Exploring Salem, MA (Day 1)
I’ve wanted to go to Salem for the longest time. Most people opt for Boston when they think of visiting Massachusetts but as you can probably gather by now, I am not a fan of big cities. They obviously are a good option when you’re on vacation as there is more to do and they are usually very walkable, and I do take vacations to big cities sometimes, but this time I opted for Salem. It just looked so interesting that I knew that I had to see it for myself and not just look at blog posts or YouTube videos, so when I found a really good deal on a hotel in Salem I jumped at the chance. I was there at the end of December. I took an Amtrak train to Boston after work on Friday (and then an Uber to Salem) and came back on the Monday train at 5am so I could make it back to the city to get to work on time.
The trip there was rather interesting. I left work exactly at 5:30 to catch the car service I called to take me to Moynihan Train Station. I would have taken the train there but I didn’t feel like struggling up and down stairs with a suitcase and dealing with crowded trains during rush hour. The ride to Moynihan was surprisingly quick but the wait for the Amtrak train was quite an adventure. I’d heard about Amtrak delays but in my years of taking Amtrak I had never had to deal with one before. The train was supposed to leave at 7:00pm but we wound up leaving a little after 9:00pm. I normally take coach class but the trains I chose only had business class as an option so I chose that and I honestly don’t think I can go back to coach. It was so nice to have an assigned seat (and in the quiet car!) instead of everyone running like stampeding elephants to try and get into a seat. It always reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer gets on the train and everyone practically dives into any available seat. I stayed at the Hampton Inn Salem Boston and since I had done an online check in, I was able to just go up to my room using a digital key. I highly recommend this hotel. Clean, quiet, comfortable, the staff was really nice, I was able to choose the exact floor/room I wanted using the app, and the lobby was so comforting. I sometimes like to spend time in the lobby reading or doing stuff on my computer (just to get out of the room) so a nice hotel lobby is important to me. I was there a few days after Christmas but I love Christmas decorations so I liked that they were still up while I was there. I also liked how there was a small fireplace in the lobby. It was very cozy.
There were lots of interesting things to see on my walk. As it was only a few days after Christmas a lot of people still had their decorations up. There were also a few cool window displays (like the Pirate Museum which sadly was closed for the season).
My first stop of the day was Salem Common. I had tickets to go to the Salem Witch Museum and it was right across the street from Salem Common. The few days I was in Salem it was mostly overcast and occasionally rainy, which normally would be a bit of a downer for a vacation but it just made Salem even more interesting.
And here is a pic of the Salem Witch Museum from across the Common.
Despite the snow on the ground it really wasn’t cold at all. I didn’t even have to wear gloves. I walked around a bit taking pictures and trying out different angles because there was still almost half an hour before my timed entry to the Salem Witch Museum. I did still get there early though because they suggested I check out the gift shop. I know it’s just a thing places do to get you to spend more money but I was on vacation. It was a given that I was there to spend money. 😁. I got an ornament for my niece (she loves Halloween and things like that) and a few things for me including a Wheel of Fortune tarot card necklace.
I’m glad I went to the Salem Witch Museum but I do have one bone to pick. I was expecting more a museum type place, meaning there would be exhibits (albeit on a smaller scale than an actual museum) with plaques explaining the history of the pieces and I could check things out at my own pace. I looked it up online and I failed to realize (and this is completely my own fault) that it was more of a tour group type of thing. In fact, I saw a lot of tour groups during my own wanderings around Salem. I hate tour groups. It reminds me of that meme that says something like “A large group of people is called a ‘Hell no!’” Having a large group of people around me, especially if they’re standing too close, gives me massive anxiety so as you can imagine I was not enjoying the “museum” at all and I noped out of that tour group after about fifteen minutes. This was after a presentation they did that was about fifteen minutes long. Everyone sat down in this small theater and turned the lights off (Oh, goodie! The dark. My other favorite thing). So basically I lasted about half an hour, which considering my aversion to crowds and the dark is pretty good for me. I did snap a few pictures inside while I was there. As you see, I was able to take two pictures. This is what I hate about tours. There is no room to move around or anything.
After that horror of a group tour I needed something to make me feel better, specifically food and a drink. I went to Rockafellas and had a delicious bowl of New England clam chowder and a Salem Witch cocktail, which was especially delicious. I love fun drinks with cute presentation and this one was an A+.
After that I went to Moon’s Gift Shop and Caramel French Patisserie. I cannot recommend this place enough. It was amazing. I wish I had taken pictures but I was juggling a few bags by this point. The birthday cake macarons were incredible and I went back the next day to take some back to NYC with me. I also had something that I cannot remember the name of, but it was the one in the middle in this picture that I found on google when I searched for the business. The buttercream in the middle was absolutely insane. I’m planning to go back to Salem and food will definitely be the main reason.
I was a bit tired by this time so I decided to head back to the hotel to rest before dinner. The walk through the town was really interesting. Salem is one of the most walkable places I’ve visited and there was always something interesting to see, such as the statue of Samantha from Bewitched (the very first picture in this post).
After dinner (which isn’t even worth talking about) I took a short walk because I really do love night photography. I didn’t get many shots (I guess I was just too tired at the end of the day) but I kind of like this shot of the crosswalk. I took a few pictures but liked this one with the car passing through the best. I wanted to get a blurred shot of a car (really blurred, not slightly like in this shot) but didn’t like any of the ones I took. I mainly took it for the colorful crosswalk though so I wasn’t bothered.
Day 2 will have lots of mood pictures and by that I mean a lot of fog and mist pictures, which just added to the charm of Salem and gave me some of the best pictures I took on my weekend getaway.
