2013 Sister Roadtrip - Day 1 in Salem

We got up the next day, hit the fitness center in the hotel and did my run for the day. After that was all done we got ready to hit the town. We stopped at this cute little coffee shop Jaho Coffee & Tea, and got some coffee and bagels.

After breakfast and some much needed caffeine we hit the street to try and meet up with the Trolley. We realized that the stores do not open until 11am at this point. One of the stores close to the hotel sold tickets for the the trolley but they were not open yet. We decided to walk to the downtown area and head for the Trolley Depot.

This is a picture of Pickering Wharf the marina right behind the hotel.

Heading toward the Trolley Depot we bumped into this guy!

We then passed the Old Burying Point Cemetery.

The top of this headstone would make an awesome tattoo!

Around the corner from the cemetery was the memorial site for the witches that were executed. This was a plaque that was in front of the memorial to explain the story and list of the victims.

The writing on the ground right before you enter are phrases some of the victims said before they were hung.

There were little benches that stuck out from the wall that had all the victims names engraved in them.

This guy was the only one pressed to death. They basically laid him on a board, put another board on top of him and then just kept putting rocks on top to make him confess. From the story told later at the Salem Witch Museum the guy kept telling them to put on more weight.

I am not really sure what this house represents but I liked it and it was right on the corner between the cemetery and the memorial.

There was a red line painted on the sidewalks to follow, that lead to all the places to visit.

In front of the Trolley Depot waiting on the Trolley!

Yay the Trolley is here!

Our plan was to take the trolley completely around once to hear the tour first. When we got on the trolley it was packed and ended up having to stand. Standing wasn't all that comfortable for a shorty like me. The bar to hold onto was above my head and I could barely reach it. We decided to get off at the House of Seven Gables and check that out.

We went in and signed up for the tour of the house. They would not let us take pictures of the inside of the house. The lady that was giving the tour talked pretty fast, so I don't remember a lot of what she said about the history of the house. Just that it was built and owned by many different upper class people of the time. They spent lots of money changing the design of the house several times. Also Nathaniel Hawthorne stayed in the house to write his story about the house.

The decor of the interior was very interesting. There was some wild color wallpapers and secret staircases. 

I just loved this creepy tree on the grounds!

My sister and I behind the house!

The Sun was so bright I had to take a picture. The temperature was a beautiful 80 degrees.

The beautiful view from the back of the grounds.

This was the house that Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in. The house was not originally on the grounds of the House of Seven Gables. They had it moved to the grounds by a big truck.

We walked across the street to the Ye Olde Pepper Companie candy store. We went to look at what they had and didn't want to buy anything at this moment so that the chocolate would not melt while we were walking around. This is such a great little place.

Went back to the Trolley stop to wait on the trolley and I saw these trees and loved the color of them.

We caught the trolley and was able to finally sit down. I ended up sitting on the inside seat so I didn't get very many photos. The tour guides on these trolleys are very interesting, telling the history of the areas as we pass them. This lighthouse is on Winter Island, which is a camping site and marina.

We also passed through a neighborhood of house that were absolutely amazing. I would love to live up there. We also passed this beach called Dead Horse Beach. The story behind this was pretty gross. The guide explained how when the tide goes out the water will go down 10 feet. Well on this beach after the tide went down they would bury their dead horses. The weirdest part is people were actually wading in the water. I don't know if I would be able to do that knowing the story of it.

We pretty much finished the tour and got back off the trolley in the main area and decided to do some shopping.

The statue of Samantha from Bewitched.

My sister and the lady at this store Crow Haven Corner talked me into buying this witch hat. It is absolutely gorgeous, and handmade by one of the local artists.

After buying the hat it was getting late and most of the shops were closing. We decided to head back to the hotel and unload our bags. We then decided to go get some dinner. We ended up at a place called Longboard Cafe. I got a Buffalo chicken flatbread, my sister got an italian sandwich with these pickled vegetables and pita chips. We also shared a bottle of wine. A great way to end the day. The guy that waited on us was super nice. We asked him what a good place to eat lunch the next day would be, either a place called Witch's Brew or In A Pig's Eye. He said he would be working at Witch's Brew for lunch time the next day. 

All the people we came across have just been super nice. Well with some wine in us and feeling good we headed back to the hotel to get some rest for the next day.

Day 2 in Salem to come...

WIP Hummingbirds #1

I am starting a new painting. Well a couple of new paintings, in my mind they are a set. You might have seen these before in My Sketchbook. I transferred the sketches to canvas. The size of each canvas is 8x8. I am thinking about doing these in oil. Painting will start next Wednesday!

I wanted to draw a hummingbird because my Mom just loves them. I couldn't decide if I wanted one with open wings our from a side view, so I drew each. After I finished them they made me think of my Nana also. I have been thinking about maybe getting these tattooed on my chest to keep them both close to me. Another neat thing is my Mom's birthstone is Emerald and Nana's is Peridot, both being a green. I thought I would paint them to represent these colors.

2013 Sister Roadtrip - First Night in Salem

We drove what was supposed to be almost 4 hours that turned into over 5 hours. We got stuck in Boston Rush Hour traffic, man I thought traffic down here was bad. The scenery driving through Connecticut was just beautiful.

We finally got to Salem and checked into the hotel. We stayed at a place called Salem Waterfront Hotel & Marina. This place was amazing, the staff was super friendly and helpful and the rooms were gorgeous. After we checked in we decided to go walk around near the hotel. It was kind of a bummer, I didn't realize all the shops closed at 5pm. Then we realize they don't open until 11am in the morning. We walked down by the marina and saw the Friendship of Salem ship.

We walked by the local liquor store and I found the name of the place amusing.

