I feel like I’ve been lazy. I haven’t done much work on my project this week. I have been playing Guitar Hero, reading a little bit, and goofing around on my computer. I can’t seem to get motivated, so I decided maybe it was my brain telling me I needed to take a break from it. So I have been. I do need to get to work on it soon, or else I will be pressed to finish on time. I’m just glad I had worked on it so hard in June. I think I am about 70% finished with it.
We are going to Salem, Massachusetts next week: somewhere I have always wanted to visit for English teacher geek reasons. It will be so much fun teaching The Crucible this year after my visit! Plus we will swing by Concord and visit my friend Ha and see Walden. Last time I visited, it was frozen over. It will be interesting to see it in the summer. I can’t remember if I mentioned it on this blog or not, but I won this trip in a sweepstakes, if you can believe that. I’m not a particularly “lucky” person, or I don’t view myself that way anyway, but every once in a while I enter sweepstakes thinking it takes a minute or two, and the worst thing that happens is you don’t ever get that minute or two back and you don’t win a trip. It was online, so I wasn’t even out of a stamp. Well, I won. I know, right? No one wins those things. Here is my package:
It is the Map of True Places Sweepstakes for Brunonia Barry’s newest book, The Map of True Places.
Here is what’s included:
- 2 signed copies of The Map of True Places
- 2 paperback copies of The Lace Reader (my review is here)
- 2 nights at the Salem Waterfront Hotel and Suites
- a copy of America’s Membership Libraries
- dinner for 2 at Sixty2 on Wharf
- dinner for 2 at the Hawthorne Hotel
- a year’s membership to the Salem Athenæneum
- a cruise on the schooner Fame for 4
- 2 adult and 2 child tickets to the Salem Witch Museum
- 2 adult admissions to the House of Seven Gables
- 2 adult tickets for the Salem Trolley
- 2 tickets for the City View Trolley Tours in Boston
- 4 one-way tickets for the Salem Ferry to Boston
- 2 general admission passes to the Peabody Essex Museum
- 2 guest passes for a tour at any museum from Historic New England
- $500 toward travel expenses
I’ve actually been using Evernote to plan the trip. Really handy! I haven’t used Evernote very much for myself before planning this trip. We are driving because airfare is just too expensive, and we are also taking two kids, so we will need to pay their way, but you really can’t beat it!
photo credit: amber in norfolk
I am so impressed with your website and so grateful for your work. Thank you.
Thanks! You are welcome.
Congratulations! That win was definitely worth your minute…and really makes up for whatever other time you've ever spent entering contests, right? I'm sure you guys will have an awesome time. And no feeling guilty about not working! You deserve a lengthy break. 🙂
I am so looking forward to the trip, and I really hope I get better. I've got something—of course, the minute I plan to go somewhere. Thanks for your permission to take a break. I needed it.
Have a blast! When I taught 11th grade English, I brought my students to Salem every year. I live in Eastern New York State, though, so a four hour bus ride was easy to plan. We always visited the Witch Museum and The House of Seven Gables, took the trolley tour, walked to the wharf, and usually were able to enjoy a haunted house (we always planned our trip around Halloween).
Check out the Ye Olde Candy Store near the House of Seven Gables. The Hawthorne Hotel is awesome, too. The Old Burying Ground is a must see. If you take the trolley tour, the tourguide will give you a complete history of the town/village.
ENJOY!! 🙂
Thanks for all the advice. Some of the things you mentioned we have tickets to do already. The candy store sounds great. I would love the see the Old Burying Ground. We have dinner at the Hawthorne Hotel. The hotel where we are staying is on the wharf. Thanks again!
I'm so jealous! I never got the opportunity to visit Salem when I was teaching American Lit. I still would love to go there one day. Although "The Crucible" is fiction, it brought those moments of time to life for me and my students.
I'm really excited about it. I haven't taught American lit. for a few years but will next year, and it will be exciting to talk about my trip with students.