Witches, Bunker Hill Hike, and Red Sox!

Our final day started off like many of our days before, with some rain. The rain was pretty steady today until it was absolutely required that it didn't rain. At the Red Sox game. After raining all day, the weather at the game was very nice and fairly warm!

We start our day in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is well known for its witch trials in 1692 and 1693. 20 innocent people were hanged for being found guilty of being witches. Years later the colony admitted it was a mistake. 

Our tour was a walking one seeing the historic sites, mostly were related to the witch trials. 

 The even have a statue in town from the old tv show, Bewitched!

 Our guide showing us the many ways people in the 1600s would try and prevent witches and bad spirits from doing things to them. One, was to fill this jar with boiled pee, put in nails, and cook it until it exploded. Or you would bury it and the witch would be trapped in the jar and the nails or needles would impale the witch....

We also learned about witches cake. You'd mix urine and rye to make a cake. The urine came from a suspected witch. You then gave the cake to a dog. If the dog started acting weird.....guilty....

 Showing us pictures of where the witches were hanged. 

 Trying some lemon and mint candies. 

 Laying flowers on the benches at the Witch Trials Memorial. A bench is for each person that was hanged for being found guilty of being a witch. 

After Salem we took a drive to the coast and got to see an active lighthouse and the Atlantic Ocean. We then went to the town of Gloucester for lunch. You may have heard of Gloucester as it is the home port for the tv show, Wicked Tuna. It was also the site from the movie Perfect Storm with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg starring as sword fisherman. 

After our trek to the coast, one last trip into Boston it was. We had three more things to do. 

First, we went to the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill. This was a major battle in the Revolutionary War. The British actually won the fight by taking the land, but the Americans inflicted much more damage and it was way more costly for the English. 

There is now an obelisk that you can climb up. All 294 steps. No biggie......

Stop two in Boston was the USS Constitution. This is the oldest commissioned ship that is still active in the United States Navy. Although it is not a modern ship, it is active with active duty Navy folks working on the ship. 

Now it was time for the Red Sox game! The Red Sox were playing one of the best teams in baseball, the Houston Astros. We had a great time sitting down near the foul pole in right field. Game moved along rather quickly with the Astros eventually winning 3-1. 

And that's a wrap! This has been another amazing East Coast Field Trip. They always seem so far in the distance when we have the initial meeting talking about it and then all of a sudden here we are packing our bags getting ready for the trek home. Hard to believe that a few hours ago we were standing next to a light house looking at the raging Atlantic Ocean and soon we'll be sitting in our homes in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Crazy. 

Thanks to our awesome bus driver, Jamal, for getting us around so "efficiently." Having a great driver on a trip really saves time. Jamal doesn't use GPS because he doesn't need too. He knows every road on the east coast. Not only is he a great driver, he really is fun to talk with. Adults and children he gets along with. We've had him for the last three trips and I can't wait to ride with him again! Thanks Jamal. 

I have to give a giant thank you to our guide, Aaron Mertig. Or as the kids were calling him, Double A Ron. Aaron was our very first guide back in 2007. I've always tried to travel with him. The only thing that has prevented him from being our main guide is childbirth. Aaron is a great guide and coordinator. He really gets along great with the kids. Everything that was on this trip, including all the last minute switches are due to Aaron's skills and knowledge. I'm so happy to not only have him as our guide, but as a great friend. He has visited Molokai twice and I hope there are more trips in the future!

Finally, I can't say thank you enough to all the families that sent their children on this trip. Thank you for trusting us. Thank you for letting your children experience what we did. They are an example of all of you. They behaved quite well and got many compliments on their manners and behavior. I hope one day you can go on this trip with your child and they can show you around!

I do not have time to upload videos at this moment from today. The wifi at the hotel won't allow it. I will update this page on Sunday when I have time to upload the videos. Some are very touching with the children saying goodbye to our bus driver, Jamal. Another of them singing to our Salem guide who was very touched. I can't wait to share these videos with you. 

I will also have the statistics of how many miles, steps, floors walked at that time. Preliminary results are very high....

We are leaving the hotel in 45 minutes. We'll see you at the Molokai Airport shortly before 6:00 pm Saturday night! Aloha and see you all soon!