August 23
Brandy and I had briefly discussed swinging through Salem, Massachusetts, on our way from Maine to Kentucky. The plan was to leave Maine on Friday, August 24 and spend maybe an afternoon in Salem before moving on.
Well, between being bored and being uncomfortable in our AirBnB in Maine, we decided to leave a day early and spend a whole day in Salem.
Brandy, being a witch, was super excited to visit the one and only site of the Salem Witch Trials where for a little over a year in the late 1600s, two hundred people were accused and 30 people were convicted of practicing witchcraft, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (none were burned at the stake, despite popular belief) and one was pressed to death when he refused to enter a plea to his accusations. At least five more died from diseases contracted from the filthy conditions in which they were imprisoned.
I too was excited as I am a fan of the macabre and, while not a witch myself, had previously considered dabbling in magick.
We did some research and settled on a few for-sure things to check out in our one day there. But first, we had to get there.
Leaving Maine
The change in plans came alarmingly close to the end of our time in Maine so it was a bit of a scramble getting things together and ready to go.
The AirBnB didn’t have a washer or dryer so we had a huge bag full of two weeks of dirty laundry that had previously been unaccounted for so when we added that to the bed of the truck, it forced some items into the back seat with Ash. Luckily this was a quick, three-hour drive so his discomfort wouldn’t last too terribly long.
We found and booked a small AirBnB in nearby Marblehead, spent Wednesday packing, then I loaded up the truck during downtime at work Thursday. By the time my shift was over, we were pretty much ready to go, hitting the road right at 5:00 pm on August 22.
After a gas break at the Cumberland Service Plaza on I-95, we passed through Kennebunkport, hit New Hampshire for about 15 minutes then we were in Massachusetts. We drove through Salem on our way to the AirBnB, finding the apartment building just before 9:00 pm.
There was a small lot located behind the building. I pulled into the lot, found it insanely challenging due to the layout, the buildings and the fact that there was an occupied parking spot basically in the driveway, but I managed to get Clyde through the door.
As soon as I spied the spot reserved for the apartment, I knew we wouldn’t fit. I parked there for a moment while I unloaded the necessities, then carefully and delicately pulled back out and parked on the street.
The apartment was a small one bedroom with what had to be a double bed. Brandy tried giving me the bed and she’d sleep on the couch, which is where Ash wanted to be, with her, so he crowded her off the couch and came to lay with me at about 3:00. Ash was close behind so I got boxed out, climbing out of bed soon after that.
I showered, got dressed and took Ash for a walk before dropping him at the apartment then taking a 10 minute walk to get coffee.
I walked back to the apartment, coffee in hand, then, when Brandy was dressed and ready, we left to start our day in Salem.
Salem
After a brief stop at Marblehead Yacht Club, we made our way to a parking spot near Essex St, the main drag in Salem, where part of the road is closed to automotive traffic and is primarily a pedestrian mall.
We found a nearby diner, Fountain Place Restaurant, where I ordered the Big Breakfast:
Two eggs with ham, bacon or sausage, home fries, Toast, Coffee & your choice of Pancake or French Toast
Fountain Place Restaurant menu
I got mine with sausage, French toast and scrambled eggs. The sausage was very, very good. The French toast was pretty good too, even if all they had was table syrup (after having gotten used to Vermont maple syrup, the overly sugary stuff just doesn’t do it for me any more.)
We ate and paid our bill before taking a stroll up and down Essex St. We had some time to kill before anything opened, 10:00 apparently being the magic hour on Fridays in the summer. We walked pretty much all the way to the east end of the Witch City Mall, went in there to use their bathrooms (which were absolutely disgusting) then started making our way to the first attraction of the morning.
The Witch House at Salem
Also known as the Jonathan Corwin House, the Witch House in Salem was the home of the aforementioned Jonathan Corwin, one of the judges from the witch trials in the 1690s. The structure is one of few remaining buildings with direct ties to the infamous witch hunt. In the mid-1700s, one of Corwin’s descendants altered the appearance of the house pretty drastically, adding a barn-style gambrel roof over an expended footprint. After changing hands several times through the years, an attempt was made to restore the house to its original appearance in the 1940s but with no official photos or drawings of the house, the restoration leaned on documentary research and presumptions.
