Being without a car has the big drawback that we can't leave Boston as easily as we would like to sometimes, especially when the rain has finally stopped and we're graced with a sunny day (a rare occurrence, this summer). We very much depend on our friends Minh and Jerrel to drive us around to explore the area surrounding Beantown. Thankfully, they seem to like doing so, and a couple of months ago they took us on a little expedition to Lexington, Concord, andWalden Pond. Two weekends ago we went north to Salem, site of the famous 1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials. Salem's very pretty to walk around; it has some gorgeous architecture, a nice pedestrian-only city center, the Salem Maritime National Historic site, the Peabody Essex Museum, and dozens of witchcraft shops that invite tourists to experiment with white magic or buy their next Halloween costume. Both destinations--Concord/Lexington and Salem--make for great one-day trips.
Last weekend we had plans to go to Karls in Saugus to buy German sausages to grill that night, but first we wanted to do something more "cultural" (although Karls--no apostrophe!--is quite the cultural experience, too. Those of you German speakers: think Blutwurst, Bierschinken, Weisswurst, Thüringer: Karl has got it all, and on top of that Löwensenf and Curryketchup and Mon Cherie and Oblaten and Fa-Seife).
A long time ago Erik was told about Hammond Castle, in Gloucester, and since neither Minh nor Jerrel had been there, we decided to check it out before going to Saugus.
Oh boy! Hammond Castle! One mad scientist lived to see his boyhood fantasy come to life, I think. John Hays Hammond, Jr., "second only to Edison in number of patents" (I'm quoting from the website), built this castle in the late 1920s, supposedly as a gift to his bride, but who was he kidding? The man designed a Gothic castle, including a great hall with an ear-deafening organ (the curator played a sample, turning up the volume only half-way as not to hurt us), a draw-bridge, secret passageways, and, according to folklore, dungeons that served as top-secret laboratories. Hammond filled the castle with his extensive collection of medieval artifacts, some original, some exact replicas: medieval armor suits and weapons, tapestry, furniture, etc. Visitors are invited to roam freely--and roam we did, up and down the many circular and narrow staircases, to a number of rooms all stuffed with interesting curiosities (among my favorites: a large medieval-looking manuscript depicting the family tree of Hammond, which links him directly to Charlemagne and all British royalty). Completely wonderfully insane: the indoor patio that's modeled after a medieval town square: around a small pool in the middle are walls that are designed to look like a Gothic church entrance, a Southern France shop front, a Germanic-looking home. The "town square" is covered by a glass ceiling to which several small pipes are connected: if desired, it rains from this artificial sky, and since Mr. Hammond was a clever cookie, it doesn't just "rain": it drizzles, it pours down, it mists, it storms. Another little quirk: the castle's been used for psychic seances, and apparently you can still attend those today.
After our visit to the castle we stopped by Manchester-by-the-Sea, which has one beautiful beach. It was the first time I dipped my feet into the Atlantic, while the boys dissected jelly fish.
And the grilling? Oh, it was lovely! Much to Minh and my delight, the guys didn't touch the Blutwurst (cooked pig blood, yummy) but indulged in the Bauernwurst.
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