Seven Gables and Peabody Essex Museum

    

     The house of Seven Gables reminded me of the movie.   I kept expecting Nathaniel Hawthowe to ask us to leave his house. The part of the house that had me concerned was the secret passage.  The stairs were very narrow and steep.  I found the room exciting since I had never been in such a room.  I learned why the house was called the seven gables.  Each peak of the roof made a gable.  According to our guide, Nathaniel Hawthowe was very depressed throughout his life.  This is a reminder that people of any period can suffer from depression and cause turmoil in their lives as well as their families.

     The next stop was the Peabody Essex Museum.  The artifacts were amazing.  I found the ship’s mastheads remarkable.  I could not get over how big each one was.  I asked a staff member why the masthead had not started to decay.  The answer is the crew would take the masthead off after leaving port and put the masthead back on before reaching the next port.  One purpose of a masthead, was most of the sailors could not read and the masthead helped the sailor know which ship was his.  I also enjoyed the Native American selection of the museum.  I could find similarities and differences with the tribes in the Southwest and the tribes of the Northeast.  The artwork was just astounding!! 

Dolores Ballejo