October 10, 2021
Day 132: Beverly - visiting Salem
Learning the Public Transportation system
We all have breakfast with Tony. He fixes us coffee and pancakes. Then Tony drives us to the Beverly train station where we take the commuter train to Salem, only one stop towards Boston. Since today is a Sunday there are few passengers and also less frequent trains. We had planned to buy a week long public transportation pass, but it turns out this pass is only valid on more downtown Boston routes and does not really help us getting into the city. Having experienced the sleek modern Bangkok subway system, the antiquated US train cars and a conductor selling paper tickets in the train is a bit disappointing.
We walk from the Salem station towards the downtown. Tony had warned us: “October is Halloween month”. What this means is that the city attracts hordes of tourists acting like it is already Halloween. People are dressed up and wandering in crowds down the main downtown streets. There is a party atmosphere, long lines at restaurants, and very little that ties back to the reality that 29 innocent people were killed here during a mass-hysteria over three hundred years ago. We are a bit disappointed.
After having lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of downtown we make one more sweep through the city center and see all we needed to see. We don’t take advantage of the many tarot card and palm readings. Back at the train station we hop the next train back to Beverly and walk back to Tony’s place.
Tony is an excellent host. We all pile back in his Honda and head for Gloucester where, just as it is getting dark, we visit the Fisherman’s memorial. On plaques set in the seawall are the names of hundreds of fishermen that did not return. We have an excellent seafood dinner at the Causeway restaurant, mostly locals, great food in an unassuming atmosphere.
Lobster is very expensive this season, but the mussels and fried sole are great.
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