Witchcraft in Salem

---

Robyn and I went to Salem today via the commuter Rail. Famous for the witch trials in 1692, the whole town has a creepy vibe to it. Interestingly, what seems like a dark page in the town’s history that it at one time wanted to forget about, now its seems as though the dark story has become a novelty item that has kept the town prosperous thanks to tourism.

We went to a trial reenactment and then through a recreation of the Salem Dungeon that people were locked up and tortured. After that we walked around Salem and got a sense of the town. It is very calm and quiet today because there were big parties here yesterday for Halloween.

Robyn and I stopped in the “Soup Factory” for some excellent Lobster Newburg soup and Calm Chowder. They were rich and flavorful and probably the best soups we’ve had here on the east coast.

After stopping in numerous craft and wicka shops we found ourselves in the Peabody Museum here. Two posters we had seen enchanted us to enter. The first was an exhibit on origami. The second was an exhibit on mysteries caught on film. The photo exhibit was sort of lame, cool concept, good layout, bad pieces.

However the origami exhibit was mind-blowing. These were not the run of the mill butterflies with a fold here and a pinch there. These were fully formed and molded sculptures. Often they had been made with stiff paper which had been dampened and then masterfully folded into figures, animals, even scenes from movies.

The exhibit was wonderful to look at, and while adults could find the art amazing, the whole exhibit was geared toward children as well. There were even tables with video tutorials so that you could make your own origami creatures, which Robyn and I quickly did. Ten minutes later, we each had made beautiful butterflies I would never have thought possible.

We headed back to Boston and met up with Gustavo. Together we got dinner at German restaurant with a bunch of people Gustavo knew through a friend named Este. There was plenty of beer and sausage to be had.

---

Photos

Pirates of the Caribbean
Attack of the Cracken!