Massachusetts

Sara, Clare and I returned from a week in Massachusetts last week. I meant to write this earlier than I did, but first jet lag kicked my ass, then I got the most evil cold that left me sleeping for about 18 hours a day, shivering and sweating. It’s been a journey! Speaking of, why are Aer Lingus planes so uncomfortable? Anyway…

We kicked off the trip with four days in Boston, and managed to pack in so many literary spots. I tried really hard to be conservative with the books that I bought, only picking up the ones that really spoke to me. First book shop that we went to was the beautiful East End Books on the Seaport, next door to the Museum of Contemporary Art. What a hidden gem! It was airy, carefully selected, and had some gorgeous vinyl and stationery to boot. You also can’t beat the harbour views.

Even on another continent, we’re always repping our fave, the West Kirby Bookshop.

Next up was Beacon Hill Books. It’s a stunning spot, and impeccably decorated, but it just felt so overcrowded and claustrophobic to me. I ended up sat on the ground floor with Sara to try and get some semblance of oxygen without actually buying anything. It’s a shame cos it’s adorable, and I really don’t know what the solution is. The staff were also lovely.

Then, definitely the book shop highlight of the trip, we went to the Harvard Bookstore. If Beacon Hill Books was a bit stressful, Harvard was open and airy, and felt like the most relaxed shopping experience. As well as having an amazing selection of newer releases, they had loads of discounted overstock, and I managed to pick up some bargains, as well as some full priced gems. The selection of fiction and non-fiction alike was fantastic, and I wish I’d had the stamina to stay here longer. It’s probably for the best that I didn't.

The next day, we went on a little adventure day to Concord. We stepped off the train and thought “what the fuck have we done?!”, but then we were smart enough to find the town itself, and were filled with relief. What a joyous place! We spent some time reading in the beautiful library, visited the local book shop, met some dogs at a sports shop that I needed to visit to get a baseball cap because I’m too pale, and had a gorgeous lunch. We then went to the beautiful Louisa May Alcott Orchard House and had a fabulous tour. Then, we headed to Walden Pond, and had a gorgeous chat with the man in the gift shop, before visiting the recreation of Thoreau’s cabin and the pond itself. This day ended up being an unexpected highlight for me. I’ve never read Walden, but I picked up a lovely copy that I’m really excited to read. We also visited Sleepy Hollow cemetery and saw Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Alcotts and Thoreau, as well as Nathanial Hawthorne.

Then it was time to head to Salem. I really don’t have words for how special Salem was. I’ve been leaning into my spiritual beliefs more than ever in the past twelve to eighteen months, and it felt meaningful to be in a city where my philosophy was the mainstream. We did psychic readings, tarot readings, aura photographs, and learned an incredible amount of history.

In terms of books, I picked up some wonderful books on astrology and tarot, as well as some gorgeous editions of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables at the house itself. It was amazing learning more about Nathaniel Hawthorne, and our tour guide Jennifer gave us some delicious gossip about him and Herman Melville. Did you know that Moby Dick was dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne? He really was quite dreamy.

This is likely to be my last big holiday for a while, as I’m now going into intensive saving mode so that I can buy a house (terrifying, but exciting). You can see the books I bought on the trip, as well as my tarot and oracle cards below. Also, none of us got charged extra for our cases being overweight! The vvitches win again!

Thank you Clare and Sara for letting me steal your photos since I’m so bad at taking my own. Go follow their bookstagrams @literarianlife and @sazloureads.