Salem, Mass : Day One

I know I've been very neglecting on this blog whereas my normal page and my cooking page has been kept much more up to date. Perhaps it's because I'd like to think I travel much more then I actually do. I intended to keep only new places I've gone to after I started up this blog, so I wouldn't copy anything I put on my Thoughts of a Jersey Girl page. However my friend Jessica, who really is my requisite travel buddy wanted me to chronicle our trip to Salem, Massachusetts and beyond, this is for you Jess. Parts of this may be copied and pasted from my other blog, please forgive me, I am lazy.

Chapter One:
On To Salem!

So Jess and I had wanted to go to Salem for the longest time in the fiercest way. Both of us had tried to go there with no avail. We had decided in the summer of 08 to make sure we had a chance to go to Salem, and chose to go in October so we could see everything that makes Salem special. We couldn't wait. Months passed and soon the time was upon us to go.



When we were waiting to get our DD (Dunkin' Donuts) on we saw a little spooky skelton and hoped he would be a good omen for a spooky time in Salem.

The ride up was rather uneventful, but 5 hours in the car makes you feel a little silly so when we saw this:



I was EXTREMELY excited and made Jess take a picture.

While we were staying in Massachusetts, we stayed outside of Salem in a town called Danvers in a very nice Sheraton.



But we were obviously special because the boy at the front desk gave us a room with one king bed and even a jucuzzi, he must have had some nice thoughts going on through his mind about what Jess and I would be doing that evening.

I will state here we did NOT use the jacuzzi.



We also had a stash of food too.





We also had a wonderful view!

We didn't stay in the hotel long because we were to excited to get to Salem!!



Once we got there we hung at the visitor's center and got some information and then set out to walk around more.



We also met some cool Pumpkins (I love pumpkins)



And we walked over to see the Friendship of Salem. Along that way we also stopped at a wonderful spice shop where I picked up all sorts of lovely things so I could make Indian food (which I still haven't done months later but hey, I had the intention right?)



I even kissed a witch!

I gotta tell you, Salem wasn’t laid out like I thought it was. Most the time when you go to towns that are a little or very historic there tends to be a historic section, this rings true with Philadelphia, parts of Boston, DC, Gettysburg, and no doubt lots of other places I haven’t been. Salem isn’t like that. I was actually surprised; the town is pretty modern as far as New England goes, not to many homes from the witch hysteria.

What Jess and I learned was rather sad, that many of these old homes were taken down in the sake of progress because the people then didn’t know how important it would be to the future. It makes you realize how important some form of historical preservation is. We were able to go into a few of the old homes, but at least some were saved instead of none. Anyway, that evening we walked around, had dinner and did some shopping (my favorite activity).



Our evening activity was a ghost tour through Salem. Jessica’s small digital camera broke right before the tour, she was so upset, the screen just went The tour itself was great. The information, and the orbs I caught on camera (which are on my MySpace at www.myspace.com/margotisyourhero) totally worth the money, a paltry $11 per person to do.



But my camera was still working so at least we got some shots during the ghost tour...





They walked us around to some of the historic and haunted sights of Salem telling us stories of ghosts and goblins and such. Our guide Adam was really great and did a fantastic job. Even if it was cold that night it was totally worth it.



It was a truly spoooooooky evening.

Oh and stay tuned, I will update (or try) to give you the whole Salem story, which is a three part tale!