Seven Gables

My husband and I have started to plan our summer vacation already. Can you tell that we need a break? Last year, we only took day trips, and I think that took a toll on us. There's something almost necessary about getting away from real life for an extended period of time, I think.

So, we're planning a trip to Cooperstown, NY. He likes the Baseball Hall of Fame; I want to take pictures at the Farm Museum. After a couple days there, we plan to drive across Massachusetts and stay in Salem for a few days.

We visited Salem a couple of years ago. It is something of a tourist trap; I'll admit. As we planned that trip, however, I made sure to find actual historic places for us to check out. I teach language arts, and I've taught The Crucible for years. As much as the social commentary of the play might be important, I love the history of that time period, and I try to incorporate as much of it as I can.

Thus, as we explored Salem, we tried to find sites that related to the historic and literary elements of the area. The accompanying pictures are of the "House of the Seven Gables", supposedly the inspiration for Nathanial Hawthorne's book of the same name.

We didn't go inside; I'm not paying a high admission fee to look at old furniture. Besides, I was happy to see the outside, to visualize the events of the book playing out...