Salem/Boston - And so it begins. . .

After a bit of a rocky start (Southwest only got one of our bags here, the other had to be couriered to the hotel at our expense which they shall hear about, oh yes, they shall) we made it to Salem and the loving arms of our East Coast Haunt Clubbies (does "clubbies" work? thought I'd give it a try).

There was much hugging, out of affection and a need for warmth, and rejoicing. We tried to get something to eat at The Hawthorne Hotel, but so were a bunch of other people and the wait was 45 minutes. So, it was off to a restaurant across the stree who's name escapes me. Kate, Pam, Mark, Glen, Kelly and I ate, laughed and generally got caught up.

Then, it was off to the House of Seven Gables for a tour. Our guide, Scott, was really good. It's distracting when the guides suck, but he was great. And, not at all put off by our shennanigans. In fact he and the other three folks in the group joined right in. If you ever get to the House of Seven Gables, the "firewood closet" is really cool.

Right across the street from there is the oldest candy store in the US, Ye Old Pepper Companie. It beckoned to us with it's chocolately siren song. We were unable to resist and entered the store to check out all it's decadent goodness. I may have spent all my allotted money for the trip in there. Don't you hate when that happens?

With candy in hand, we bid Salem a fond farewell and hauled our asses to Boston.