Our Trip to Salem

Yesterday, my wife and two of our kids went to Salem for the day.

Despite having lived in Massachusetts for my entire life,

I have only ever been to the town once before,

and that wasn't to tour much but some places along the waterfront.

This trip, we did an hour long trolley tour through the town,

with a very knowledgeable tour guide.

Afterwards, we walked around, sight-seeing

and visiting some very interesting places.

I wish I had taken more pictures,

but here are the shots we did get.

Hope you enjoy!

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The Salem Harbor. Beautiful views.

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Was a great day, not hot but not freezing yet, either.

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A small lighthouse, freshly repainted according to our guide.

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This is the old Custom House,

where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked for a time,

when he wrote The House of Seven Gables.

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A very old cobblestone street near the Custom House,

along the waterfront.

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Next to a Floral shop, the owner decorates and

creates a Haunted Garden.

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The Haunted Garden again.

Quite the sight!

Very macabre and wonderfully done.

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Supposedly, this is the oldest candy company in America.

Our guide said the woman who originally started this

did so with a bag of sugar donated by the townspeople.

Was very small inside and super-crowded,

so we didn't stay or purchase anything.

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The House of Seven Gables,

but taken from the back yard.

We didn't take the tour into the house or grounds.

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Salem Witch Museum.

We went here and saw the presentation

as well as the walk-through with a guide,

who spoke about witches and the 

history and portrayals of them through history.

Very interesting exhibit!

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This was taken at the Salem Wax Museum.

My daughter, posing with the statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

He looked a lot like Mark Twain,

but my son said he looked like Kelsey Grammer!

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This is the oldest cemetery in Salem,

there is also a memorial for those persecuted as witches.

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So many extremely old tombstones.

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Amazed to see how many of them have lasted for centuries.

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The cemetery is not visible at all

from the busy streets beyond the wall.

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The old trees add quite the atmosphere to the Burying Ground.

Here, you can see a place where Hawthorne's wife's family once lived.

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Our guide said Hawthorne dubbed this place Grimshaw house.

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She also said the name is now quite apt.

I assume that is because the house is in major disrepair.

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Looks like a truly haunted house, that's for sure.

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My daughter snapped these pics because she wanted to get a shot

of the light that was ON inside.

Quite bizarre!

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Lastly, a pic I like!

This coffee house is quite old.

From peering in the window,

it appears to still be a functioning restaurant.

Sadly, it was closed.

Next time!

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Like I said, I wish I had taken more photos.

Decorations where everywhere along the streets and buildings,

and even the non-decorated buildings are beautiful.

We ate lunch at the same restaurant we did the previous short trip,

a placed called the Witches Brew Cafe.

Great food and service and wonderful ambiance!

We took a tour of the Pirate Museum, which was fun.

The guide knew his stuff and the displays were very well done.

After that, my daughter and I did two of the "haunted houses,"

Frankenstein's Laboratory and a Witches' Walk-through.

They were fun, albeit short, with some jump scares.

We also saw many people dressed in either

Salem witch related garb or in Halloween costumes.

We even saw three women dressed as the witches from Hocus Pocus!

Wonderful trip and I hope to repeat it next year!