Traveling When the Seasons Shift

It's no secret that I love fall; it's my favorite season by far, with late summer in a close second place. Roughly the 90 days leading up to American Thanksgiving (not Canadian Thanksgiving, which actually happens in October) are the best part of each year. It's the dessert served after the previous eight months of main course.

There are traditions, of course, of that transition from summer to fall. My first pumpkin spice latte, the first time I see leaves turn, the first chilly morning where I want to stay under the covers longer. I can tell folks around me are getting anxious about making the best of "what's left" of summer. Little do they seem to know they're entering the best of summer. I think the hectic back-to-school season, with kids in class and young people heading off to college, tricks some people into believing summer has ended early.

As I wrote in my camping thread, this can lead to more intimate experiences with summer: being there at the end of the season for a campground or a restaurant, or when the beach towns lose their seasonal residents and only those not in a rush remain.

Late last month I was in Massachusetts and traveled along the coast to the summer havens that were feeling distinctly quiet at the end of September.

The towns were still active, but you could sense them winding down. Tourist shuttles had stopped running, and many attractions had limited their hours. And the trails were blissfully cool and quiet. It's likely as close to a private experience as one can get along the Massachusetts coast, with easy parking and mostly empty streets.

Further down the coast, in Salem, Massachusetts, the activity was inverted. October is Salem's high season, so I arrived just before the peak. My visit coincided with a food truck festival, which I gleefully took advantage of to get some lobster (lob-stah, according to the locals) in both roll and chowder form.

Aside from the food trucks, I also stopped by Ledger, an upscale American restaurant in Salem with great food, excellent service, and not nearly enough sound dampening. Sadly, the lack of thought given to lowering noise levels in restaurants in the US is an endemic issue.

Given my love of this season, it should come as no shock that I have an affinity for Halloween, and for bringing more color and activity into the shortening days. It no doubt helps that orange is my favorite color.

There is an awkwardness to Salem, MA. Those killed during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 didn't practice witchcraft and were the victims of religious zealotry and superstition. Today, the city embraces the supernatural theme so strongly that it largely drowns out the lesson and warning of the Witch Trials themselves.

Also in town is the Peabody Essex Museum, the oldest continuously operating museum in the US. It boasts a massive collection of Asian art and artifacts, including those of the East India Marine Society. It's well worth a visit.