It was quite fun. If you have money to go, please take time. Just remember it is a tourist trap. I brought my partner and our three kids because none of them have been, and I enjoyed my trip over a decade ago.
We went out there Thursday and went on a Ghost Tour where our tour guide brought us around town telling us about deaths and murders in Salem and possible hauntings around town. I decided to go with staying on the heritage trail on Friday and stopping into each shop because that is what I really wanted to experience.
There are a ton of tour choices and the guides will tell you all about the town and what happened. The museums are pretty good too, if you have that kind of money to experience those also. The shops have much of the same items, though if you're careful and keep an eye out and look through out the entire town, you can find really unique items. I found an adorable pewter set of the Lord and Lady to go onto my altar.
It's funny, I've been studying witchcraft for over twenty years and this is the first time I've found statues of the God and Goddess that I really love and want on my altar.
I also finally got the chance to hold a deck of gypsy cards in my hand to see if I really wanted to take them home.
We stopped at the Witchcraft Victim Memorial in Danvers and discovered the Rebecca Nurse House. If we go back, we'll be making a stop there. According to the information I had available, it is $8 for adults, and $4 for teenagers. Kids under 10 I think are free. We didn't have enough time to stop there, though it has been added to my bucket list.
The Witch house is about $10-12/per person and it's a self guided tour.
I decided to spend the time we had trying to remain under budget and I spent 1/3 of the amount of money I had planned to spend on our trip by being so careful. There is a parking garage by the harbor that costs $0.25/hour and it makes parking much less expensive and the walk to everything else isn't much more.
Remember one thing for sure, if you're going to Salem, make sure you get there early. Most of the shops don't open until 10 or 11, but parking fills up by 9:30 and the traffic is horrible. I don't want to see what it's like in October.
We also chose to bring our dogs, and the hotel we stayed at made that possible. It also added to our choice of not going through museums or doing too many tours.
Over all, I am happy with my family's experience seeing Salem for their first time.
The next time I go, I'm going to plan on doing more tours or museum trips. Expect to pay about $20/person or anything really outstanding there. If you plan your trip with expectations to spend a whole lot more than you want to, it makes it much easier on your wallet when you're paying out the nose.
Most of the cobble stone walks have been redone, and they're doing a lot of construction in the area, which I believe did add to the traffic.
If you're looking for a bunch of witch shops to check out, this is a fun town. If you want history that doesn't break the bank, aim for visiting nearby towns like Danvers.
With
Love and Light
Merry we meet, merry we part, merry we meet again.
Blessed Be
☽✪☾