The owner of the house, his cousin, is said to be his inspiration for many of his writings, including his first novel, The Scarlet Letter. The house was really neat and had a hidden staircase which we all climbed into the upstairs bedroom, one of America's oldest domestic living spaces. The walls were slightly hairy because they were made with horse hair plaster. The boards in the floor were 23 1/2 inches wide because pieces of wood 24" and larger had to be sent to England for the king's navy to use. The house's gardens were neatly manicured and smelled wonderful. They told us there would be a wedding there tonight and we saw the tent with chairs and tables set up. The house sits on the harbor with an excellent view.
As many of you know, Salem is most famous for the witch trials of 1692 when 23 people lost their lives for accusation of practicing witchcraft--14 women hanged, 5 men hanged, 1 man pressed to death by heavy stones for not confessing, and 3 died in prison. Forbidden by the Puritans, witchcraft is now legalized by today's government. Well, we decided that our favorite witches were not the museum's inanimate life-sized wax figures but rather sandwiches, and left Salem for lunch. (I know it's cheesy, but if you would have seen that museum you'd cut me some slack.)
We drove into New Hampshire for lunch and then continued on to Freeport, Maine to visit a massive L.L. Bean store/headquarters that was recommended to us. Traffic was bumper-to-stickered bumper on account of the toll booths and holiday weekend. By the way, toll booths are slightly annoying because you have to keep one dollar bills handy and traffic slows significantly. I guess roads have to be taken care of one way or another. After all, no sales tax on many goods here. This brings me back to what I was saying... L.L. Bean.
It was huge. All of their products were there in the large facility including rooms for monogramming, engraving and alterations. There were at least five separate stores: Home; Fishing & Hunting; Bike, Boat & Ski; General; and Outlet. We shopped around but didn't buy anything. We saw two enormous stuffed moose... mooses... meese... whatever they are. The L.L. Bean company was having a 4th of July celebration with lots of events planned for today and tomorrow. The stores were conveniently situated in a larger outlet mall complex. Mom and I walked around and did more shopping while the guys did something else (not sure what.)
We left the mall and went back toward Portland for dinner. Apparently you can't visit Maine without eating lobster, so for dinner, we opted for the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth. It was on the water with a great view of two lighthouses and the setting sun. We sat outside on a red picnic table on the cliff to eat. We got googly-eyed lobster and tried to protect our meals from the seagulls. Lobster is a chore, and in my opinion, not worth the work. I had some tasty clam chowder though. After we finished eating, we rushed to Fort Williams to try to make it in time to see the Portland Head Light before the park closed at sunset. The ranger was locking the gates when we got there, but he kindly let us in for a quick view. It was actually great timing because the sun was setting and it was beautiful. The water and the cliffs were really impressive. We left the Fort and went to check out a few other lighthouses before retiring to the hotel. We saw the Spring Point Ledge lighthouse and the Bug Light lighthouse. We even saw some fireworks on the water! 
We just checked into our hotel and are going to crash so we can get up and leave early in the morning. We would like to try to beat holiday traffic, but we'll see. We're planning to spend Independence Day in Acadia National Park. We hope you and your families have a wonderful and safe Fourth!
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