Salem in November

On a sunny Saturday just a few weeks ago, Joe and I decided to take a drive to Salem. We figured it would be a good time for it, as the weather was still nice, but all of the Halloween hoopla had died down for another year. Neither of us had ever been before, despite its proximity and accessibility from Boston. I was charmed by the town--though we didn't visit any of the tourist traps they call museums (the Peabody-Essex is obviously an exception--that's the real deal), I enjoyed just walking around, taking in the sights and the colonial feel. Here are some photos, most taken on Chestnut Street, a street of beautiful historic homes.

Chestnut Street

Someone converted this old car into a 3-wheel motorcycle. Very Back To the Future.

I loved all of the doors of the houses and how they were decorated for the fall.

The Derby Square Bookstore is a chaos of books--all half-price new books, remaindered from other bookstores, stacked in delightfully precarious leaning towers all over the store. When you spot something you want, it's like playing a game of Jenga to remove it. Who doesn't enjoy an extra challenge while book shopping?

To the Farthest Port! We took a walk to the end of an old pier and read about Salem's history as a commercial center hundreds of years ago. The ships have long since stopped coming, but it's fun to imagine what it was like in the old days of bustling maritime commerce.