[/caption]Early morning clouds give way to sunny skies as the high speed ferry whisks us from Salem to Boston Harbor in 45 minutes. A brief subway ride south takes us to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of U Mass Boston. The museum is located on a promontory overlooking Dorchester Bay with the Boston skyline as a backdrop.
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[/caption]One of the most interesting exhibits is the first televised presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. This exhibit explains how television forever changed the dynamics of presidential politics. The most intense exhibit involves 30 minutes of actual film footage recorded during the Cuban Missle Crisis, which underscores how this test of wills could easily have resulted in nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The exhibit on the death of President Kennedy is simply but powerfully expressed through Walter Cronkite's announcement on CBS News.
After a stroll through Boston Commons and downtown historic sites, we walk through the North End, Boston's Little Italy. The density of Italian eateries here is incredible. Even more incredible is the fact that all of them seem to be filled to overflowing with customers.
We notice that many visitors in the neighborhood are carrying small white boxes bearing the words "Mike's Pastries". Our curiosity forces us to investigate. When we finally find Mike's Pastries, there is a que of would-be customers snaked around the block. We decide to forego pastries at Mike's in the interest of catching the 8 PM high speed ferry back to Salem.
Albeit on a smaller scale than Boston, Salem is humming with activity on a Saturday night. Clear skies portend favorable weather for our departure from Salem in the morning.
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