Getting in that Christmas Mood

I had such a nice, Christmassy day today, with a group of good friends, with whom I went to Salem, MA (yeah, witch city, who knew that it existed the other eleven months of the year, right?). Christmas in Salem is a tour of multiple historic houses decorated for the holidays, and although my hips are currently informing me that it was a lot of walking and standing and walking, it was also so, so beautiful. Some of the houses we saw are museum-like, but others are actual homes of real people, as well as one that is a sort of boarding house run by the Woman's Friend Society and another that is almost a rest home, the Brookhouse Home for Women, and when we saw some of the residents sitting in a lounge area while we were leaving, I wanted to sit down with them and talk knitting. One of my friends is working at a nursing home; perhaps in the new year I will ask her if we can visit and she can point me to a knitter who might want to chat.

Anyway, you can read all about the houses and things here; the history was very interesting, though at times presented in a bit more depth than I was interested in--I want to look more than be told about--but anyway, it was a neat experience and one I recommend, if you're local and want to mark your calendar for next year.

And of course, I took pictures. You knew I did, right? The usual assortment of randomness. This first one is actually a bird that flew into the tree across the street while I was waiting to be picked up. My friend tells me it's a woodpecker. I can confirm that it was, in fact, pecking the wood.

We had a really nice lunch in the restaurant at the Peabody Essex museum, good food and not at all rushed, and I had to take my camera and go back to the ladies room after I saw this little graffito.

Another place we had thought of eating had nice signs outside:

I approve of their vocabulary choices.

All right, to the houses. Awesome circular stairs:

I didn't ask what these were (the guide in that spot was very involved in telling us about a clock), but don't they look like metal clogs (or some kind of footwear), for stepping out on ice to pick up the newspaper?

They were just inside the front door.

A decorative bit at the end of a mantel:

Lovely view down a side street:

Then the next one had a vivid reminder that Salem is on the water.

Oh, right, Masts. Ocean, and all.

Three pineapples mean we were trebly welcome, right? I also liked the lime wreath. Fun and different.

Masts again (the same masts, in fact), out the custom house window.

And a tree that laughs at your fences.

It captures a slice of the day, anyway! I didn't take any pictures at our last stop, being too busy nibbling and noshing. Fortuitously, Harbor Sweets, which is normally closed on Sundays, was having an open house, and we got there just in time. Mmmmmm!

Now, I'm going to watch the Bruins game, but before I go, I wanted to share this. Earlier, I was paying some bills online, and had to laugh when I saw my totals. If only I'd charged a penny more somewhere!

I mean, really!