The house is now operating by the city as a museum.
We got to the house about 10 minutes before its opening at 10:00. We stood in the warm sun waiting then, when the doors opened, we were the first through them, entering in the gift shop. We paid our admission and quickly toured the house.
The house was configured and furnished much as it would have been in the 1600s. On the tables and walls were plenty of artifacts from the era as well as the house’s connection to the witch trials. There were little signs that spoke about how the determination was made if a person was bewitched, or how to tell if a person was a witch themselves. There was also lots of information about the day-to-day life of the 17th century colonial life.
it was pretty informative and it was neat being able to go up the stairs and see what was up there. Most two story historical buildings I’ve been to, the upstairs is generally closed to the public.
We got through the house and exited through the same gift shop we’d entered through, stopping for our requisite souvenirs, then we started on our way to our next stop.
Photos from the Witch House are in my Photo Diary.
Witch Dungeon Museum
Witch Dungeon Museum was a quick, 10 minute walk around the corner from the Witch House. The promise of this museum is that they offer a live reenactment of a portion of a trial before guiding you on a tour of the dungeon below the building.
We went in and paid our admission, then were shown into the theater where the reenactment would take place. There was an elevated stage with a judge’s pulpit and a jury box with a handful of mannequins standing in for the judge, jury and guard.
The audience would be seated in pews lining the floor much like at a church. One the walls all the way around the seating area were informational posted telling the story of the first people accused of witchcraft, how the judge determined that they were witches, and some biographical information about some of the participants in the trial, including the accusers, the accused and the judicial parties.
Just as I finished reading all the signs and made my way to the front pew where Brandy was already seated, our emcee came out and gave us an introduction to what we were about to see, setting the scene and then allowing the players to come out and reenact a scene from a trial. The script was taken directly from the transcript of an actual trial so the language that was used was what would be expected in the 1690s. That said, I will say, the actresses on that stage put a lot out there. There was so much emotion coming through, even if one of the actresses was wearing a mask a la 2020.
After the brief show, our emcee returned and guided us down the stairs to a replica of the dungeon where as many as 150 people were kept at a time. The dungeon was dark, lit with green and red bulbs to give it that “shpooky” vibe, and I think they were pumping a scent into the basement as well.
From the central main floor where the group and emcee were gathered, there were a few replica cells set up with mannequins posing as prisoners throughout.
It was told to us that if the prisoners could afford to pay their way up in accommodations, they could get better amenities than those with no money. Prisoners were also expected to pay for their own food, leg irons and, if executed, their families would be responsible for paying the executioner’s fee.
One cell appeared to be a standard-sized jail cell, with a bunk bed and a chamber pot. It was explained that this was a higher-end cell where the wealthy accused could have more private quarters than those that were less fortunate.
The next cell seemed to be larger, but was not as well appointed, with no beds and were actually furnished with stocks so people were doubly locked up.
The next step down was a cell about the size of a closet with nothing at all in it, except chains to chain the prisoner to the ceiling or wall.
And lastly was a cell about the size of a phone booth, meaning the prisoner didn’t even have room to lay down. Yeah, this one triggered my claustrophobia pretty good.
In this main part was a beam that was taken from the actual dungeon that was discovered in the 1950s when construction for a telephone company building was taking place. researchers were allowed into the dungeon to take measurements, document the dungeon and a beam was eventually given to the city for display in the museum a few blocks away.
Lastly in this area was a scene of Giles Corey being pressed to death after refusing to submit a plea to the accusations against him.
We turned a corner and went behind the row of cells then around another corner where were were shown a display of what appeared to be an outdoor setting. Building fronts were set up with windows into the represented building showing scenes from the days of the trials- one scene showed a couple of young girls being “bewitched” and thrashing about as if possessed.
One scene showed Tituba, a native American slave woman who was among the first to be accused of witchcraft, and her husband, John Indian.
Another scene showed a young woman looking into a mirror. We could see her young features in profile and in the mirror, the other side of her face is shown to be that of an old woman, signifying the mirror “showing the woman’s true self” or something.
As we turned one last corner, we found ourselves in an outdoor scene where a large hanging tree had half a dozen or so guilty parties hanged by the neck and some townsfolk bearing witness to the executions.
