MY VISIT

Our first stop was Salem, which is famous for witches. I really wanted to see if it was spooky, but it’s actually pretty normal looking, except for all the shops with witch hats in the windows. We went to the Salem Witch Museum. They have these wax figures and a big red-lit room where they tell the story of the witch trials. After that, we visited The House of the Seven Gables. I didn’t even know what a “gable” was until that day. The house is old and creaky, and they tell stories about Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote a book about it. I liked the secret staircase the best. I wish my house had one. For lunch, we went to Sea Level Oyster Bar. I tried an oyster and had some other really delicious food, including yummy french fries. The restaurant was right by the water, so I could watch boats go by. We walked along the Salem Maritime National Historic Site after, and I collected a few rocks that looked almost like treasure. Then we went over to Boston.

We stayed at a hotel that used to be called the Hilton Downtown, but now it’s The Dagny Boston. The room was really high up and the room was really big and fancy. In the morning, we walked over to the New England Aquarium was super cool. There’s a huge tank in the middle with a spiral ramp around it, so you can look at the fish from all sides. I saw a giant sea turtle and some penguins that looked like they were wearing tuxedos and were so cute. For lunch, we went to Legal Sea Foods and had some chowder. In the afternoon, we walked to the Massachusetts State Capitol Building. It has a bright gold dome and lots of steps. The Liberty Bell is located right in the front of the building but outside of a locked door. Luckily for me, a kind security guard unlocked the door so we could get close up and take some pictures. Later, we went to the Boston Public Garden. There are swan boats that you can ride, and the driver actually sits inside a giant swan. It was really relaxing and we saw a lot of ducks. After that, we walked to Boston Common and stopped at the Frog Pond, but there weren’t any frogs (just kids splashing around). I got delicious macarons at Quincy Market. 

The next day we took a Bar Harbor City Cruise whale watching tour out into the ocean. The water was pretty rough but we got lucky and saw two whales—it was amazing! They looked so big and slow, like giant sea monsters. Everyone cheered when their tails came out of the water. Afterward, we visited the Rose Kennedy Rose Garden. It was really pretty, and everything smelled good. Then, we went to the Paul Revere House. It’s very small and old. We walked the Freedom Trail, which is a red line you follow around Boston to see all the historic sites. I thought it was fun to try and stay exactly on the line. For lunch, we went to Carmelina’s and had Italian food (spaghetti, my favorite). Later, we rode the Greenway Carousel, which had all these weird animals you could ride, not just horses—like a grasshopper and a lobster.

Our last morning in Boston, we took a tour of Fenway Park. I liked seeing the Green Monster wall. Then, we went to the Boston Tea Party Museum drank some delicious tea. We stopped at the Boston Children’s Museum, which has a giant climbing structure inside. I could have stayed there all day, but we had to leave for Cape Cod. We drove to Yarmouth and settled into the hotel. For dinner, we had some good Italian food at DiParma.

We visited Plimoth Patuxet Museums (it used to be called Plimoth Plantation). There were people dressed up like Pilgrims and Native Americans, and they pretended it was the 1600s. I talked to a lady who pretended not to know what a cell phone was and saw a lot of chickens. We saw Plymouth Rock. It’s smaller than I thought it would but cool to see. In the afternoon, we went to Seagull Beach. The water was freezing, but I still went in up to my knees. I tried to catch a crab but it was too fast. That night, we ate at Captain Parker’s Pub. There was clam chowder again (so much soup on this trip). This trip was really amazing!