Back from Salem
Jason and I got back from Salem last night around midnight. Much more successful attempt at a vacation than this year's trip to the Outer Banks. There were a few down notes, but overall, a good time was had.
Tuesday
It did start rather inauspiciously, though. About four hours into the trip up on Tuesday, our train was involved in a fatality. A woman lay on the other side of the tracks, but the Southbound train (a local train) was able to stop just in time. Our Northbound one, which had not already begun to slow, as we were not scheduled to stop at that station, had no such luck. Our train was stuck there for two hours while a preliminary investigation was done, with no power. People were definitely getting cagey. The Amtrak staff handled things about as well as can be expected, but cabin fever was certainly setting in by the time a second train arrived to transfer us northward. So, Tuesday, Jason and I were in transit for roughly 13 hours, and arrived in Salem pretty tired and worn.
Our first order of business after checking in a The Salem Inn was to seek out food that didn't come in a wrapper, so we headed to a local Irish-themed pub, O'Neill's. Friendly service, tasty steak tips. I had a great apple cider cocktail with rum and cinnamon sugar. We had to stop at a local grocer to get Jason some backup sugar in case he got low in the night, and in doing so we met our very first Pagan-since-the-dawn-of-time resident. He was very nice, but also very "I have been Pagan since the dawn of time, so what I'm saying is FACT." But he also seemed pleased that I actually knew what I was talking about as we chit-chatted about the Craft, so overall it was a positive interaction, if a little strange.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, our first order of business after breakfast was to trek down to the House of Seven Gables for a tour of the home by a very knowledgeable guide (who we later saw leading one of the town's omnipresent ghost tours). It was a lovely home-- as someone who enjoys history, I very much love touring period homes, because it really helps me place that history into a visual context.
Afterwards, we wandered the pedestrian mall on Essex St, which is occasionally the center of the town's month-long Halloween celebration. Busking is big on Essex St, and by "busking," I mean, "I am wearing a costume! Tip me!" In a sea of folks also wearing costumes. Very strange. The closest thing I could compare it to was if the playtrons at RenFest expected tips from the rest of the faire-going populace. For just standing there in costume.
Essex St was also Woo Woo central-- you really can't spit in Salem without hitting a Pagan shop, but many of them are concentrated along Essex St. We didn't set foot in Hex, because Christian Day frankly makes my skin crawl, and many of the others blended together, including the famed Crow Haven Corner. The shop I liked the most on Essex St (aside from the gourmet foods shop, Pamplemousse), was The Coven's Cottage, which smelled divine and boasted all manner of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. But still, most of the Pagan shops sold the same things from the same distributors, and it was hard to tell them apart. We also did a long walk on Wednesday to look at the historic houses, and stopped in Melita Fiore for coffee and macarons. All in all, we averaged about 6 miles a day, walking.
Dinner on Wednesday was at Turner's, a seafood place built on or near the site of Bridget Bishop's 1692 tavern and apple orchard. The food was okay-- we had their famed lobster chowder, and I had tuna while Jason had steamers, plus drinks. We had a twosome of servers-- a veteran and a trainee. The trainee was great-- happy and bubbly. As for the older server-- she was clearly not happy that we were not ordering from the expensive side of the menu. But I had no desire to overeat, and in any case, we had no place to store leftovers, so suck it, judgey lady. Even our relatively moderate meal cost $90! Jesus. And also the older server snidely asked us if we had seen any "interesting folks" around town. Lady, I have pink hair down to my ass. Maybe dial the snobbishness back a little. The other thing about Turner's is that the heat was set to just short of infernal. When the anemic, always-cold chick is contemplating stripping down to a tank top, it is TOO DAMN HOT. So, overall, not the best experience at Turner's.
Thursday
Thursday morning, we did more walking about and people-watching, and we stopped at The Witch House, the pretty misleadingly-named home of witch trial judge Jonathan Corwin. Another stunning 17th century home-turned-museum, and the only one left in Salem with direct ties to the hysteria.
