Winter Island Maritime Park – Salem, Massachusetts (Part One) – September 19

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 we left Bass Harbor early so that we could get back to the Holden, Maine area and get our two new trailer tires from the Goodyear dealer. The good folks there were ready and waiting for us. We were in and out in about 45 minutes and on the road to Salem, Massachusetts for a four-day stay.

Driving through the sometimes narrow and always busy streets of Salem with Nomad was crazy! In fact, drivers there were so discourteous (and some downright dangerous) that we didn’t even drive Voyager into or out of Salem during our entire stay. Instead we relied on taxis and Ubers to commute from the Winter Island Maritime Park and back. It was a lot less stressful.

We got to Winter Island Maritime Park at 1 pm and were set up by 2 pm. Cindy and I walked down to the harbor area of the campground where the office was located to get further information on some things and find out about taxi service. The ladies in the office were very nice and helpful.

Wednesday started with walking through Salem. First we toured the Salem Witch Museum, which was a very sobering look at the horrific history of the Witch Trials in Salem back in 1692-1693. Sadly, it is almost too easy to see similarities of what happened then and what is happening today in regard to people’s lives.

Then we spent most of the morning and early afternoon walking through historic Salem. Cindy visited many different “Witchy” bookstores, retail outlets and places offering palm readings, Tarot readings and things of that nature. Lunch was followed by more such places until we were both ready for a little rest back at the RV.

After an all-too-brief respite, we walked Bella around the harbor and beach area of Winter Island Maritime Park. We came across the remains (mostly foundations) of Fort Pickering, a historical military landmark of Salem dating back to the year 1643. The site ceased military activities in 1976 and was left to nature for the next 40 years. The overgrowth of plant and animal life was removed and managed in 2016 and the site was restored as much as possible. Today it is opened to tourists and serves as a rich reminder of an important part of Salem’s history.

That evening it was back to Salem at 8:15 pm for the History and Hauntings of Salem Guided Walking Tour with our tour guide Ryan and about 30 fellow tour members. Ryan was very knowledgeable AND entertaining during our 2 1/2 hour nighttime tour around the major “haunts” of Salem. I also appreciated that he dressed in normal street clothes. We saw other tour groups where the tour leader was costumed as a witch, a warlock, a Puritan, and a “ghost”. I would have silly following such a person around the streets and alleys of Salem. As the title of the tour implies, we heard not only ghost stories but interesting history as well and saw lots of fascinating homes, buildings, cemeteries and streets during our tour.

By the time we arrived back at Nomad we were exhausted from the day’s activities. But there’s no rest for the weary; we have another full schedule planned for the next day in Boston.

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