In 1692, the infamous Salem witch trials were held in this tiny New England town. Hundreds of years later, thousands of pagans, witches, and those who are merely curious flock to Witch City, the epicenter of all things occult. The entire month of October is dedicated to Halloween happenings. Just wandering the streets is an event.
Next Up: Who Knows?
Maybe Halifax, maybe the House Reveal, maybe a post from a bunker…
I wish I had a magic wand to make things all better. And to make some things disappear. We should have bought a magic wand in Salem when we had the chance.
In all seriousness, I’m fervently hoping that as a nation, we navigate these next weeks and months with grace and courage. May kindness, peace, and truth prevail.
A wonderful post to enjoy and savor during our COVID times! Thank you for sharing :)
Thanks, Terri. We all need some moments of escape, don’t we?
What a perfect place to spend Halloween! The photos are fabulous, and yes, I am so glad you chose to post them today. We are laying low here, planning a picnic at our Riverside Park to enjoy the peak fall colors along the Rogue. Hoping the Trump flag and truck parade scheduled to pass through downtown today doesn’t spill into the park and stink up the place with diesel fumes and gun carrying wackos. Rural and small town parts of Oregon don’t always follow the liberal bent of the state.
We had a great time in Salem last year, Sue. It reminded us of our Ashland Halloween celebration, where the entire town turns out in costume.
Your picnic along the Rogue sounds wonderful. I can’t wait for the election to be over with. I’m also hoping that people come to their senses and stop tearing our country apart!
Ahhh …. will miss Ashland’s extravaganza for sure this year – thanks for the share. And yes, may Peace and Kindness prevail……
xo
Awesome pictures! We should have visited Salem on our last trip to the northeast. A wand would be a great souvenir. We’re home, waiting for the Halloween Full Moon to show up. Should be better entertainment than the football games I’m watching. No trick or treaters this year. Bummer! Joe
I’m glad you enjoyed the photos, Joe. It was a fun celebration in Salem, for sure! The Halloween full moon this year was beautiful, wasn’t it? That was our Halloween entertainment this year.
Nancy, we love our Ashland Halloween celebration, just as you do! Maybe by next October things will be back to some semblance of normal? Meanwhile, I’m praying hard for peace and kindness and a resolution to this insane trajectory our country has been on. Love to you and Bryan!
I’m sure some of those masks would scare a coronavirus germ. Now, we have to wear masks under masks if the Halloween masks don’t provide enough protection.
As for the times, “May the Force be with US.”
Sheila, I’m sure a mask beneath a mask is essential. Or maybe those big bird beak masks that doctors wore during the plague would work? I’m imagining the coronavirus germ will be a scary costume in years to come. :-(
And yes, may the force be with us. We need all the help we can get.
Great pictures.
Makes me wonder what the people of 1692 Salem could see what their infamous trials brought about. Some must be rolling in their graves!
Thanks for a great post. And yes, may peace prevail.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Nancy. That’s a good question about the victims of the Salem witch trials. That was a terrible time in history. One good thing that arose from the tragedy is that the Salem trials were one of the defining moments that changed the American judicial system from the English system of “guilty, ’til proven innocent” to the current American system of “innocent until proven guilty.”
That was fun! The Hocus Pocus Witches are my favorite. I think we will watch that tonight as we sit inside with the lights off! Thanks for sharing on this gloomy Hallows Eve.
The Hocus Pocus witches were my favorite, too, Suzanne! Their costumes were great and they were hilarious in the ways they interacted with the crowd. Like you, we watched Hocus Pocus on Halloween night. Bette Midler was brilliant! :-)
What a fun diversion from the nightmare we are currently living! Fingers crossed that decency prevails on Tuesday and that the fallout from the current administration does not impact the new administration too badly in January.
Lisa, I’m so tired of feeling distraught about everything! We’re also hoping that decency prevails on Tuesday and that people will be wise and caring enough to vote for healing our nation. I hope it’s enough of a landslide victory that there won’t be any questions and that we can start the long process of repairing our country and our relationship with our allies.
We’re jealous… We had to skip Salem when we swung through MA because the options for parking the MH were limited. So, we opted for a Oct 30 ghost walk in Providence, RI instead. I think we’ll just have to make another trip out there in the fall….
Hope you and Eric are doing well.
R&K
Riley, if you decide to head back to Salem sometime for Halloween, we have the perfect place for you to stay! The RV park at the marina in Salem will easily accommodate your MH.
We’ll be better when election day passes…providing sanity has been restored to our country. Hope you and Karen are well, too.
I am almost certain that one of the costumed revelers is Eric, but I am not entirely sure which one. I am torn between the mannequins and the pumpkin head guy. Can you give me a hint? :-)
Oh, to be focused on fun and games, instead of our current anxiety-laden situation. Thanks for the reminder of normal times!
Haha!! We do love dressing up for Halloween. I think Eric would have opted for the raven costume. He went as a raven a couple of years ago when we were home in Ashland. But his costume wasn’t anywhere near as elaborate as the raven guy in Salem!
We’re grateful to have you guys nearby to provide some much-needed distraction during this insane time. Here’s hoping for a big ratcheting down of anxiety SOON.
Perfect! One of the things I always loved about Halloween, besides the delicious scariness, was that it is the most creative of the holidays. I liked all the pictures, but I really appreciated the umbrella jellyfish. So clever!
Lordy, I want some candy now!
