A few days ago we decided to make a short getaway as we are not traveling too far this summer because of covid. We made reservations at Winter Island, a city park in Salem Massachusetts. Winter Island is on the very end of a peninsula out into Salem Harbor, and as a bonus it is only about an hour and a half from home. Salem, as you may know, is where the witches come from, and they seem quite proud of the fact that it is witch city.
A panorama from the beach with the Doodle in the upper left…site 12
The Monday morning drive to Salem was uneventful even though we had to contend with Boston traffic, as Salem is just north of Boston. We were keeping an eye on the weather as Isaias (the hurricane that nobody can pronounce) was creeping up the coast and causing problems down south. Thankfully we were heading north and the reports said that it would be heading west of our Rhode Island home port. We arrived at the park right at one PM, checkin time, and met the friendliest ladies in the office. Harper was a hit as always and garnered all the attention. We lucked out with the ‘best site in the park’ - we were told this by everyone and we agree - site twelve is the one you may want to reserve.
Our view out the back window of the Doodle
We got all set up, water, electric and stabilizers down. The wind was incredible so no awning today. It was blowing a steady 25 or 30 right onto our stern coming right up from our little private beach behind the Doodle. We had a fine afternoon just hanging out on the beach, exploring and watching the boat traffic in the busy harbor. I took a bike ride around supper time and rode down to the clam shack, cleverly named ‘The Clam Shack’, and got supper, clams for Carol - fish & chips for me. Harper of course had a little of each.
Clam Shack in Salem
After supper we hiked out to the point where the lighthouse is and watched the full moon rise over the far side of the harbor. There was all sorts of boat traffic and even a few reproductions of 18th century schooners taking people for sunset cruises. It was a beautiful sunset and moonrise and a nice walk back to the Doodle in the dark. It seemed that everyone in Salem was adhering to the covid rules as everyone had a mask on with very few exceptions. The wind continued into the hot and steamy evening but finally settled down overnight. Having shore power was a treat as we could use our air conditioning which was much needed in this tropical driven weather.
Moonrise over Salem Harbor
The next morning I was up early and quietly crept out of the Doodle and found a comfy seat at the picnic table and began whittling a wren. I mad a lot of wood chips and very little wren but I think I got a pretty good start. The morning sun turned to fog, good old New England, thick as soup fog. Well I am one of those who think that fog is just as beautiful as sunshine so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots around the campground. We had made reservations for two nights but we were getting reports that Isaias was tracking closer to home. The campground was gracious and refunded our second night’s fee and we started wandering back toward Rhode Island, but not without a scenic stop at the public works department to dump our tanks and a short driving tour of downtown Salem.
Light house in the morning fog.
The decision was made that we will be returning to Salem soon. Little did we know that the very next day the Governor of Massachusetts announced that he would keep us Rhode Islanders out of the state because our Covid 19 numbers are rising. It may be a while but we will reserve site twelve again. We arrived back in the driveway mid afternoon and I made a quick trip to the grocery store..you always need something.
Trees down on our street - Isaias. . .
The wind was beginning to pick up as I left for the store and was in full force when I arrived back home. A few minutes after I parked in the drive, at 4:25 in the afternoon, a tree fell across our street and that was the end of power for 26 hours. We made the right decisions we were able to save our food and do some cleanup and such. Since then we have continued our hikes and even visited a few friends…..
Thanks for stopping by..here are a few more pictures of our stay in Salem.
