This is a guest post by our friend and fellow traveler, Mitch Nozka.

Always on a quest to discover New England’s best day trips, my wife and I headed to Salem, Massachusetts.

My criteria for visiting a town usually includes museums and historically-based attractions, and Salem seemed to satisfy these conditions. However, I did have one apprehension. Salem is, of course, known for the witch trials which occurred in 1692-93. As a Christian, I felt that some of the witch-related attractions would have portrayed Christianity in a negative light for false reasons, rather than show that these witch trials were fueled by lies from the accusers along with mass hysteria. I wanted to learn about the history, rather than visit cheesy tourist traps.

However, even with opting-out of the witch-themed attractions, there is plenty of history to satisfy a visitor to this town. As one walks down the streets of Salem, one can see the history in the older construction of many of the buildings in the town, and most of the attractions are within a 10-30 minute walking distance from each other, making this a great place to visit without having to drive around.

Here’s a sampling of how we spent our day in Salem:

Red’s Sandwich Shop

The pancakes were too much!

Our first stop of the day was Red’s Sandwich Shop, a restaurant going back fifty years, in a building built in the 17^th century, and was later a gathering place for some involved in the American Revolution. Guests are greeted like friends in this establishment, and our needs were well attended. Per a friend’s recommendation, I ordered blueberry pancakes. Before I visited, he showed me a photo of this pancake on his phone, and remarked that the waitress dissuaded him from getting more than one. These pancakes are cooked thickly and stuffed with blueberries. I’d definitely visit Red’s again, but next time, I’ll try the omelet!

The Burying Point

Just a couple minutes walk east of Red’s Sandwich Shop, this is the oldest cemetery in Salem, and one of the oldest in the country, established in to 1637. It includes notable names like Simon Bradstreet, the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; John Hathorne, an executor involved in the witch trials and ancestor of author Nathaniel Hawthorne (who added a ‘w’ to his name to distance himself from the notoriety); and Captain Richard More, a passenger on the Mayflower. A plaque in the cemetery maps out the gravestone locations, and most names have a quick blurb about their historical significance. You can spend a few minutes just to glance at them, or up to half an hour if you want to scrutinize and read most of the tombstones.

Salem Maritime National Historic Site
We were caught a bit off guard by this one because I missed it in the guidebook and didn’t come across it in my quick internet search of Salem attractions. Had we known about this, our trip would have focused more on this area. Staffed by park rangers, this site is by the waterfront and includes a full-size working replica of the 18^thcentury tall ship Friendship (check website or call to see if it is in port. This was unfortunately not the case during our visit). Several buildings in the area such as the Custom House have displays outside explaining the significance of the buildings or historic homes, though most of them are only accessible for indoor visits on a guided tour. The Orientation Center and Friendship are free to visit. The center has a free film and a few small exhibits. Guided tours are available for $5 each and focus on various topics related to seafaring, trading, and customs. Check the website or call to see which tours are offered.

The House of Seven Gables

Made famous by the novel of the same name by 19^th century author Nathaniel Hawthorne, this mansion was built by Captain John Turner in the mid-17^th century (and expanded upon over the years) and stayed in his family for two more generations. After losing the family fortune, John Turner III sold the house to the Ingersoll family, of whom Susannah, the cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne, often entertained the latter, and his visits here inspired the penning of the novel. Also on site with the mansion is Hawthorne’s more modest birthplace; a home where he lived during the first four years of his life and was moved from a different location in Salem.

‘What’s a gable?’ you may ask. A gable is the triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. So, where there’s a triangle that is a wall facing outside with a roof on top, it’s probably a gable.

The mansion may only be entered on a guided tour, and no photography is allowed inside of the houses. These historic houses, with their accoutrements, are well worth the visit. The guided tour will give you a fascinating history of the homes and their owners. Within the mansion is a cramped secret stairway which one traverses as part of the tour. I am not familiar with Hawthorne’s works, but the tour guide remarked that one of the characters in his novel seems to disappear and reappear in rooms rather quickly; perhaps a nod to the utility of this stairway. Hawthorne’s birthplace has some relics from his and his family’s life, but you will not find a complete history in regards to his literary success. Admission is $12.50 for adults, $7.50 children, and discounts are available for seniors and AAA members. Find out more here.