Eventually, we made our way down towards Pickering Wharf, where we had lunch at Finz. Such a delightful menu! For appetizers, Jason and I split a dozen of their wasabi/rasberry Stoli oysters. They were so bright and tasty! For our second course, we did a baked cheese wheel (brie + goat cheese) with a cinnamon-pumpkin spread and toasted walnuts. The warm honey-wheat bread was delicious, too. For the third course, I had the vanilla bean salad (arugula, cranberries, pecans, vanilla bean vinaigrette) and Jason had a turkey & brie sandwich. Both were delicious. So, our meal at Finz solidly beat the one at Turner's, AND was nearly $40 cheaper. Finz: recommended. Other snacks that day included more macarons at Caramel, including a truly delicious raspberry macaron with rose jam. Mmmm.
Thursday night we did our first tour, the Spellbound tour. Tour groups in Salem are HUGE, averaging about 60 tourists per guide. The one thing they do have going for them is that most of the guides are mic'ed, so I didn't have problems hearing. The Spellbound tour was a mix of history and haunts, weaving together tales of the sites where historians best-guess the events of 1692 took place (many of which are now parking lots!) with stories of paranormal activities reported on those sites since. The guide we had was engaging and funny, and it was overall a pretty decent tour, despite the crowded streets.
We finished off Thursday with a small pizza at The Flying Saucer Pizza Co., a sci-fi themed pizzeria with really cool pop culture-named pies & drinks. A cool stop for a low-key meal.
We were woken at 3am by very loud drunks singing on the stairs right outside of our room, the jerks. DEFINITELY a downside to an inn that has no staff on site between 10pm and 8am.
Friday
Friday, we did some shopping, wandering down Artist's Alley and other commercial streets after a quick walk around Gallows Hill on the edges of town. We got some art prints from local artists, I picked up a few gifts for Abby, and I stopped in a little bead shop where I grabbed some cool vintage beads that look like oyster shells encased in frosted glass. Shops to see: Witch City Wicks, Roost, The Barking Cat.
Not recommended: The Salem Witch Museum. Outdated (looks like it was last updated in about 1975), terrible sight lines, limited in scope of events, and containing a laughable second half aimed at dispelling myths about modern witches- which, while well-intentioned, was full of misinformation. I had to let out a cleansing exhalation of "Wicca is less than 100 years old, for fuck's sake!" as we cleared the doors. Skip it.
We grabbed a low-key lunch at The SandWitch and people-watched the throngs of folks going in and out of the Salem Wax Museum and a few of the other small "museums." I put "museum" in quotes because most of the "museums" in Salem are... not. Excepting The Peabody Essex Museum (fine art and a few preserved historical homes), the House of Seven Gables, and the Corwin House, most of the tourist "museums" are similar in tone to The Salem Witch Museum-- glorified dioramas with some shaky information.
Jason got his hair cut at Radiance Salon while I stopped in a nearby makeup shop, where I picked up a cool cream blush palette at a super discount (TheBalm's How 'Bout Them Apples). I've been looking for good cruelty-free cream blushes since I've decided to stop supporting Stila, and while the inside art on the palette is tacky as hell (shirtless cowboys), I plan to depot it and some of my other cream blushes into an empty palette. Win.
Since The Old Burying Point cemetery was right behind the salon, we stopped in to wander among the gravestones and peruse the Salem Witch Trials memorial. A beautiful memorial, but unfortunately lacking in proper remembrance for those innocent who died in the jails while they awaited trial. Really, that was my main issue with a lot of the memorials-- they really only counted the 20 victims who were actively executed, and not those who died due to criminal neglect.
