Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts

Last lobster.

We spent the next week in the upper northeastern corner of Massachusetts in the ocean-side town of Salisbury Beach.  The weather was awesome the entire week.  Few clouds, wonderful blue skies, temperatures in the high 70’s or low 80’s the entire time.  Picture us on our last day at, where else, a lobster pound, eating (what else-lobster) outside, on the river, in short sleeve t-shirts; really a perfect day.  Earlier in the week, we had the same experience at a harbor-side restaurant, where I had some of the best fried shrimp I’ve ever had (apparently shrimp and crab were not out of season in Massachusetts as I had crab cakes and fresh crab at other times in addition to this shrimp dish!).

Great Shrimp on the harbor!

True to form, as soon as we arrived and got “the 5^th” setup, we went to a cemetery.  Pat and I both have ancestors that arrived in and settled this area in the 1630’s (yes, right after the Mayflower arrived!).   

First Burying Ground in Newbury, MA circa 1635 on land
donated by Pat's ancestors.

We figure, our ancestors were very probably neighbors, but so far, we haven’t found any common ancestors.  We know his ancestors were peace loving Quakers (and some of his other ancestors were Mennonites) and my ancestors were out to conquer every frontier at whatever cost (some of them fought in wars I had never even heard of until I started researching them)!  Not the most compatible types…hmmm.  Just to be consistent, we spent a large part of our last day searching for and wandering through amazingly old cemeteries.  These cemeteries are beautiful, quiet, and peaceful.  It’s a really unique experience to stand in a place where, you know; your ancestors stood almost 400 years ago.

Quaker cemetery from the late 1600's.