklahoma became a state.]

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[Ooooh, here’s those witches again!]

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[“The House of the Seven Gables.”  If we had a gable above our garage door, all the snow wouldn’t slide off the roof blocking our egress!]

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[The witches and me (photo by an adoring fan).]

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[Duck!!]

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[We’re overlooking Salem harbor here.]

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[Salem trade in the olden days.]

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[Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main . . .]

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[Where many a stormy wind shall blow . . .]

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[‘Ere the cub reporter comes home again.]

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[And Rosie leads us home again.  Dick says county records list the house as actually being built in 1815.]

And that ends our first day in Salem.  But here’s a preview of Day 2:

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[The next morning Dick and I went for some internationally-famous Ziggy and Sons Donuts!  🙂 ]

Loved the pics of Salem! I have a chair that is upholstered in the same fabric as Rose! It’s the wild but tasteful floral!  ~ Rita

About tomobert63

The Journey Begins Thanks for joining me! This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more. Thus, this is “Part 2.” As the original was initially described: 10-26-07-4 “It all began in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California” . . . wait a minute, that was Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show! Let’s see . . . oh yeah, it all began in 2003 when retirees, i.e., old people, in Alexandria, Minnesota, who had no desire to become snow birds, went looking for mid-winter entertainment here in the frozen tundra of West Central Minnesota. We discovered girls’ high school hockey, fell in love immediately, and it remains our favorite spectator sport to this day. Initially, and for several years, reports on these games were e-mailed to those who were actually snowbirds but wanted to keep abreast of things “back home.” It was ultimately decided a blog would be more efficient, and it evolved into a personal diary of many things that attracts tens of readers on occasion. It remains a source of personal mental therapy and has yet to elicit any lawsuits. ~ The Editor, May 9, 2014 p.s. The photo border around the blog is the Cardinal girls’ hockey team after just beating Breck for the state championship in 2008. It’s of the all-tournament team. The visible Breck player on the left is Milica McMillen, then an 8th-grader – she is now an All-American for the Gophers. The Roseau player in the stocking cap I believe is Mary Loken, who went on to play for UND; and the Cardinal player on the right, No. 3, is Abby Williams, the player we blame most for making us girls’ hockey fans who went on to play for Bemidji State. *********************************************************************************** Photos contained herein are available for personal use. All you have to do is double click on any of the photos and they will become full screen size. You can then save them into your personal “My Pictures” file. They make lovely parting or hostess gifts, or holiday gifts for such as Uncle Ernie who wants to see how his grand niece is doing on the hockey team. If any are sold for personal profit, however, to, for example, the Audubon Society, National Geographic, Sven’s Home Workshop Monthly, Curling By The Numbers, or the World Wrestling Federation, I only request that you make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. You have two hours and fifteen minutes. Pencils ready? Begin! **********************************************************************************
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