We decided to grab an early dinner at an all-day breakfast place called The Ugly Mug. The place was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. I do NOT recommend it. First of all, I had to send back my pancakes because they were still liquid inside. My replacement waffle was fine, but about an hour after leaving, I began to show signs of food poisoning. I spent all of Friday night in bed or in the bathroom. Fuck The Ugly Mug, is what I'm saying. Jason got some pho broth into me, but it didn't stay in long. Still, it was tasty enough to say that I'd recommend the new Vietnamese place near Derby Square!
Saturday
Saturday, Jason and I did a LOT of walking-- we photographed Allison's house (aka The Ropes Mansion) and Max & Dani's house (now a private residence) from Hocus Pocus.
After a delicious meal at Passage To India and a nap back at the Inn, we headed out for a duo of walking tours.
The first was a strictly historical tour in its last year, The Salem Witch Trial Trail, given by Jim McAllister, an honest-to-goodness historian. He was engaging and funny. He did a great job of giving context to all of the info and showing how greed helped stoke the witch-hysteria flames that extreme deprivation had lit.
Between the tours, we had drinks and a snack at the Olde Main St Pub. Typical pub fare, but done well. Mostly notable for the front-row seat to some of the best people-watching in Salem. The Essex St spectacle was in full swing Saturday night, and it was great to be able to watch it all in a warm space. I did see a family try to bring THREE baby strollers in the elbow-to-elbow packed pub, and that made me laugh. The staff was slammed, but they handled it pretty well.
The second tour was a Salem Night Tour, which was so-so. Dominic, our tour guide was very engaging, but he kept having mic malfunctions and frankly by 11:30 when the tour concluded, I was tired and cold, so I'm probably not the best person to review it. He did, however, point out the mansion that Clue was based on (Parker Brothers being initially based in Salem), and also explained how the waterfront got pushed back nearly a mile by development, which is why a lot of the 1692 maps of trial-related sites are hard to interpret in the modern landscape.
Sunday
Sunday morning, we did some of the last-minute stuff we'd forgotten to do in the days previous. We stopped in HausWitch, where I picked up a tincture to help with some of the grief-related anxiety I've been dealing with. It was probably my favorite Pagan shop in Salem, mostly because it was clean, modern, and no-bullshit (at least, if you don't put Paganism wholesale in a "bullshit" bin).
We took one final trip down the pedestrian mall, where I stumbled upon a cabochon seller and picked up some labradorites and moonstone (of course). I am sad we didn't get to see Cry Innocent! The People Vs Bridget Bishop at the Town Hall (also a Hocus Pocus filming site!), because the actors drumming up the crowds were doing a great job. Alas. Next time.
By 1pm, we called a cab and headed back to Boston to catch the train, which was blessedly uneventful this time. I closed my eyes and listened to the NoSleep podcast for a good portion of the way, utterly exhausted and glad to be off my feet.
Most of my pictures from the trip are up at my Instagram! Holy cats, we did a lot.
As for other goings-on:
-- I made it to Faire once this season. I had a better time than expected (since I've been in a weird headspace lately), and it was nice to not be scrambling from one show to the next. Mostly, I wandered. It was exactly what I needed, along with good times with fun friends (Jen & Laura).
-- I attended a Witches' Tea Party at damejenn's, which was EXQUISITELY decorated. The refreshments provided were well-chosen and delicious. The company was delightful. I made fun cupcakes. Again, pics at Instagram.
-- I've been working on getting a handle on my situational depression and anxiety. I only had one anxiety attack the whole time I was in Salem. Part of that was knowing that the kitties were in excellent hands. Abby is a godsend. But Nox is a bit thinner than I'm used to seeing him, and he's due for a vet appointment in a week, so I'm trying to manage the anxiety that comes from that. We had a great snuggle earlier today, and he's still eating, even if he's being a super fussbutt about it. Good thoughts appreciated.
-- The next two weeks are going to be mostly me completing the next FaerieMag order. It's smaller this month, probably because they ordered so much stock last month that they're still working through. This batch is mostly holiday stuff, and, for the most part, not as work-intensive. Which means I might be able to put out a small holiday retail collection this year, huzzah.
