Wednesday, June 9, 2010

East Coast 2010 - Salem

We decided to come home from the East Coast through the States, being both a shorter route and some different scenery from the well-travelled Quebec-Ontario highways. Crossing at St. Stephen, NB into Calais, Maine, we wandered over to the I-95 interstate before hammering down through New Hampshire and Massachusetts to our first destination, Salem.

We arrived in time to visit the Witch Museum, and enjoy a meal and some local beer before joining a haunted historical hike of old Salem. The evening was rounded out by stocking up on other local beers (which abound in this area!) and retiring to our allegedly haunted B&B.

The next day saw us carry on through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York (including a GPS-induced detour through the Bronx to avoid traffic congestion!), New Jersey, and into Delaware. We stopped for the night in Wilmington, Delaware, and found an awesome brewpub for dinner. The Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant did not disappoint, as we sampled eight of their home-made beers, and even took a growler of Ironbound Ale to go!

Passing from the "right side of the tracks", or river in the case of Wilmington, we returned to the "wrong side" of town, where unfortunately we had booked a cheap motel. I guess we got our money's worth, because we only stayed half the night before packing up at 1:30am in mortal fear and hitting the road. Sometimes you have to trust your instincts.

Driving on through the night, we crossed into Maryland and drove through the Appalachians before pulling over near dawn at the Pennsylvania border for a one-hour nap. From there, straight on home through Ohio and Michigan.

In the end, some 5787 km in total and another fabulous road trip!

Jane's first apartment

Cool museum!

The Friendship in Salem harbour

On a haunted hike...

2 comments:

Simone Maroney said...

Okay... Now you need to give us avid readers details. What caused you to leave the wrong side of the tracks of Wilmington at 1:30 am? Mortal fear sounds delightfully intriguing but disappointingly vague.

Mike and Jane said...

Many small factors plus an over-riding bad vibe, culminating with a random phone call in the middle of the night at the seedy motel. At that point we agreed that we were not going to be able to sleep anyway, and would just feel safer driving!