Val! (or anyone plannin a trip to Boston and/or Salem!)

Just wanted to give you the low down on the different things up there! We stayed in Danvers, so if you're looking for a hotel rec there, let me know! Here's what we did:

Boston:

Harbor Cruise: I thought this was cute. We left from Long Wharf, and it's about a 45 minute ride. DH and I sat on the upper deck and got some great pictures and fresh air.

Freedom Trail/Tour: We did a bus tour because one of our other tours got cancelled. I'm glad that we did because we learned some of the historical information, but I would've preferred to have had time to research this tour and pick a bus company that was a little bit better suited to our needs. We walked to the Paul Revere house, the Old North Church, and one of the cemeteries. These sights are absolutely worth it if you're into history!

Quincy Market: We walked through once. It's a mad house in there, but they have a ton of great food!

Shear Madness: If you're going to see a show in Boston, you have got to see this one! It's a comedy whodunit with some audience participation, and it was absolutely hysterical. DH and I are very picky about movies/shows, and we were laughing hysterically the entire time.

Whale Watch Tour: This tour was my demise, and messed up some of our other plans for the day because I was SO sick. I've been on boats many times, and I have never even felt slightly sick. However, within a half hour, I was violently sick...I threw up pretty much the whole time. I was so weak that I couldn't even stand up and DH had to hold me up. A TON of people aboard were throwing up. There was no medicine, no sick room, no anything. At one point, I made myself go outside to see just ONE whale and I did...but I immediately ran back to the bathroom. We were trapped on this for FOUR hours...it was a horror show.

Salem:

Ok, so, I had people tell me that these museums are not what 'you would expect.' However, I wasn't expecting the souls of the accused witches to come leaping through the walls...I was expecting to learn about history. I learned about history and it was awesome!

Salem Night Tour: This is a ghost tour through the city. I absolutely love ghost tours! The tour guide was very lively, and she had some great stories. I also got a ton of orbs on my camera. You go to historic sites involving the witch trials, other tales of spirits and hauntings, and the house where the murder in the game 'Clue' is based off of.

Salem Memorial: I was brought to tears by the memorial to those accused of witchcraft. There's an inscription in the pavement reminding us that so many of these people refused to say they were witches because they knew they would go to God to be judged, and they did not want to lie. It's very, very moving.

Cemetery: There's a lot of old graves here dating back to the 1700's and I think possibly the 1600's. During the ghost tour, we were told that in the back of the cemetery, there have been sightings of a woman in white and other hauntings since a flood scattered body parts back in the way. There's also a sign that you aren't supposed to go into that part. Of course, DH and I did anyway, and as soon as we got out of that part, DH's lip started to bleed out of nowhere.

Readings with Fatima: We both did a psychic reading just for fun. I would suggest going elsewhere. She certainly did say some accurate things, but the session was like five minutes long, which was too short for the price we paid.

Witch Dungeon: I loved this museum! You watch a brief acting out of a trial with some rather good actors. Then you go downstairs to see what being in the witch dungeons was like. It's very, very powerful. Be careful! There's a little bit of a surprise in the dungeon!

Witch House: I was a little confused as to what this was. However, it's the house of one of the judges from the time period. They have some awesome artifacts in there, and they have notes about remedies that they used to use back in the day.

Witch History Museum: You go on a tour of different scenes of the witch trials. I'm really into this stuff, so I thought it was really cool.

Angelica of the Angels: I went for a medium reading here. I just walked in off of the street and gave the man my first name, last name, and birthday, so there was no time for him to research me. I wanted my Gramps to come through. He said-pretty much right off the bat- that 'The person has a name that starts with L and ends with S. It's either Louis or (I forget what other name he said.' My Gramps' name is Louis, so that was pretty cool. He told me some other details, and I had no idea what he meant. He told me to ask my Mom about the details and she knew exactly what he was talking about.

Salem Witch Museum: This was a little bit like the Witch History Museum, except it went more in depth and you sat in a large room and someone read a presentation that went along with different scenes above your head.

House of the Seven Gables: This is a must if you're a Nathaniel Hawthorne fan! You get to go on a tour of the real House of the Seven Gables, as well as the home where Nathaniel Hawthorne lived for the first few years of his life. You even get to see the couch that Hawthorne sat on when he wrote both the House of the Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter!

HTH! Let me know if you have any questions!

Re: Val! (or anyone plannin a trip to Boston and/or Salem!)

Jenn, you are awesome!!!!! Thanks sooo much for taking the time to type this out!!!

Sorry you got sooo sick on whale watching ;/ I am totally gonne go through your list with my sisters and pick and choose a bunch of attractions!!

Thanks again Jenn!!!