-- Transcendence is headlining the All Seasons Hafla on Sunday!
Tuesday
It did start rather inauspiciously, though. About four hours into the trip up on Tuesday, our train was involved in a fatality. A woman lay on the other side of the tracks, but the Southbound train (a local train) was able to stop just in time. Our Northbound one, which had not already begun to slow, as we were not scheduled to stop at that station, had no such luck. Our train was stuck there for two hours while a preliminary investigation was done, with no power. People were definitely getting cagey. The Amtrak staff handled things about as well as can be expected, but cabin fever was certainly setting in by the time a second train arrived to transfer us northward. So, Tuesday, Jason and I were in transit for roughly 13 hours, and arrived in Salem pretty tired and worn.
Our first order of business after checking in a The Salem Inn was to seek out food that didn't come in a wrapper, so we headed to a local Irish-themed pub, O'Neill's. Friendly service, tasty steak tips. I had a great apple cider cocktail with rum and cinnamon sugar. We had to stop at a local grocer to get Jason some backup sugar in case he got low in the night, and in doing so we met our very first Pagan-since-the-dawn-of-time resident. He was very nice, but also very "I have been Pagan since the dawn of time, so what I'm saying is FACT." But he also seemed pleased that I actually knew what I was talking about as we chit-chatted about the Craft, so overall it was a positive interaction, if a little strange.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, our first order of business after breakfast was to trek down to the House of Seven Gables for a tour of the home by a very knowledgeable guide (who we later saw leading one of the town's omnipresent ghost tours). It was a lovely home-- as someone who enjoys history, I very much love touring period homes, because it really helps me place that history into a visual context.
Afterwards, we wandered the pedestrian mall on Essex St, which is occasionally the center of the town's month-long Halloween celebration. Busking is big on Essex St, and by "busking," I mean, "I am wearing a costume! Tip me!" In a sea of folks also wearing costumes. Very strange. The closest thing I could compare it to was if the playtrons at RenFest expected tips from the rest of the faire-going populace. For just standing there in costume.
Essex St was also Woo Woo central-- you really can't spit in Salem without hitting a Pagan shop, but many of them are concentrated along Essex St. We didn't set foot in Hex, because Christian Day frankly makes my skin crawl, and many of the others blended together, including the famed Crow Haven Corner. The shop I liked the most on Essex St (aside from the gourmet foods shop, Pamplemousse), was The Coven's Cottage, which smelled divine and boasted all manner of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. But still, most of the Pagan shops sold the same things from the same distributors, and it was hard to tell them apart. We also did a long walk on Wednesday to look at the historic houses, and stopped in Melita Fiore for coffee and macarons. All in all, we averaged about 6 miles a day, walking.
Dinner on Wednesday was at Turner's, a seafood place built on or near the site of Bridget Bishop's 1692 tavern and apple orchard. The food was okay-- we had their famed lobster chowder, and I had tuna while Jason had steamers, plus drinks. We had a twosome of servers-- a veteran and a trainee. The trainee was great-- happy and bubbly. As for the older server-- she was clearly not happy that we were not ordering from the expensive side of the menu. But I had no desire to overeat, and in any case, we had no place to store leftovers, so suck it, judgey lady. Even our relatively moderate meal cost $90! Jesus. And also the older server snidely asked us if we had seen any "interesting folks" around town. Lady, I have pink hair down to my ass. Maybe dial the snobbishness back a little. The other thing about Turner's is that the heat was set to just short of infernal. When the anemic, always-cold chick is contemplating stripping down to a tank top, it is TOO DAMN HOT. So, overall, not the best experience at Turner's.
Thursday
Thursday morning, we did more walking about and people-watching, and we stopped at The Witch House, the pretty misleadingly-named home of witch trial judge Jonathan Corwin. Another stunning 17th century home-turned-museum, and the only one left in Salem with direct ties to the hysteria.
