The Scoop on Salem - Part One!
Salem, Massachusetts is a fascinating place both for its long and varied history and for the events that took place there - e.g. The Salem Witch Trials.
The Salem of today touts both in a big way. Not only is it a great place to learn about colonial history, it also has become famous for all things witch and supernatural related. And don’t even get me started on the town’s Halloween Festival. I’m told it is truly something to behold if you like that sort of thing.
My son and I went to Salem in August 2023 for 5 days. This is an introductory post written by my son, Sean. I will follow up with additional future posts about Salem.
Why am I posting this during the month of May? The reason is simple. If you intend to visit Salem during the month of October 2024, you should be thinking ahead and make your lodging reservations NOW. The Boston-Salem area tends to be more on the expensive side for lodging in general and during the month of October, expect rates to go up considerably, particularly as Halloween gets closer. Contact your favorite travel agent or lodging website and get it booked now.
The Daniel’s House in Salem
I’d also book your rental car now as well, if you choose to have one. Salem and Boston have a number of public transportation options and Salem is very walkable if you are able to walk several miles per day.
For additional info about Salem click here.
So, without further ado, here is a brief introduction of three Salem attractions or activities he enjoyed.
For this blog post, I’d like to recommend some of my favorite experiences in the town ofSalem, Massachusetts. I visited Salem last August and it was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. While there is quite a variety of things to do and see in Salem, my overview will mostly focus on the “spookier” side of town, as those experiences made up the majority of my time there.
My Salem Favorites by S. Etherington
The Monster Museum
One of my favorite indoor attractions in Salem was the Monster Museum, which featured a surprisingly large collection of both classic and modern horror movie monsters on display. They had everything from Universal’s classic Dracula and Frankenstein to a Xenomorph from Alien and the Demogorgon from Netflix’s Stranger Things.
Aside from having full-size recreations of the monsters, they also have the history and some fun facts next to each display for anyone who hasn’t seen the dozens of scary movies represented in the museum. As a bonus, they also have a gift shop after the museum with some souvenirs I didn’t see in any of the other dozens of gift shops when I visited in Salem.
Salem Shopping Opportunities
Speaking of gift shops, downtown Salem is filled with a wide variety of shops for you to stroll through as you make your way around town. The most identifiable building downtown is the Witch City Mall, which is home to a couple of fun gift shops, a movie theater, and an excellent pizza restaurant.
The rest of downtown is full of smaller shops that specialize in everything from clothing to rocks and gems to magical items. Downtown is also very shopper-friendly, with brick-laden streets that are car-free aside from the occasional security vehicle. The main shopping street is called Essex Street Pedestrian Mall, but there are other good shopping places too. My personal favorite shop was Hex Old World Witchery because it had the most unique items.
Ghost Tours 👻👻👻
One of the most popular things to do in Salem is to go on a walking (or riding) ghost tour, which incorporates Salem’s complicated history into some exciting sightseeing around the town. The tour that I took was during the daytime, which wasn’t the best for hunting ghosts, but was an incredible way for me to get my bearings around town on my first day. The tour featured a number of both indoor and outdoor historical locations and included a great deal of audience participation that made the tour more fun and educational for tour participants of all ages. The tour was called The Bewitched Walking Tour. See the link below.
For more Salem information, click the link below.
Stay tuned for Part Two! (Coming soon)