Peabody Essex Museum
This art museum was a good finish to our day in Salem. A problem I find with art museums is that I’ve spoiled myself by visiting places like the British Museum in London or Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, so I find myself disappointed by repetition of the same types of art. However, this one had two exhibits which piqued my interest. The Asian Export Art section spans the 15^th to 20^th centuries, showing items that the Western world greatly desired for their exoticism. Among the collection is a portrait of George Washington attributed to Chinese artist Foeiqua. This is a copy (with certain differences) of an original by Gilbert Stuart, made when a ship captain involved with trade in China broke his non-reproduction agreement with Stuart and commissioned this Chinese artist to capitalize on the desire for portraits of Washington. Some of the pieces in this collection are interesting for their take on Western faces, styles, or images, or in the case of the Washington portrait, outright copying which (for better or worse) is still a facet of Chinese culture today.

The second exhibit is Yin Yu Tang. This 18^thcentury named house was home to the Huang family in the Huizhou region of Anhui province in China for two hundred years, and recent years, was painstakingly deconstructed in China in 2002 and reconstructed in an open-air atrium of this museum. The house features open-air rooms (which are not roped off, allowing up-close scrutiny of the open rooms) with wooden lattice work, and include many artifacts. While many features of the house stayed the same throughout the years, it is also sprinkled with Communist propaganda posters and a pink out-of-place loudspeaker from a time when the populace had to listen to the government announcements and could not legally shut it off (think Max Headroom or The Prisoner). Admission to this house is an additional $5, but well worth the cost for the ability to be able to step into a house like this without having to visit China, and includes an informative audio guide (though no photography allowed). If you don’t wish to spend the extra money, you can find a virtual tour on the museum’s website, and a room in the museum includes videos (on the house de/reconstruction, New Years’ celebration in China, and an interview with the last owner) and exhibits on the house.

Also included with the Peabody Essex Museum ticket is admission to a couple of historic buildings nearby, but we didn’t have time to visit them.

What else you need to know …

Other popular attractions:
The New England Pirate Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, and Salem’s Heritage Trail. You’ll notice on some of the sidewalks a line painted red. This is Salem’s Heritage Trail, meant to lead tourists in a similar way to Boston’s Freedom Trail. However, unlike the Freedom Trail, the path is not as focused on a single theme or era, but rather painted by locations chosen by the mayor’s office as significant for the town (historically or commercially).

Parking in Salem:
You may wish to do research on finding inexpensive parking in Salem. Many posts online said to avoid the on-street metered parking as aggressive enforcement may ruin your day. We parked at the MBTA train parking lot located at 3 Commercial Street. Parking here is $4, and you place your money into a large analog board with slots corresponding to each parking space. This lot seemed slightly sketchy as it is not immediately surrounded by buildings (and thus has less observation), but it is a very good location with just a walk upstairs to Bridge Street and a short walk from many of the attractions.

Salem is an oddity – while many of the streets and buildings give you the historical feel of walking in an old New England town, interlaced are the modern witchcraft/tarot reading/etc. shops. For good or ill, it’s a spectacle worth visiting.

For maps and more attractions, visit Salem’s website for a free guide to be mailed or downloaded.

Have you visited Salem, MA? What were your impressions of the town and what recommendations can you share?

Mitch Nozka grew up in Connecticut. After a childhood growing up on British comedies, he studied in England for a year and traveled to eight European countries. He delved further into studying and sightseeing with a semester in Egypt, including a visit to Lebanon two weeks before Hezbollah took over West Beirut and the airport! Having survived, he is now happily married and drags along his wife and daughter to visit museums and historic sights along the eastern US.

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