Eventually, we made our way down towards Pickering Wharf, where we had lunch at Finz. Such a delightful menu! For appetizers, Jason and I split a dozen of their wasabi/rasberry Stoli oysters. They were so bright and tasty! For our second course, we did a baked cheese wheel (brie + goat cheese) with a cinnamon-pumpkin spread and toasted walnuts. The warm honey-wheat bread was delicious, too. For the third course, I had the vanilla bean salad (arugula, cranberries, pecans, vanilla bean vinaigrette) and Jason had a turkey & brie sandwich. Both were delicious. So, our meal at Finz solidly beat the one at Turner's, AND was nearly $40 cheaper. Finz: recommended. Other snacks that day included more macarons at Caramel, including a truly delicious raspberry macaron with rose jam. Mmmm.
Thursday night we did our first tour, the Spellbound tour. Tour groups in Salem are HUGE, averaging about 60 tourists per guide. The one thing they do have going for them is that most of the guides are mic'ed, so I didn't have problems hearing. The Spellbound tour was a mix of history and haunts, weaving together tales of the sites where historians best-guess the events of 1692 took place (many of which are now parking lots!) with stories of paranormal activities reported on those sites since. The guide we had was engaging and funny, and it was overall a pretty decent tour, despite the crowded streets.
We finished off Thursday with a small pizza at The Flying Saucer Pizza Co., a sci-fi themed pizzeria with really cool pop culture-named pies & drinks. A cool stop for a low-key meal.
We were woken at 3am by very loud drunks singing on the stairs right outside of our room, the jerks. DEFINITELY a downside to an inn that has no staff on site between 10pm and 8am.
Friday
Friday, we did some shopping, wandering down Artist's Alley and other commercial streets after a quick walk around Gallows Hill on the edges of town. We got some art prints from local artists, I picked up a few gifts for Abby, and I stopped in a little bead shop where I grabbed some cool vintage beads that look like oyster shells encased in frosted glass. Shops to see: Witch City Wicks, Roost, The Barking Cat.
Not recommended: The Salem Witch Museum. Outdated (looks like it was last updated in about 1975), terrible sight lines, limited in scope of events, and containing a laughable second half aimed at dispelling myths about modern witches- which, while well-intentioned, was full of misinformation. I had to let out a cleansing exhalation of "Wicca is less than 100 years old, for fuck's sake!" as we cleared the doors. Skip it.
We grabbed a low-key lunch at The SandWitch and people-watched the throngs of folks going in and out of the Salem Wax Museum and a few of the other small "museums." I put "museum" in quotes because most of the "museums" in Salem are... not. Excepting The Peabody Essex Museum (fine art and a few preserved historical homes), the House of Seven Gables, and the Corwin House, most of the tourist "museums" are similar in tone to The Salem Witch Museum-- glorified dioramas with some shaky information.
Jason got his hair cut at Radiance Salon while I stopped in a nearby makeup shop, where I picked up a cool cream blush palette at a super discount (TheBalm's How 'Bout Them Apples). I've been looking for good cruelty-free cream blushes since I've decided to stop supporting Stila, and while the inside art on the palette is tacky as hell (shirtless cowboys), I plan to depot it and some of my other cream blushes into an empty palette. Win.
Since The Old Burying Point cemetery was right behind the salon, we stopped in to wander among the gravestones and peruse the Salem Witch Trials memorial. A beautiful memorial, but unfortunately lacking in proper remembrance for those innocent who died in the jails while they awaited trial. Really, that was my main issue with a lot of the memorials-- they really only counted the 20 victims who were actively executed, and not those who died due to criminal neglect.
We decided to grab an early dinner at an all-day breakfast place called The Ugly Mug. The place was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. I do NOT recommend it. First of all, I had to send back my pancakes because they were still liquid inside. My replacement waffle was fine, but about an hour after leaving, I began to show signs of food poisoning. I spent all of Friday night in bed or in the bathroom. Fuck The Ugly Mug, is what I'm saying. Jason got some pho broth into me, but it didn't stay in long. Still, it was tasty enough to say that I'd recommend the new Vietnamese place near Derby Square!