Joodie, I love the creative aspect of Halloween, too! We always celebrated Halloween in Ashland by dressing up, going to the parade, and then a costume party with friends. That jellyfish costume is going into my memory file for future possibilities. :-))
P.S. Eating dark chocolate now…
I can’t believe you had the opportunity to buy a magic wand and you didn’t get one. What were you thinking??
Love these pics! Salem is such a unique and entertaining place in the fall and you actually got to experience it on the biggest day of all. The costumes are just terrific and you captured just how much fun everyone was having.
Let’s hope this week begins the process of returning to such a carefree world.
Seriously, why did I not buy a wand for myself? We bought one for Findlay (he’s a big Harry Potter fan) but I wish I had one. It would be so satisfying! I promise I would use it for good.
We had a blast in Salem. It’s sanity-saving for me to look back on fun times and to imagine that we’ll one day have normal lives again. As you said, this week will hopefully begin the process!
Loved all those costumes and I say “amen” to your last statement–it’s what I pray for.
Janna, I hope that enough of us feel a commitment to kindness, peace, and truth that we’ll shift the destructive path we’ve been on!
What a bunch of great costumes and visiting Salem in October sounds like an entertaining time.
Ingrid, it was so much fun! Salem was the perfect place to be for Halloween.
How fun! Halloween is my very favorite holiday and your pictures made me feel like celebrating! I’ve noticed more outdoor decorations around the neighborhood this year. We won’t have the trick or treaters (our street didn’t get many anyway) but lots of scary skeletons, witches, and ghouls!
Janis, I can see from your photo that you have a particular affinity for Halloween! I’m glad you enjoyed our photo tour of the Salem festivities. I really missed celebrating Halloween this year. We’ll have to make up for it next year.
Hi Eric and Laurel- Wonderful pictures of Halloween you posted. Looks like fun in Salem. A magic wand would be a great idea. I would wave it on Tuesday!
Here’s a little link you can try for a Halloween enjoyment- a song I created some years ago.- Called “Austin, Texas, The City Of Bats”. Happy Samhain! Love, Tom & Georgina
https://soundcloud.com/user-285524909-85828863/austin-texas-the-city-of-bats
Hi Tom, thanks so much for the fun link you posted to your bat song. And your bat ears are excellent, LOL! :-) I’m glad you enjoyed our Halloween photos from Salem. Happy Samhain to you and Georgina, too.
Here’s hoping Tuesday will bring positive changes. Hugs to you both!
What a great Halloween. I hope to spend Dia de Los muertos in Mexico someday… Here’s hoping for better days ahead.
Deb, I’ve always wanted to spend Dia de los Muertos in Mexico or Santa Fe or Taos. One of these days! And yes, we’re looking forward to much better times to come.
What a great place to be in October. Salem definitely goes all out. Thanks for sharing your memories. Good to hear from you. Love your final sentence! Take care!!
Salem was a great place to be on Halloween, Pam. We always ‘do’ Halloween up big when we’re in Ashland, so it was fun for us to celebrate on the road.
Our memories are sustaining us right now in these crazy times. You guys take good care, too. Fingers crossed there will be a sea change for good this week.
Salem for the holiday…what brilliant planning, party girl! Savoring the fun filled photos and remembering All Hallows Eve get togethers with you both … is fun going to be a thing of the past? Dreading the chaos to come as it seems inevitable … to expect people to behave as adults … humans … forget reasonable or just … those birds have flown the coop. Could we simply go to sleep tonight and wake up six months with all the flu fluff fanfare behind us and iggleigglei magic the shoes are tied and on the right feet alleluia and hooray.
Love and light and a heap of patience and courage! as ever, D & J
Diana, it was such good fortune that we were in Salem for Halloween since we couldn’t be in the Rogue Valley celebrating Halloween with all of our dear friends! I was perusing photos last week and enjoying the memories of all of the celebrations we’ve shared.
As you said, it would be wonderful to wake up with all of this craziness behind us. I fear that we’re in for a long road to recovery…but if we can just get ourselves back on a good path, at least there is hope. Love to you both.
I love receiving these emails… I love reading what you write…I love the beautiful photographs… I love the escapes… I love …you. Thank you all ways.
Awwww, thanks, Kyle! I always love hearing from you and I appreciate your kind words. It makes me happy that you’re traveling along with us. I love you, too, dear cuz! OXOX
Oh I LOVE this. I didn’t know you were in Salem for Halloween. I have always wanted to do that but feared there would be too many people and no place to stay. Where did you stay?
LOL “just wandering the streets is an event”. I’m green with envy. Eric definitely looks perfect with that wand. If you go back, I wanna go too. Caravan……
Thank you for the fun happy pictures and for your closing sentiments. We have had far too little kindness, peace or truth these past 4 years. Here’s to the reinstatement of all 3. Fingers crossed!
Sherry, I know you would have a blast in Salem on Halloween! We stayed at Winter Island Park and it worked out great. It’s a city park near the marina, with easy access to town. We didn’t find the town to be overwhelming at all during Halloween. Lots of people, of course, but everyone just having fun. I wonder when it will be possible to celebrate like that again? :-(
I know you share our sentiments about restoring decency to our nation. I’m trying to trust that people are going to do the right thing in these deeply troubled times.
So….you’re to blame then. You had a chance to buy a magic wand and you passed it by! :-)
Ha, YEAH. I sure wish I had that magic wand today, Sue.
Well, I thought you were in Salem this year :)
LOL!!! I wish, MonaLiza!! Nope, still here in Eastpoint. Hope you guys are doing well. Wish you were here to have some shrimp and oysters with us. OX