We started feeling hungry and ended up at a place called Capt's. It's a seafood place with a very nice atmosphere. I got the Lobster Pizza and my sister got the a Buffalo Chicken Dip. She also got a Bloody Mary and I got a Captain's Cider.

After dinner we walked around a bit more to check out the area some more. I loved how dog friendly this place is.

One of the storefronts had such a great setup I had to get a picture.

Came across this cop car and noticed the emblem had a witch on it.

We decided to call it a night and head back to the Hotel to get some rest. I really liked the imprint on the sewer cover.

I have a bunch more photos to show, so I think I will break up the Salem part of the Trip into each day we were there. So there should be 2 more posts to come...

2013 Sister Road Trip - Part 1 - New York

Sometime between December of last year and January of this year, I mentioned to my sister that I wanted to do a Road Trip up to see family in New York and then over to Salem, Massachusetts. My sister was on board and wanted to go with me. We started planning and getting overly anxious about the trip as it got closer. The plan was to go pick her up in Tennessee and then head up north.

I left Florida, Saturday August 31st to head up to Tennessee.

I ended up just north of the Florida State Line before I stopped for lunch. I stopped at a BBQ place called The Smokin Pig! I just got a Sweet Tea and a Pulled Pork Sandwich. They had the Carolina BBQ Sauce there, which I have never had before, and it was delicious. I wish I had taken a picture of this sandwich, it was huge. I just love all the huge billboards as your driving through Georgia.

As I was getting closer to my sisters house I came across this set of crosses. They were massive!

I got to my sister's house about 6:30pm. This was the first time I made it up to see my sister's house since she moved up there about 3 years ago. She showed me around the house and then we sat on the back porch watching two hummingbirds fight for the feeder. We ate some pizza and hung out some more, then I went to bed before 10pm to rest for the drive the next day.

We got up and was on the road by 7:15am. Driving through the mountains was just amazing to me, they were so majestic looking. I did not take any pictures on the way to New York. Another thing about the mountains, I am not used to the elevation, my ears kept popping the whole way. We finally made it to our hotel in Poughkeepsie, New York around 10:30pm. We got checked in at the hotel and then met Dad, my brother, and little sister at one of the diners for some food. I gave the Tinkerbell 

Painting to my little sister before we left the diner. She loved it! I should have taken a picture of her with it.

We went back to the hotel and finally got some sleep. When we got up the next morning we decided to go for a jog on this walkway bridge that wasn't to far from the hotel. The bridge went right across the Hudson River. It was kind of a dreary day.

After our jog we went back to the hotel and got ready to see the family. We did some driving around to see some of the sites with my brother and little sister.  We drove by to see the train station.

We decided to go see our Nana's grave since my sister hadn't been to see it yet. After that we went to eat some lunch and decided on Red Robin. I have never eaten there before, I got the Burning Love Burger and it was great. 

My brother works at a chinese restaurant so we went there to meet his boss. I was telling his boss that I have never had a Bubble Tea before, so he made me one.

We went back to see Dad and drove down to see the house that we lived in when we were born. I took some pictures of the flowers in front of the house. After that Dad took us to meet his friend Mandy, she was a wonderful lady.

That evening we went to another diner for dinner. I just love the diners up there. We don't have anything like that in Florida. They are amazing!

We decided to go have a few drinks and play some pool at one of my brother's favorite places. The place is called Georgio's. I did not take any pictures while we were there, not really sure why. We didn't end up staying out to late because I was super tired.

When we got up the next morning, we checked out of the hotel. Then went to visit with family. Our brother took us to go get copies of our birth certificates, just so we had extras on hand. Then we met Dad and my little sister out for lunch, at another diner. My big sister took a picture of Dad, my brother, little sister, and myself. My little sister was being silly. Then we said our goodbyes and headed to Salem.

Salem to come in the next part...

August Adventures

Wow I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted on here. Now that things are easing up at the workplace I am hoping to become more active on here. I thought I would start by just updating on a few things that happened this past August.

Some exciting news, I finally bought my domain name. Now the blog is set to the web address www.creativelytara.com. I am super excited about this, I think it makes it easier for everybody to find me.

Earlier in the month the boyfriend and I headed to our favorite Japanese Museum, The Morikami. During the Summer they do an event called Sushi and a Stroll on the first Friday of every month. We decided to go check it out. The gardens are just gorgeous, even on such a dreary day. We also had some Sushi. Then checked out the local taiko drummers, Fushu Daiko. If you ever get a chance to check out these taiko drummers, they are AMAZING!

I usually stay pretty quiet on Facebook, and just enjoy reading most of the posts. One day a page that I follow posted a picture of a glowing cloud, and I responded to what caused it. She ended up writing a blog post about it and about my response. I truly enjoyed what she wrote! Check out her blog at Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy and the post she wrote about me here!

One Friday evening when I got home from work, the boyfriend surprised me with a New York Giants Tervis Tumbler. I have been wanting one for awhile. I am so excited that football is back.

Here is my monthly Florida Sunset!!! It just seems like I am always taking a picture of the sun.

Later on in the month a group of friends and family met at an Irish Restaurant and Bar to see one of my favorite Irish Folk Singers, Cahir O'Doherty. I have been going to see him play with my family since I was I think right around 19.

I have still been running and trying to train for my 5K that is in December. I am definitely improving. I just need to get on and buy my entry into the race. I plan on trying to get that done this weekend.

Other exciting news and an upcoming blog post to look out for, I went on a Road Trip with my sister this past week. I think I will make that a post of its own, because I took a bunch of photos and would like to share them.

I should be getting back to my art and painting. I need to stick to a better schedule of posting. I feel I need to start sketching more to get better at my drawing, so I am trying to work on a schedule for that. I have ideas in my head to redesign the blog and need to try and get on that also. So I have a lot of work ahead of me and need to get rid of the procrastination monster that has been hanging around me!