Saturday
Saturday, Jason and I did a LOT of walking-- we photographed Allison's house (aka The Ropes Mansion) and Max & Dani's house (now a private residence) from Hocus Pocus.
After a delicious meal at Passage To India and a nap back at the Inn, we headed out for a duo of walking tours.
The first was a strictly historical tour in its last year, The Salem Witch Trial Trail, given by Jim McAllister, an honest-to-goodness historian. He was engaging and funny. He did a great job of giving context to all of the info and showing how greed helped stoke the witch-hysteria flames that extreme deprivation had lit.
Between the tours, we had drinks and a snack at the Olde Main St Pub. Typical pub fare, but done well. Mostly notable for the front-row seat to some of the best people-watching in Salem. The Essex St spectacle was in full swing Saturday night, and it was great to be able to watch it all in a warm space. I did see a family try to bring THREE baby strollers in the elbow-to-elbow packed pub, and that made me laugh. The staff was slammed, but they handled it pretty well.
The second tour was a Salem Night Tour, which was so-so. Dominic, our tour guide was very engaging, but he kept having mic malfunctions and frankly by 11:30 when the tour concluded, I was tired and cold, so I'm probably not the best person to review it. He did, however, point out the mansion that Clue was based on (Parker Brothers being initially based in Salem), and also explained how the waterfront got pushed back nearly a mile by development, which is why a lot of the 1692 maps of trial-related sites are hard to interpret in the modern landscape.
Sunday
Sunday morning, we did some of the last-minute stuff we'd forgotten to do in the days previous. We stopped in HausWitch, where I picked up a tincture to help with some of the grief-related anxiety I've been dealing with. It was probably my favorite Pagan shop in Salem, mostly because it was clean, modern, and no-bullshit (at least, if you don't put Paganism wholesale in a "bullshit" bin).
We took one final trip down the pedestrian mall, where I stumbled upon a cabochon seller and picked up some labradorites and moonstone (of course). I am sad we didn't get to see Cry Innocent! The People Vs Bridget Bishop at the Town Hall (also a Hocus Pocus filming site!), because the actors drumming up the crowds were doing a great job. Alas. Next time.
By 1pm, we called a cab and headed back to Boston to catch the train, which was blessedly uneventful this time. I closed my eyes and listened to the NoSleep podcast for a good portion of the way, utterly exhausted and glad to be off my feet.
Most of my pictures from the trip are up at my Instagram! Holy cats, we did a lot.
As for other goings-on:
-- I made it to Faire once this season. I had a better time than expected (since I've been in a weird headspace lately), and it was nice to not be scrambling from one show to the next. Mostly, I wandered. It was exactly what I needed, along with good times with fun friends (Jen & Laura).
-- I attended a Witches' Tea Party at damejenn's, which was EXQUISITELY decorated. The refreshments provided were well-chosen and delicious. The company was delightful. I made fun cupcakes. Again, pics at Instagram.
-- I've been working on getting a handle on my situational depression and anxiety. I only had one anxiety attack the whole time I was in Salem. Part of that was knowing that the kitties were in excellent hands. Abby is a godsend. But Nox is a bit thinner than I'm used to seeing him, and he's due for a vet appointment in a week, so I'm trying to manage the anxiety that comes from that. We had a great snuggle earlier today, and he's still eating, even if he's being a super fussbutt about it. Good thoughts appreciated.
-- The next two weeks are going to be mostly me completing the next FaerieMag order. It's smaller this month, probably because they ordered so much stock last month that they're still working through. This batch is mostly holiday stuff, and, for the most part, not as work-intensive. Which means I might be able to put out a small holiday retail collection this year, huzzah.
-- Transcendence is headlining the All Seasons Hafla on Sunday!