In the Summer of 2016 a coworker of mine mentioned that she loves to go to Salem, Massachusetts for Halloween. I could not believe that this thought had never occurred to me! How could I have not thought about that? Brilliant idea! I began to plan right away!
Going through my files I also can’t believe that I don’t have any videos! Sorry but this trip will only be told through pictures.
The weekend before Halloween we arrived in Salem late Friday night as we usually do. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Washington Square.
I was so excited to see a big street party with everyone dressed up! There were vendors and shops and the streets were decked out for Halloween.
We didn’t realize that everyone would be dressed up. I was glad I at least brought my witch hat! Next time I will definitely go all out!
I didn’t take too many pictures inside but definitely stop in the Hex: Old World Witchery store. It was pretty cool with lots of interesting stuff like tarot cards, crystals, and psychic readings.
There is a deal if you buy tickets to 3 of the museums and that is precisely what we did. Check out this link for a special when you buy all three tickets to the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum, and the Witch History Museum! All 3 were great and I highly recommend this deal!
Our first stop was the Witch History Museum which was very interesting and very sad! I remember having a pit in my stomach. The Salem Witch Trials are well known but it is shocking that this actually occurred.
It was pretty dark so I couldn’t get the greatest pictures in there but I recommend going. Not only was it entertaining but also educational as well.
Our tickets were good for the weekend so we weren’t in a rush to hit up the others. Our next stop was visiting the Salem Witch Trials Memorial of people hung during the witch trials. I was surprised but I actually got quite emotional. It was very sad to see real names engraved into stone. Distant family members even left flowers and notes to the deceased men and women that were accused of being witches. Most were hung but some were crushed with rocks which was frightening to think about.
It was a rainy, gloomy, cold, and dark weekend but that just added to the feel of the eerie weekend.
We walked past the memorial to a cemetery called Burying Point. It is the oldest cemetery in Massachusetts and has the remains of someone from the Mayflower.
While walking around town we saw the famous Bewitched statue! It was actually quite beautiful. I had no idea this was here! It was a pleasant surprise to see.
I honestly cannot for the life of me remember where I took these pictures but here is some info about some of the victims from the Witch Trials. Very sad to read and gives some depth and backstory. I wonder how accurate these stories are?
Next up, we went to the Pirate Museum. This was one of my favorites. The exhibits were cool and the tour guides were great. I honestly can’t remember what we learned but all of the tours were educational.
Here are some pictures that I saw during the tour.
Later we went to a show called Gallows Hill. I couldn’t take any pictures or videos during the show but I loved it! It was very cool and spooky…but not too scary! It had a cool light show and I laughed quite a bit because it was so funny. I highly recommend you go to this show!
That night we booked a “spooky” boat ride called The Haunted Happenings Harbor Cruise. The wait for the boat was pretty cold! We had a good time admiring the outside of the boat. It was decorated pretty cool.
It was easier to see it lit up when it was dark. So cute!
There was fortune telling, a fire, and music, food and drinks. It was fun and I am glad we did it! It was a great way to end Saturday night.
Just hanging with my pals
These aren’t great photos but it was really nice to see the boats and lighthouse. They looked beautiful in the gloomy weather.
After the boat tour we walked around town just a bit before heading back to our airbnb.
The next morning we went to the Witch Dungeon Museum. This was the last place with our ticket deal but we saw even more than just this! This was a cool show that lead us down into a basement. It was eerie and more of a show but very interesting and actually fun…as fun as it can be when talking about a tragic historical event.
We went to the Salem Witch Museum but were not able to take pictures besides the ones below. I highly recommend it though!
After the museum we walked around more to take it all in before heading home!
Please note the couple making out behind me.
Why make out in a big corn web thing? Why in public? Why when people are next to you? Why when the grim reaper is next to you? So many questions…
All in all, this weekend was really great. The weather didn’t get us down because it matched the mood of the weekend. And though learning a lot about a tragic event in our history, we did have a lot of fun. I highly recommend going to Salem for a weekend in October! Not only is it a great time, but it is also educational.
Have you been to Salem? If so, tell me about it in the comments!
Where is your favorite place to visit for Halloween?