A Taste of History... and of Sushi.

'A small girl fell sick in 1692. Her “fitts” — convulsions, contortions, and outbursts of gibberish — baffled everyone. Other girls soon manifested the same symptoms. Their doctor could suggest but one cause: Witchcraft. That grim diagnosis launched a Puritan inquisition that took 25 lives, filled prisons with innocent people, and frayed the soul of a Massachusetts community... Salem.' --excerpt from National Geographic

'14 dates you should never forget: January 1692. The kickoff to the Salem witch trials. Nineteen people were hanged in a climate of war, economic strife, religious intolerance, and teenage boredom. Of course, something like that could never happen today.' --excerpt from Men's Health magazine

Friends, on Friday, October 27, 2006, I was there. Granted, I was in Salem, Massachusetts, 314 years after the infamous Salem Witch Trials, but still. I was there.

I had a meeting at Mullen -- an advertising agency in Wenham, MA -- and instead of driving back to Boston straight away, my colleague Liberty Carras and I decided to take the road less traveled and venture to Salem on our way south to say that we were in this famous place. While it seemed like any other charming NE coastal town, there was still *something* about being there that was flat-out awesome. And on Halloween weekend? Are you kidding me?!

Of course, it was a work trip, so we drove past Burying Point Cemetery, through town, by The Witch House, then set up camp in a local Starbucks to get online and work. Our short-stay at Starbucks turned in to a long one and we had to get out of dodge in more of a hurry than we were anticipating. As such, our dream of hitting Salem's highlights were for naught and we only got photos from the car -- riotously laughting at how ridiculous our photo journal would be. Still, that didn't deter our shot of the back of the city bus, the Pilgrim Cafe, a decorated house, and any sign we could find that just might have the town name in it, just to prove that we were there.

The Boston trip finished with a night out with the Cingular team (from left, me, Alison, Amanda, John [can you say Jimmy Fallon?], Nicole and Liberty) from Digitas Boston at Douzo, a hip sushi restaurant in Boston's Back Bay. It was a great night altogether with great food and even better company. I discovered that Nicole and my sister (and friends Jeremy Hendon and Lindsey Adkins and Josh Lingel) share the same 11/20 birthday. I also learned that John bartends part-time for fun, Amanda is a huge reader and Alison is a runner, loves italian, and lives by the motto of "Just Be".

I'm enjoying Boston more with each visit and look forward to traveling there with even greater frequency -- up to once/week is now the goal!