Historic downtown Conord and Salem

 Sunday morning and we headed to nearby downtown Concord, home to the Old North Bridge and the “shot heard round the world” that started the American Revolution. I had moved my store to a prime location on Main Street, just a few doors from where we were meeting our friends for breakfast at the Main Street Cafe.  I never tire of being in Concord, and we walked along the shops and old historic buildings after our meal, and popped in to several to peruse as they opened.  Normally this would drive Clem crazy, but as long as he has David for company, Cindy and I can shop to our hearts content! 

Our best of friends David and Cindy, with whom we have shared hundreds of meals, and myriads of experiences since 1977!

These fork people caught my eye in the window, this being my favorite.  

Tons of bikers coming through, many probably training for the Penn Mass ride soon to be held, benefitting Dana Farber cancer center. 

Seen from the back of the cafe 

The red brick Main Street Cafe. 

We often sit outside, but they weren’t serving out there until a bit later than we decided to eat. 

Wide angle shot shows the cafe, and two buildings down, the brick building where my store was located. 

Down the side street and more old buildings, the cafe can still be seen in the left, across Main Street and to the right of the  old bank building with white pillars. 

A British shop has recently taken a space on Main Street, which leads one to wonder, since this town is all about declaring its independence from them! 

By the time I snapped a shot, half the riders
had gone by! 

A beautiful day, we walked down another street where Cindy wanted to show us a new market, and past historic houses just off the square .

The Hosmer House. If memory serves, I believe he was the first man in the area to die during the battle. 

Josiah Bartlett home, physician, member of the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence.  These are all now private residences. 

In the very nice market, a delicacy, Fiddlehead Ferns! 

I wanted to investigate this graveyard, and found it filled with the names that the streets around now bear.

Many of the stones predate the Revolution. 

This is one of the favorite places for grave rubbings, with many ornate headers on the stones. 

The back of the stones is roughly hewn, left natural rather than smoothed like the front. 

We headed back to the hotel to refresh and rest up before being picked up by the kids to go to Salem, of witch trial fame, for a historic walking ghost tour. We have visited Salem before, with it’s fascinating history, and beautiful historic homes and waterfront. One visit at Halloween, was particularly fun!  No time for that this time, as the girls schedules prevented an early departure, but we had dinner in Salem, and had a bit of time to walk around before meeting the tour guide at the old Town Hall. 

A friend of Chris’s who lives in Salem had recommended Turners Seafood, and it proved a great choice among the many highly recommended.  Another good feature of this lovely town of beautiful buildings and history, an abundance of good restaurants, and Chris is smitten and would move here! Well, I would visit you here!   Not only was the food great, but the building itself was beautiful, and as I was admiring the exterior and taking photos, which I neglected inside, I noticed one of the historical placards, showing it was the place where Alexander Graham Bell first tested the telephone! 

Our tour was very good, but not quite what we expected, and to Grace’s chagrin, was far more history than hauntings!  We did learn some things about Salem and the Witch Trials that none of us knew before, including Chris, who is pretty knowledgeable on the subject.  For instance, the hysteria lasted only 4 months! And the town en masse did not ever want to speak of it again, and buildings associated with it were all torn down, with one exception.  As it turns out, this particular tour would have been better in the daytime to view the sights, and the night did little to enhance the tour, which we expected to be spooky.  

Though I have walked the streets of Salem near the museums and historic homes, I had never been in this wide pedestrian mall, filled with unusual stores.  

Loved these carvings , like ships masts, decorated in various ways all down the way. 

Our goal ahead, the old State House.

Love the sign on this apartment door, but I would not want my front stoop in the midst of tourists at the State House roaming and gathering for tours! 

Our very animated tour guide is a descendant of  the original settlers. 

Bewitched was filmed in Salem for a few episodes, and  the studio donated this sculpture   The  show and statue created   tourism from far and wide, and while the residents had not wanted to speak about it before, they realized they could capitalize on the Witch theme, and so it began!  Elizabeth Montgomery starred as Samantha in the series which ran from late 60s until 1972, so it didn’t become witch city until then! 

A haunted building, where a young woman was said to have been buried and never found.  

The young woman’s tormenter is Lao said to haunt from the upper floors, and his visage can be seen at times in the upper left window. 

I guess they decided to provide ample viewing for all, regardless of the spirits presence! 

The only surviving house, this now serves as an interesting Witch Museum which we explored on a previous visit. 

Getting pretty dark now, this was the last clear photo I captured, which was too bad, because we went into a lovely garden behind a gorgeous mansion.