I've begun a new tradition, I went to Salem again this year. This was my second year going. I went with a new set of people- well actually it dwindled down to a single person, my roommate GP. Originally this year's plan was to go with my roomie and some co-workers/friends, but everyone had other things break-up our plans and, so, the only people to stick to the plan was my roommate and I.
Anyways, we hit the road today(Friday, October 26th technically) around 2pm, cashed some checks, and plowed forward to Boston by 3:30pm. My HTC maps said it would be 2hrs and 16 minutes, approximately. A very large approximately. Boston traffic is the devil, I am dead serious, people that have to get on just to head out grocery shopping or down an exit to school- I feel for you. What was suppose to be a little over two hours waned into three-ish. Lots of stop and go traffic, people cutting in and out of lanes, people pretending breakdowns are lanes, bikers neglecting to use lanes- you get the picture. But, finally, we broke through and arrived into Salem.
Once we hit Derby street, everything was clear from last year. While we couldn't park at the ten dollar spot my last year's group found, we did find a plaza parking lot for $1.50 an hour- after 8pm is free and you just have to keep your ticket stub on your dashboard. Convenient. Connecting onto Washington Avenue, I pointed out the painted red line that keeps you from getting lost. During the week, we had made plans to go to a Harry Potter themed dance party. We missed the RSVP, but figured we'd pay the $25 at the door. The KC hall at 94 Washington didn't pop out immediately, so we went over to Essex and explored. Right off we found Rockafellas- our second plan dance party- and dually noted it. Along the way there were many cute shops and many street tent vendors. I thought the funniest one was the vampire fangs booth. Just what it sounds like, you pay for fangs. I passed on this, normally I wouldn't have because I <3 vampires, but I was The Doctor and I thought fangs would be absurd. I was already pushing it with my brown David Tennant-esque Converse. Slightly veering off of Essex, we found a surprisingly cheap vintage clothing store- I will add the name tomorrow when I find the business card- and I bought a gift for my best friend's birthday. GP and I decided that it would be a nice store to come back to.
At the end of the lane we found that the red line curved right and we followed it. It took us to Frankenstein's Lab- a noted block for haunted houses and other frights. Here we got coffee and looked at the spooky spectacles, but I am proud to say we did not enter the scary houses. After Frankenstein's Lab we found out plan C- the Carnival at Derby street. It was cute, with bright colours and all the typical fair rides you might find, but I wasn't really digging it. Following Derby street back up to the Lab, we noticed a skeleton angel that people were taking a photo of and quickly moved along- my roommate went as River Song. Both of us know the dangers of the Angels. Anyways, we bustled back to Essex.
At the end of Essex, we found a red line that continued and took us over to the Salem Witch Museum- which was odd because when I first saw it I said to GP "Look, it's the Devil's church"; it was lit up from inside the church-architecture with red lights. Being still open at 7pm, we went inside and explored the shop. Here I bought a copy of Hocus Pocus- finally! and what an appropriate place to get it!- and a pair of Jack Skellington earrings. From the museum, we wandered along and found that there was another small fair. On our way we walked past Voldemort, Bellatrix Lastrange, a death eater, and Snape with Lily on his arm. Our instinct was to follow them, but with goods in hand we decided to hit up our car. After this we doubled back and went towards Salem Commons. Walking toward the Salem Commons, a grounds keeper asked us if we needed a hand finding our way and, well, we kinda did because, as it turns out, 94 Washington was on Washington Square and not Street and none of the programs had the KC hall on it's map. So, he told us to head across the green towards the white building with many lights. After a two minute walk, we found it. It was gorgeous outside and the HP group we saw had got us really excited. Then we went in the building. The air changed. As we saw the awesome decorations ahead we also saw a room full of people in groups. We were not a group. It was like a middle school dance again. Without a group, we didn't see how it made sense to pay $25 and promptly turned around.
We forgo-ed our photo-op with Voldemort and wandered back to Essex. Here we found nerd-gold. I glanced to my left and saw a brown chest that said HP and a maroon train. It was a Harry Potter store. Like an authentic one. We bolted inside and I was taken away by all of the awesome. Quidditch gear, brooms, owls(stuffed plushy ones!), hats, scarves, ties, t-shirts, potions, stickers, many boxes of stuff, butterbeer, and more. When you walked in, it smelled of chocolate frogs. After poking around, I found that it was because they sold room fragrances in butterbeer and chocolate frog, which I sprayed myself with. While it was strong at first, it was worth it. I ended up buying a Hufflepuff hat- my house according to Pottermore- and swayed along to the HP soundtrack overhead. We had, indeed, gotten our HP fix.
We went back to Rockafellas but noticed that nothing seemed to be happening. So, we began to go up Essex, but two girls of a group shouted at me, "Are you the Doctor?!?" And promptly ran over to hug me. Both of them. It was strange and really funny. So far, everyone was getting my costume(it is afterall a female version). Up Essex, we went into Harrison's, a stellar comic book shop that I went to last year. They had a lot more cool stuff this year, like back issue comics for a dollar and Firefly & Doctor Who sections. GP took a photo of me looking at a photo of "me" on a magazine, I hope to post that here tomorrow too. When we were content at looking around, we went up Essex a little further, turned back at the Witch Cottage, and found an art exhibit. The art was cool, the crowd was odd. They all had PBR. One guy had a blue blazer- like one tat David Tennant wears between seasons three and four- and I said "I love your blazer!" to which he said "I like your bow-tie. Bow-ties are cool." We shared a smile before I walked out of the door.
At this point, we knew we didn't want to go back to the carnival and the HP-middle school dance was still a no, so we popped into a place called Gulu Gulu Cafe, which actually serves pizza and beer & wine. It was the most geeky place, next to the comic book store, that we had entered. The menu had titles like "Tatooine" and "Starbuck" as well as some really hillarious others. The walls were covered in aliens from films, the two windows told to regeneration of the Doctor- including a question mark for the 12th- and was playing Red Dwarf. The tip jar was a Boba Fett statuette that said "This is the tip jar you are looking for" and a robot mouth said "please suggest puny human." All around, it was cheap & cozy and the wait-staff was nice. We stayed here for quite a while, with our sonic screwdrivers on the table the whole time.
When we went back down Essex, we took photos with Waldo, The Joker & The Riddler, and I can't remember who else. We went back into the HP shop once more and then went into other small stores that were still open at this late hour. In the cooking and wine shop there was a Superman t-shirt wearer and a New Zealand cuttie. I chatted with them for awhile as the store was closing, a nice connection considering we weren't with anyone. When we left, we ran into so many more cool people. There was a trio of a Kiss member, a Jedi knight, and the dog from Wilfred. I wanted to hang out with the Jedi(come on, three of them and two of us? great odds!), but it was getting late so we kept going. Next we ran into a group of fans girls, who giggled all around me and said "bow-ties are cool" to which I said thanks because I was still laughing at how much attention I was getting(Americans really are gaga for Who! lol). Lastly, on the opposite side of the street, I saw two "companions" with their handsome Matt Smith Doctor and I shouted across to him/them "Bow ties are cool!" and he raised a fist, like Matt Smith would, and I did too. This was funny because the fan girls were headed up Washington like us and said "Bow ties are cool..again!"
The drive home quicker than the one to Salem and I found myself still wanting to have followed the Jedi or the other Doctor, but- all in all- it was a great trip and I think that I will plan harder next year, save earlier, and bring more people. That and leave earlier in the day. Anyways, photos soon to follow- I'm off to bed!
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