Salem, Massachusetts

Something wicked this way comes.
Macbeth, William Shakespeare

It’s February and we’ve all got love on the brain, but I’m throwing us in a time machine and taking us back to October 2018, when my friends and I took a day trip to Salem, Massachusetts for Halloween.

Allow me to set the scene: the day is dreary, freezing cold, and rainy. We chug hot tea and coffee inside our Airbnb to prepare ourselves to venture out into the weather. The four of us then don our Star Wars-themed Halloween costumes and stare out the window, casting anxious glances at each other.

“You sure you want to go to Salem?” Matt asks me, staring at my all-white Padmé Amidala outfit and then giving a pointed nod at the downpour outside. I clutch my cape-blanket closer to my chest and nod resolutely. Halloween awaits us on this chilly Saturday night.

The cab ride to Salem takes only half an hour, and before we know it, we’re being dropped off at the famous House of the Seven Gables, which sits on the waterfront. We all get soaked running from the cab to the porch of the house, where we stand shivering.

The House of the Seven Gables, also known as the Turner Home, is a colonial mansion built in 1668, made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel of the same name. As it were, the mansion features seven gables (can you believe) and is now a museum that features performances, lectures, and plays.

Matt uses the threatening weather to take a scary picture of himself in front of the house.

After exploring the museum, we make the (perhaps terrible) decision to visit the waterfront, which is just one block away.

“Thank goodness we brought umbrellas,” I mumble to myself as I stare at the sheets of rain coming down. Together, my friend Kelsey and I pop open two hot pink umbrellas, the cheapest ones CVS had. Giving each other a nod, we then dart out into the rain in the direction of the water. The boys are on our tails.

The CVS umbrellas prove futile against the weather. A blustery wind billows up and I hear my umbrella snap back. Kelsey’s follows next, and then we’re battling the wind trying to right the umbrellas. Rain ruthlessly pelts our faces, but we’re almost at the waterfront. Despite the cold, we press on.

At the water’s edge, the sea is churning. Whitecaps freckle the frothy water and we momentarily forget how cold and rainy it is as we watch huge waves crash around the rocks. And then the wind whips up again and we’re in another battle for our umbrellas. We can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Freezing, we rush down the street and pop into the closest pub, Witch’s Brew Café, where we order various types of alcohol to warm up. The café is so flooded with people escaping the rain that we start to get hot, so we dart back into the weather and explore a candy store (where I get into a semi-animalistic fight over my umbrella with another woman) and a bookstore selling books about witchcraft.

You may think that the entire experience of Salem is wasted on us because of the bad weather. I, however, like to think that we really got the full Halloween experience!

We spent most of the evening popping in and out of stores, exploring back alleys, taking ghost tours, and learning the terrible stories of the women and men who were hanged for their “witchcraft.” The night couldn’t have been spookier.

Thank you for indulging my Halloween post in February! For your time, here’s a blurry picture of Matt and I fighting a light saber battle in the city center.