After this scene, we headed back upstairs into the gift shop, bought a few more things, and then made our way out to the warming outdoors for another stroll down Essex St for some shopping.
Pics from the Witch Dungeon are found here in my Photo Diary.
Mid Day Break
As we headed back to the main drag, we stopped at the corner of Essex St and Washington where a statue of Samantha from Bewitched proudly sits on a broom in front of a delightfully cartoonish crescent moon.
We strolled up and down Essex Street popping into stored Brandy found interesting and making purchases as she saw fit. I did pick up a few things of my own, when I suddenly realized I’ve been gravitating toward shot glasses. I think that might be my “thing” is shot glasses. Brandy has magnets, I have shot glasses.
Anyway, I also picked up a Stephen King book that I do plan on reading during this trip.
As the time on our parking meter dwindled down, we headed back to the truck and drove back to the AirBnB to check on Ash and catch our breath. I mean, after all, by this point, I’d already done over 10,000 steps.
The Last Events in Salem
After about two and a half hours, we headed back into Salem for the last of our things to do.
I took Brandy to The Witchery, where we’d signed Brandy up for a broom-making workshop. The workshop didn’t start until 5:00 pm so we had about an hour to kill.
We walked around Pickering Wharf where the shoppe was located and did a little more shopping, buying treats from a popcorn store, an outfit from a little boutique and browsing for bric-a-brac at a small (smelly, humid) mercantile.
As her workshop time approached, I went with her to make sure she got checked in OK then walked myself back to Essex Street where I had an appointment at Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery Monster Museum.
Count Orlok’s is essentially a wax museum showcasing some of the biggest names from horror movies. There are wax statues of Draculas, werewolves, Frankenstein’s monster and so, so many more.
Each wax figure had an accompanying plaque explaining the movie or franchise the character is featured in, including production notes and box office takes.
On a small wall kind of tucked back in a hallway is a large shadow box with several life casts of famous figures from horror, from Vincent Price to Christopher Lee to Linda Blair (along with an accompanying mold from a cast of a proposed makeup that eventually did not get used in The Exorcist.
Each wax figure was meticulously molded and decorated and were of extremely high accuracy. I would put it on par with or even beyond Madame Tussauds best work. To say I was impressed would be a tragic understatement. The only complaint I had about the place is that I wanted more. Was the tour worth the money I pad for it? Absolutely. I still wanted more though, and would have been happy to pay more.
At the sad end of the walk-through, I exited into the gift shop through which I had entered. I browsed around for a bit and bought the biggest shirt I could find, a 3XL that, of course, is too tight on me.
God, I HAVE to lose some weight…
Anyway, I also got a sticker and a pin, paid for the purchases and headed out.
Photos were not allowed in the museum.
As I made my way back to Brandy, I managed to find myself at the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, a U-shaped courtyard lined with stacked stone monuments for the 20 put to death during these dark times.
At the entrance to the courtyard are stones inscribed with the statements of innocence from the accused. These statements are cut off mid-sentence by the walls symbolizing “society’s indifference to oppression”.
Just beyond the walls of the courtyard is a cemetery. While none of the 19 that were hanged were entitled to a proper burial and most of their remains have been lost over time, the victims are memorialized in the stone walls that are easily accessible by the public.
I took a few photos and continued down Liberty Street to Derby Street and headed back to the wharf where Brandy was finishing up her broom.
She finished and emerged just after 6:00 with her broom wrapped in paper to protect it during the remainder of our travels. I stashed it behind the back seat and there it has stayed since (as I currently write this at our next stop in Kentucky, we still have a month before we are home so the broom will be tucked away until October.)
We started heading back toward the AirBnB, stopping at a market on the way for some drinking supplies then, when we got back and with drinks flowing, Brandy ordered a pizza from Mandee’s Pizza, back in Salem.
Conclusion
After having put in nearly 18,000 steps, I can truly say the time spent in Salem was well worth it. We saw some wonderful things, bought some cool souvenirs and seeing Brandy as giddy as she got at being there was a perfect setting for me.
And to think, we did all that in one day.
I did take some pictures that don’t fit in with the sections above, they are also on my Photo Diary.
Stay tuned for my next post where I will be talking about our drive to and our stop in Cave City, Kentucky, just outside of Mammoth Cave National Park.
Until then…
-Phil