Salem Witch Trials Memorial

For my last Salem themed post this season, I am dedicating this post to the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. While there, I only snapped a few photographs of the more well known victims, however I do wish I took photographs of all the stones and the surrounding area. I felt a bit somber looking at all the stones and understanding what happened to these people. A lot of the stones had little offerings on them like flowers and some even had healing crystals on them. 

      

On the stones, you can see that it says what happened to the victims. A majority of them were hanged however, Giles Corey was stoned - a tortuous process that was used to get him to confess to the crime of witchcraft. If you would like some more information on the memorial and the victims, here is a website for you to check out - http://historyofmassachusetts.org/salem-witch-trials-memorial/. 

Walking Around Salem

When you go to Salem, one of the best parts is just simply seeing all the sights that the area has to offer. They have strip malls with pretty interesting stores in them, they have plenty of parks, and they also have some beautiful buildings to look at - including the supposedly haunted Hawthorne Hotel. Unfortunately, I did not get to go in and explore the hotel but I did get to take a photograph of it. It looks like a normal hotel in a fairly busy area, but who knows what secrets and ghouls lay within. There are also an abundance of cemeteries that you can visit on foot which hold some notable Salem residents. 

Hawthorne Hotel 

Some headstones in The Salem Burial Ground

One of the beautiful buildings

Body of water that lies right next to Max and Dani's house from Hocus Pocus 

Structure in the Salem Commons

Posing in front of the Water by The House of Seven Gables. 

House of Seven Gables , Salem Massachusetts

When I was in Salem, I wasn't initially planning on doing the Seven Gables tour, but I wanted to see the grounds so I ended up doing the full experience. Essentially, all I knew about the house going in is that it inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous book of the same name. Apparently it has been home to many people of the years before it turned into the tourist attraction it is today. If you want to learn more about the history of this house, I will leave a link down below. 

https://7gables.org/history/the-house-of-the-seven-gables/

You can do just a tour of everything, and I think you can do just a separate tour of the grounds as well. You do have to pay though to get through to the grounds. Also, parking is a bit limited so just be cautious of that. 

Salem Walking Tours (Hocus Pocus, etc)

The famous movie Hocus Pocus was filmed in various parts of Salem, which you can find with a quick walk or short drive through the area. When I recently visited, I was able to see the house where Max and Dani lived and the Old Town Hall where the Halloween Party was held. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Allison's house and I couldn't get into the Pioneer Village where some of the outdoor scenes were filmed.

Salem also offers a variety of other tours, including a tour at the Salem Witch History Museum and one at the Salem Witch Dungeon Museum. I was able to do both and thought it was a really neat and informative experience. I wasn't able to get a lot of photographs inside either place because it was very dark, but I got some from outside the Witch Dungeon Museum and one decent one from inside the Witch History Museum.