This month, in elementary schools across the nation, students learn of Pilgrims and Puritans. The Mayflower and Plymouth Rock. Some will dress in the costumes of stern Immigrants or friendly Natives. For the roots of our current Thanksgiving holiday extend back to a time of feasting and thanksgiving for an abundant harvest.
While history takes an important place in Massachusetts – you can’t study the Revolutionary War without mention of Boston, Concord, and Lexington – it is also a modern place. Education, trade, and manufacturing all thrive in the present day.
My travels have taken me to Massachusetts twice – three times if you count an airport arrival followed by a bus trip out of state. In 2013 my travelling companion and I met some very cordial residents in the Western portion of the state. (If you must have a flat tire away from home this is a helpful place.)
In 1998, with a different companion, we visited Salem. What can I say — 17 year old boys have a unique idea of what is interesting. It was an excellent visit. Quality explanations and memorials to the witchcraft trials of 1692. But my favorite part of the town was the waterfront. Imagine men going down to the docks each day. Loading timber and fish into the holds of Clipper Ships. Or unloading the treasures of the Orient from those same ships at the return of the voyage.
Sail away on an adventure from Salem, MA.