Category: Trip

Salem

July 30, 2021

On the way to Salem we stopped at Plymouth to visit a reproduction of The Mayflower and see the famous Plymouth Rock.

Both were worth the trip! Afterwards we ate fish’n’chips on the wharf and then walked out into the jetty you can see in the background of the above photo.

Kids were ‘fishing’ for crabs from the bridge, and we watched them lower nets down and pull up crabs almost immediately! It was quite extraordinary to see, and I imagined how much I would have loved doing something like that as a kid. (The crabs were smallish, and they release them all when they’re done.)

After our stop in Plymouth we drove to Salem, our second major destination.

Salem is one of the most unique places I’ve ever visited. While it has a rich history – only a small part of which involves witches – the tourist industry has become a quirky blend of witches and horror movies and magic. There’s dozens of shops and attractions crammed into only a few blocks selling all sorts of ‘witchy’ souvenirs or offering magical experiences. The town has embraced witches 110%, and that’s why the tourists are here 🙂

We of course partook, and bought some insane stuff. I also found an amazing comic/collectibles shop and we stumbled upon an extraordinary artist in his studio and bought a framed print of an octopus directly from him!

Oh and I had a Pluto Pup. Or a Dagwood Dog. Or a Corndog. Whatever you call it, it was fantastic:

And KLS had these:

The macaroon flavours were earl grey tea, lavender, rose, chocolate, lemon and birthday cakes! The other thing was chocolate mouse with a thin crunchy center and a mirror glaze. She said it was all fabulous 🙂

Salem was great and weird and well worth the trip (and I didn’t even mention the tourist trolley or the wax museum we did), but it’s now time to continue our road trip. Where will be going next…?

Cape Cod

July 28, 2021

We’re on a road trip vacation, and our first two days have been in cape cod. Due to a covid outbreak in these parts, we’ve restricted our activities to outdoor only, which isn’t hard with the beautiful weather and lots to see.

Yesterday we visited two salt marshes. Boardwalks had been constructed over them so you could walk above. We learned that they have plans to rebuild the platforms six feet higher due to future sea level rise.

At the second one the tide was coming in and we watched thousands of crabs and fish moving around as the little pools filled with water. It was mesmerizing!

We then walked along a two mile beach, well past the swimming area, and into dunes where protected birds nest. We were charmed by plovers darting in and out of the waves as they fed. The beach was quite nice and very popular, with loads of people sunbathing and splashing about. We didn’t bring swimmers, so walked in the waves to cool our feet 🙂

Today we went to Provincetown where I walked a causeway across to a sand island (while kls waited, since it was a bit risky for her). It was a challenging walk since the rocks were not level, and a few times I had to jump! Roses are about 9 feet here, and it was low tide when I crossed; I learned that at high tide the waters lap at the top of the causeway. It was extremely windy and a little chill, and the return trip took me 51 minutes! Not bad for a hike that they claim takes an hour each way 🙂

Provincetown is a popular tourist town on the very end of the cape known for its LGBTQ community. The homes and gardens are beautiful and immaculately kept and – since we looked at some listings in a realtor – incredibly expensive!

Provincetown is also in the news right now for recently having a bad covid-19 outbreak and for the first time in many months we were masked everywhere (and so was almost everyone else we saw). It was a bit strange, but I fear it’s the near-future of most of the world (due to Delta) so we may as well get used to it.

We had lunch from a near the pier which serves fresh (fried) seafood. My flounder burger was great but KLS says her scallop roll was ‘beyond excellent’. Even better than the lobster roll she had yesterday!

Afterwards we went and visited the location where Marconi sent his first transmission to England. There was a nearby hike through a swamp which looked great but was ‘infested’ (according to the sign) with ticks and also (according to reviews) with mozzies so we piked out and moved on. Needless to say there’s been a good deal of souvenir shopping as well; mostly for salt-water taffy 🙂

Tomorrow we move to destination #2. I’ll leave you in suspense as to where that will be…

Tokyo 5: It Always Ends In Akihabara

January 19, 2020

Today I spent over 8 hours in Akihabara, the otaku paradise of the world. If you’re interested in games, toys, anime or books and merchandise on these topics then this is the place for you.

Even in a full nonstop day I only saw a small portion. It’s like a massive dungeon of incredible stores, and for all you see you know there’s a lot you miss as well.

Some shops are so cramped I could barely walk the aisles. Some were so tiny I could barely even enter! And every shelf in every store it bursting with an inconceivable amount of stuff for sale.

Every type of hobby seems to be represented. Aside from the obvious (game and anime) I saw shops specializing in trains, guns, male dolls, wrestling and even in one case yo-yo‘s!

I spent most of my time in game shops. These are like museums to me and I feel I could browse them every day. The glass cases full of the truly rare stuff fascinate me.

I also invested more than I’d care to admit in UFO machines… and won nothing! Not even a chicken banana!

Another of my shoes broke today, and quite possibly my body with it. It was all I could do to shovel in my gourmet dinner…

…before returning to the hotel to write the last postcards and pack for my return flight tomorrow.

I had so much fun in Akihabara though I truly wish I could just go back and do it all again tomorrow. That’s not possible, but I know I’ll be back again one day.

Robot Claw