July 3, 2024 – Marblehead, MA
Breaking camp early, we were on the road about 8:00. A stop at Chick-fil-A in Watertown, NY, for breakfast was followed by an long but easy return drive to Marblehead, MA. There we set up, again, in front of Sandy’s cousin’s house. There’s been quite a change since we left 3½ weeks ago. All the remaining trash is gone from the house and removal of the old wall-to-wall carpet revealed hardwood flooring in the living, dining and family rooms. We’re here to experience a “small town” Fourth of July celebration, to finish getting the house on the market & spend some time with Joanne.
Marblehead has a reputation for nice fireworks on the Fourth but a small disaster meant they had to cancel this year. During the middle of the night a fire broke out on the barge from which they were to be set off. No one was hurt and the fireworks had not yet been placed on board so that was good news. But the fire marshal wouldn’t permit the barge to be used until the cause of the fire had been determined. So, no fireworks in Marblehead this year. Bummer! And, we learned that last year’s fireworks were canceled due to heavy fog!!
July 4 – Marblehead, MA
In Marblehead and many other towns in the area they don’t celebrate the Fourth with normal parades. They have a “Parade of Horribles”. The parade is a satirical tradition begun in the mid-1800s as a reaction to the formal Independence Day parades held by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. The notion was to dress up in masks and costumes, mocking the formal celebrations put on by self-important people in power.
The Marblehead parade was very popular with kids and families dressed up in costume. The downtown was really crowded with enthusiastic supporters. It’s a fun tradition that gets kids involved.
Acting on the advice of a neighbor, we watched Salem’s fireworks from Marblehead. Salem’s harbor, which separates the two towns, has a large dinghy dock with a parking lot on the Marblehead side. We got there early enough to snag a parking space and joined a hundred or more others out on the dock to watch the show. It was a bit long distance but pretty nonetheless. Also visible on the horizon were five or so other displays from nearby towns.
July 5, 2024 – Marblehead, MA
Our day started with breakfast at Lulu’s Bakery and Pantry in Salem. Besides their baked goods they do a bang-up job on breakfast. Then it was off to get haircuts, kind of a fun “his & hers” appointment.
The Marblehead Festival of Arts is an annual event over the week of the Fourth. Sandy walked some of the exhibits downtown while Bill dealt with his failed phone. It had been acting “hinky” for a few days and finally completely gave up the ghost. He was eligible for an upgrade but the new phone had to be shipped. The trick, when you keep moving from place to place, is having a shipping address. We finally figured out that UPS stores will, for $5, accept small packages that you can pick up. Figuring the delivery schedule, we chose an appropriate location for the delivery. Hope it works out!
Dinner was shrimp cocktail from bagged, frozen shrimp and a “Salad by Sandy”.
Postscript: Our friend, Mal, felt compelled to point out that we neglected to mention that Marblehead was the site of Skipper Ireson’s Ride, immortalized in the poem of the same name by John Greenleaf Whittier. Among his many fine attributes, Mal is a wonderful repository of funny stories, poetry and silly ditties.