Salem

We were passing close to Salem and decided we wanted to drop in, hoping to find a small-ish monument to the witch trials. What we did find was so much more.

Everywhere we have been so far has been either "shoulder season" or off season. Things have been either closed, or closing with in a few days. While this means that we haven't been able to get in places, it has also been nice. We haven't had to fight the crowds that are often found in some of the parks that we visited, and several places have even had cheaper "shoulder" rates.

The one exception so far has been Salem. October is definitively peak season. It was both fun to see the city in its tourist prime, and a little disturbing.

Next to the city's old cemetery there is a memorial dedicated to the 14 women and 5 men who were executed in 1692 after being accused of being witches.

   

Today, however, Salem seems to attract the occult. There are places all over town heavily advertising that they are "witch owned and operated" as they sell fortune tellings and potion ingredients. They also have an annual Haunted Happenings running the whole month of October, full of live music, plays and special tours. There was a line around the block for the Witches Museum.

 
  

We still haven't decided how we feel about the whole spectacle. Kathleen likes witches as much as the next person, and we have no problem with Halloween fun. However we couldn't quite shake the feeling that capitalizing on the murder of innocent people was a little insensitive.