We headed out to Salem early because we had a tour first thing. Unfortunately, we discovered most of Salem’s bathrooms are closed for the season and the ones that were supposed to be open (even stated that they should’ve been open) didn’t open until 10am (the start of our tour time). Obviously that wasn’t going to fly for us after driving over to Salem early and then having a two hour tour with no bathroom. There were people working in the visitor’s center even though they had locked doors so we politely knocked and inquired of a lady what we should do. She sent us to a hotel across the street. Thankfully the hotel people were really nice! So, if you are visiting during the off season, don’t believe your tour company’s list of bathrooms!
The tour itself was really nice! We went with Witch City Walking Tours as they were highly rated and I was looking for history. We got a really nice variety talking about maritime history, witch trial history, city history, ghost stories and pop culture. Salem really wanted everyone to forget about the ugly history of the witch trials so they tried to hide it and play up their maritime history for a long time. Then tv and movies came along and people made it about pop culture. Today I think people mostly visit for the pop culture and Halloween experience.
We had a nice lunch and then went to the Salem Witch Museum. (Yes, it can get confusing there are so many museums with “witch” in the name!) This one is the main museum that gives you a good history lesson when you first arrive. You sit in a large room and listen to a narration as different scenes light up above you. Then you go into an actual museum display area. I was a little bummed as I couldn’t really hear the guide speaking because there were so many people packed into that area and she didn’t have a microphone. It was neat seeing a first edition copy of the Wizard of Oz and several old books dating clear back to the 1500s! There’s also a very nice gift shop at the end and ancestors, like me, can even find packets of information about their relative from the trials. (Can’t visit? You can still purchase a packet online and have it shipped to you.)
We went to the Pirate Museum next for the kids. (There’s actually two but one of them was closed for the season). The museum was pretty interesting and mostly spoke about the history of the slave ship Whydah. This was one of the kid’s favorite places we visited!
We walked over to see the outside of The House of the Seven Gables. We didn’t have time for a tour during our visit so only got a peek from the street.
On the way there, we stopped into The Chocolate Pantry and discovered many delicious selections! Of course, we took some with us! I even chose a rose flavored bar to try! It was pretty tasty but I’m not a fan of the texture of the dry rose petals in my mouth. I probably won’t get that one again.
On our way back to the car, we enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate to warm up!
