#126 Salisbury Beach, Tall Ships and Pirates

Gidget slept through her first night home from surgery. I think she had enough anesthesia still in her to help her sleep. But, by Friday morning she was definitely uncomfortable.

We spent all day Friday inside the RV. It didn’t just rain, it poured all morning. We tried to make Gidget comfortable, but she does not like to go out in the rain, she didn’t eat or do her business for over 24 hours. We finally called the Vet, and they had some different pain meds for us. So picked them up and after she had that she was more comfortable. The rain finally slowed down and Gidget was able to go outside.

Knowing Gidget was doing better, we decided to go out to dinner with Don and Alice at a place where we could get good cooked lobster. Not only did we get lobster, we had some really good steamed clams. Then Alice took us to a place that had wonderful ice cream. They have been coming to this park for 16 years and know all the good places to eat!

Saturday was a gorgeous day. The sun was out, there were just a few floating clouds and a slight breeze. We walked over to where the Tall ships were docked. Above is the sign telling the names of the ships and the length of the ships.

If you look closely at the picture above, there are three ships. The little ship is right in front.

The “pirates” did a great job of showing off the costumes and the customs of the days. Do you like the guy that was put into stocks?

The Kalmar Nykal is a beautiful ship. All the carving is amazing. Everywhere you look there are carvings of something or on anything that is wood.

This is the Captains office and stateroom on the Kalmar Nykal.

As we left the ship the sleeping dog watched us go with his outside eye open and the inside eye closed!

We are on the Peacemaker now. This ship is owned by the 12 tribes and is a goodwill ship that sails around visiting different ports and spreading its story. All the crew are from different areas. We saw this ship in Norfolk, VA, again in Boston and now in Salisbury Beach, MA. Do you think it is following us?

The stained glass mosaic window is on the inside of the ship, leading into the dining area. There are three that I counted. They are beautiful. I hope you can see the parrot in this one. Originally this ship was built in Brazil.

This is the dining area on the Peacemaker. It is beautiful and can seat a good many people. The ship is crewed by at least 18, and sometimes more.

Frank is in the galley of the Must Roo. This ship was built by a Doctor, a Plastic Surgeon, in his back yard. It took him 16 year to build it. I felt like I was in a RV on water! It even has a washer/dryer combo like the one we have in the RV.

Because this ship usually sails in the northeast, and was built in Maine, it has this little tiny wood chip heater.

It is so nice to have a beautiful day, we really enjoyed being outside and walking. In the afternoon we drove into Seabrook, NH to get a few groceries. I couldn’t resist taking the picture below.

Sunday we had a slight shower of rain in the morning, but by the time we got up and around we had sunshine and warm weather. We spent a couple of hours out on the beach reading our books, enjoying a lobster roll sandwich from one of the vendors by the ships. We walked into the Atlantic Ocean, up to our ankles. The water was cold, but the kids were having a wonderful time playing in the water no matter what the temperature. I think they are tired of the rainy weather, too.

Tomorrow we have to leave the park. We are headed north into Maine. I don’t think we are going to leave the rain behind. Thunder storms are battering NY and headed north.

#125 Salisbury Beach State Preserve, America’s Stonehenge and Budweiser, in Merrimack, NJ

We arrived at Salisbury Beach State Preserve on Monday afternoon. The weather was warm and humid. We backed in to our spot and realized that we should have dumped our tanks before backing in. So Frank pulled out and dumped, while I visited with Alice and Don who had arrived around noon. By the time we re-parked the RV and got all set up it was after 3 pm. We rested for little bit and took off to Exeter, NH where Gidget had a Vet’s appointment. She has a mast cell tumor on her chest that we are going to have removed. The Vet had to see her before her scheduled surgery. Of course, we didn’t know where Exeter, NH was or where the Brentwood Animal Hospital was located in Exeter, so we took off about 4 pm for her 5 pm appointment. We knew it was 22 miles away, but were unsure of traffic and of getting lost. The good ole GPS took us right to the office. But, coming home it took us a different route. We’re still confused.

After Gidget was examined we found two more tumors, and her surgery is scheduled for Thursday!

On Tuesday we woke up to rain. It rained all day, so we just stayed around the RV and tried to stay dry. The only trip we made was to pick up mail in the little town of Salisbury. The post office and a diner share the same front door, so we stopped at the diner and had lunch while waiting for the PO to open. They close the PO for an hour during lunch!

Wednesday we were treated to a fairly nice day and two of the tall ships that are going to be docked and open for tours on the weekend, sailed into the Merrimack River. This was quite a treat to see them maneuvering in and tying up at the dock.

The first ship is the Peacemaker and the second ship is the Kalmar Nykel.

