THAAAT’S me! A witch maybe I was, maybe I still am (because I am in love with the Sadako character?) but what I am sure of is that the “B” + “itch” rings true. I live in East Street (not Eastwick but it sounds like that), my parent’s place (I’m shameless, I know). Whatever I am called, luck is with me. That makes me one lucky W and/or B + itch.
And luck brought me (and my Sadako alter ego) to Salem, a thirty-minute drive from Boston, Massachusetts. Is this home? Funny that I got to tour this place before Boston, where my host lives. I don’t know Cris’ agenda and why he put Salem on top of the list and made me meet Sabrina (of the Bewitch fame) before showing me the rest of the area. Maybe he wanted know if I have a certain connection with the town in Essex County that has a very fascinating history of witch hunting.
Salem as we all know was the setting of the witchcraft trials of the 1690’s. As to why it came about is what I learned after taking a tour of the Witchcraft Museum and their very interesting presentation of the history of the witch trials. It was a tour injected with humor, to lighten the mood perhaps, with the guide taking us through a journey in time via a makeshift village –at night (read: darkness).
The dioramas depicted how the alleged practice of witchcraft started that led to the trials, the hanging on Gallows Hill to the burial ground of the alleged witches, the end of the tour.
Of course it was all a mistake. The lack of knowledge in fields people know less of started it all. The puritans just had to put the blame on something, and someone, and it went out of hand. Believe it or not, it took 250 years before a formal apology was made by the state of Massachusetts for the events of 1692.
If the mood was somber upon leaving the museum, the next shop was my shot of caffeine—Remember Salem. If you love everything about the famous wizard of our time, Harry Potter, then this shop is for you.
Remember Salem is pretty much like one of those shops in Diagonal Alley and this one sells everything Hogwarts and wizardry. Step in and you’ll feel the magic! From spiders to Nagini (Voldemort’s snake), wands, the Golden Snitch to Quidditch helmets, it was surreal to be at the center of these goodies that I can take home. Maybe the best item I’ve seen was the handmade leather Sorting Hat. Of course, I had to try it on and it screamed “Slytherin!”
We had a quick stop at the The House of the Seven Gables aka the Turner House and the Witch House aka Jonathan Corwin house before we made our way to the most exciting part of the journey to the supernatural—the food. And that’s the next story.
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