Salem, Mass
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
January 10, 2017 8:22pm CST
Back in October my husband, youngest 2 sons, and I visited Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is most famous for the witch trials back in the late 1600's, where many women were accused of practicing witch craft, and some were even sentenced to death for it.
We thought it would be fun to visit in October near Halloween time.
We were actually a bit disappointed. I expected a historic looking town.. instead I found an extremely busy tourist attraction.
While there are a few historic buildings to visit and learn about the witch trials, most of the town is very modern. Upon entering the main downtown area of the town you're greeted by a huge, Golden Dunkin Donuts sign.. and like many other American towns it has a Starbucks on every corner.
We only walked around Salem for half an hour before we got bored and left.
The picture is of a statue of Samantha from the show Bewitched.. the town's nod to their witch history.
The coolest part of our visit to Salem was that parts of the movie, Hocus Pocus was filmed there and we were able to see a few of the buildings from that movie.
7 people like this
7 responses
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
11 Jan 17
I felt the same way when we went to Lake Placid. They held the winter olympics in the 80's. I thought it would be a cool small town, but it's extremely touristy too!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (254926)
• United States
11 Jan 17
My daughter in law's aunt lives right outside Salem, and told me it wasn't worth visiting. Your photo is adorable and worth the visit. We visited two places and had never seen the movies until we returned home. It was awesome knowing what we recognized and where we were.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
11 Jan 17
My co-worker's sister also lives near there and she had visited and also told me it wasn't going to be what I expected. I didn't believe her until I got there. I'm not disappointed that I went.. it was still nice to visit, but I do not plan on making a return trip to Salem.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (254926)
• United States
12 Jan 17
@katsmeow1213 It was a Jeopardy question tonight. I knew the answer! Lol!
@shaggin (74987)
• United States
13 Jan 17
I would have loved to see the parts where Hocus Pocus was filmed. I loved that movie. I had such a crush on Omri Kats at the time. That statue of Samantha is so good I love it! I loved watching reruns when I was little. It was a favorite show of my mothers when she was little as it was new at the time and my mom was Tabithas age. That does seem silly that Salem isn't decorated more to the witchs. They could get really creative with things to make it better for tourists! Who needs starbucks you can see that anywhere.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
13 Jan 17
I used to love watching Bewitched too! I would always pretend I was Samantha
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
11 Jan 17
I am hoping to still be able to go on a trip with my sister and brother in law up the Eastern Coast. They stopped into Salem a few years ago when they went. They invited me along for the trip, but I may not be able to go if I don't get more hours at work, or don't somehow make the money I need online.
They might be going at tax time, so I guess I could use my tax money as well...
Anyway, seems sort of disappointing that they didn't give preserve more of it's history. Maybe it's a sore point for the town and they'd rather forget it as much as they can?
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
11 Jan 17
It doesn't seem that way. I mean there are a couple of historical buildings you can tour for a fee.. they were busy the day we went and I didn't want to wait or pay a fee. During October they have a big street festival, but it's mostly booths of things you can buy like t-shirts and other witchy items. We also saw a drag queen dressed as a witch. I think it's just overly touristy so they threw in shops and restaurants etc..
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
11 Jan 17
@katsmeow1213 Ah Okay. Well I still hope I am able to go, I just need work to cooperate and give me more hours!
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
11 Jan 17
@ScribbledAdNauseum I hope you are able to go. It's cool to see and say you've been there, and there are things worth seeing. Just don't go in October!
@PainsOnSlate (21845)
• Canada
11 Jan 17
I'm sorry you were disappointed. Its been years - probably 40 or more since I was there. It was a tourist trap for sure but there were some awesome buildings to visit. I love the history of the town, pretty scary stuff.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
11 Jan 17
Yes the history was nice. We spent the rest of that weekend in Boston which I found to be much more enjoyable. At least I can say I've been to Salem.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
11 Jan 17
Yes it is.. I'd have loved to see some of the history of the town.
1 person likes this