When I say it was a fairly nice day, I mean it wasn’t raining. As you can see in the pictures we had lots of clouds.

Thursday morning we got up early and headed back to Exeter, NH to drop off Gidget for her surgery. She had to stay all day, so we decided to see a couple of sights in NH.

First we drove to Salem, NH and visited the Stonehenge of America. It is really back in the woods, but very interesting. It is a large collection of buildings and walls all made out of large stones. It has been carbon dated back 4,000 years. It was also used during the time of the underground railroad to hide runaway slaves on their way to Canada and freedom.

Entry into one of the stone buildings.

Inside one of the cave like structures. This one has a secret “bed” where one person could lie hidden and observe what was going on in the big room.

This was called a table top or roof rock.

This slab of rock was used for sacrifices. I guess they know that because of the groove all around the edge.

This was interesting, but back in the woods and there were lots of mosquitoes and bugs. Standing water everywhere because of all the rain. We didn’t stay long, besides it was getting close to lunch time and our next stop was the Budweiser Brewery!

Our first stop at the Merrimack, NH Budweiser Plant, was the horse stables. Now this is what a stable should look like!!

Well, Reggie was having a little snack,

Duffy liked having his picture taken,

but, Charlie, was just laying down on the job. It was nap time and he is the big boy of the team, weighing in around 2,300 lbs!

A shot stop at the wagons before we go on the tour.

The wagons are beautiful, and the signs tell the story of how they are used.

All this beer and this is the smallest of the Budweiser Breweries. If I remember correctly, each one of these tanks holds 31,000 gallons of beer.

Today the plant was bottling Bud Light long necks.

The famous Eagle Logo.

The tasting room was almost empty. We were the 1:30 tour and there were only 10 of us on the tour. Each of us got to sample two different kinds of beer. (I had a diet coke)

The man at the bar was an employee. He is 33 days away from retirement and had a lot of nice things to say about working here.

By the time we were through with the tour we had a call from the Vet’s. Gidget had four tumors removed and she was recovering nicely. She would be ready to leave about 4:00 pm. So we headed back to Exeter to get her and take her home.

By the time we got back to the RV we found out it had been raining almost all day at the park. We were fortunate that we didn’t get rained on during all our tours.

#124 Salem, MA 7-19-09

We moved the RV yesterday afternoon to the Saugus Elks. We drove a little over 30 miles. We are slowly moving around the outskirts of Boston, heading North. We were in the Bar-B-Que area of the Saugus Elks and had both water and 15 amps of electric. A nice change from dry camping. There was both trees and a nice grassy field. We were in the shade most of the day. Of course it rained once while we were sleeping, about 5 am, with thunder and lightning. Sure wish we could send some of this wet weather to the West Coast.

We were only a short driving distance from Salem, MA, so on a Sunday we toured the city of Witch trials. By the time we were up and out, the weather had cleared up and it was a beautiful day.

We took a trolley ride to see where we want to get off and investigate further.

We learned the difference between a Widow’s walk and a Widow’s watch. The walk is on top of the house, but not enclosed.

A Widow’s watch is also on top of the house,but is enclosed. These were common in towns where there were high Merchant Shipping and Fishing.

Another interesting thing we learned was the extra little door on the side of the front door of this home. It is called a funeral door and was used for moving caskets in and out of the home when a member died. During the times these homes were build, funerals were held in the homes.

We stopped at the Visitor Center and saw the 30 minute film about Salem and it’s history.

Then we walked around the corner and went to the Witches Museum. This is quite a show, with dioramas that light up when the narrator tells the story of the Witch Trials.

Of course we have to spend time in the gift shop. We don’t buy much except post cards and thimbles. But I couldn’t resist trying on the sparkly Witch Hat.

Above is the second oldest graveyard in the USA. We drove by it in the Trolley, but didn’t stop.

After the Witch Museum, we headed to Pickering Wharf and had lunch with this view out the window.

We were within walking distance of “The House of Seven Gables” of Nathanial Hawthorne fame.

This book was Hawthorne’s 2nd most popular book. A Scarlet Letter was his most famous. These were books that were required reading in literature when I was in high school. So long ago, but even then these were old books!

He never lived in this house, but his neighbor did, and he based his book on the inhabitants of the house and the secret stairways and it’s unique architecture.

This is the home where Nathanial Hawthorne was born, but only lived here till he was four. Then his father died at sea from yellow fever, and his family had to sell the house and move in with relatives.

The view from the gardens outside of the House of Seven Gables and between it and Nathanial Hawthorne’s birth home. Love the duck statue with the marina in the background. The Hosta is blooming all over the town. It thought it was pretty, so took a picture.

Tomorrow we move to Salisbury Beach State Preserve, about 34 miles away. We have had our reservations at this park since Jan.!