You're My LOBSTAH!

October 3, 2015

After resting from our train ride extravaganza, Jason and I awoke ready to explore the beloved city of Salem. We began, as one always should, by eating breakfast. The B&B we are staying at is called the Salem Inn. It is partly like a hotel and a B&B. Tons of privacy but has the feel of the B&B and the free breakfast. We got ready for the day, walked down the long staircase, and out into the street. The hotel has a breakfast room just to the right of the hotel. Below is a picture. It's actually the basement of the hotel.

The room was packed. Apparently there was a wedding taking place. As luck would have it, there was just one table by the entrance still left. Jason and I grabbed our food and water and got comfy. Below is a picture of my food:

Jason with his:

Me with mine:

After the delicious breakfast--amazing corn cakes, by the way--we went back to the room to brush our teeth. We placed the sign on our doorknob as best we could--it was an old fashioned latch--to indicate we needed the room cleaned. We left with our jackets (it was roughly 50 degrees and very windy) and began walking on the brick and cobblestone sidewalks toward Essex street. Just around the corner of our hotel was an antique shop. We decided to pop in and take a look. Jason was looking to purchase an old safety razor from Salem--he collects them. We saw old furniture, scary Halloween decorations, a pile of mannequin legs, but no safety razor. There was a straight razor, however, which Jason is still debating.

After shopping, we continued down the path toward Essex street. Once there we saw the hustle and bustle of Salem on a Saturday morning. There were shop vendors selling canolis, fried dough, hot dogs, jewelry, hats, Halloween decorations, and so much more. Street performers lined the walkways--musicians, dancers, singers, and costumed Salemites, desperately longing to take pictures with you for tips. We walked up and down the market until lunch time.

We headed toward our favorite hot dog shop for lunch on Washington street. The Boston Hot Dog Co. It was delicious! We were happy to see the very same man from 5 years ago behind the counter, asking what we wanted on our hot dogs. It was like stepping back in time. Below are pictures:

My hot dog:

Our shared root beer:

The view from inside the hot dog shop:

We left the hot dog shop and headed toward the market once more. We came across this and thought it was pretty funny. In case you weren't aware, this trash can is not art:

This bee trash can, is art:

We've learned that Salem is very big into the arts--performance, paint, etc. There is a trash can near the Salem Inn with bees painted on it. That trash can, is art. We continued walking down Essex. My nose became cold and the feel left my ears from the icy wind. Although the hurricane will not be hitting us, it does create windier weather, not to mention that we are right on the bay. We spotted the Peabody Essex Museum as we walked. We immediately went in. This was something we wanted to do on our last trip; however, we were stereotypical broke newlyweds. We entered, paid, and began looking at the Native American exhibit. I was stopped by a security guard and informed I needed to check my bookbag (although it was really a purse). I left and immediately did so, not too upset to be carrying around less weight. We went back to the exhibit where the man thanked me for checking it in. Below are pictures of the museum:

All the pictures above were from the sailor portion of the museum. The wooden man standing on Jason's head was a previous ship's figurehead. We saw quite a few. There massive and beautiful. You can see these things all over Salem, since it is known for it's nautical history.

Below is a sculpture I thought very cool looking. It's either a sculpture or a very very large paperweight.

This teapot says "Stamp Act Repeal'd" and is from the late 1766 (the actual year that it was repealed).

The picture below is called  "Unemployed College Graduates." This hit home for Jason and I, as most of our generation has spent massive amounts of money for an education that cannot be utilized. We have been lucky, but most have not.

 Jason and I visited one particularly exhibit (Strandbeest) that was utterly amazing. It was the Theo Jansen exhibit. He creates what he calls "beests" and lets them lose on the beach. He is consistently working on them, and gives the fossils--beests he does not wish to help maintain anymore--to museums. He is constantly working on his process of "evolution" and is currently trying to create a beest which will survive on it's own, without being nursed by a human. Here are Pictures:

Below is a video of the beest operating. We were able to see a demonstration while at the museum:

After this exhibit, we went to the Chinese Exhibit. Jason and I bought an additional ticket to see the Chinese House. The "Yin Yu Tang" house. We met a museum working near the entrance and were handed two head sets. He then led us into a special area of the museum where the house is located. It is literally a house. We were unable to take pictures, for reasons known to the museum alone--my guess is money. It is a home that belonged to the Huang Family and was originally built around 1800 in Huang Cun Anhui Province in China. Roughly 20-30 people would stay in the home at one time. 8 Generations lived there over the 200 years. It was last inhabited in the 1980s and took 8 months to move it to Salem. They also used the same building methods that were used for when the home was originally built. It was a very beautiful home. There was a courtyard that you walk into, which held two Koi ponds in this courtyard which held decorative fish; however, if someone was getting married or a festival was going on, they would put other fresh fish in the pond which they would serve for the special occasion.

We saw each room, who it belonged to, and heard how each item in the room was used. Many of the items were original to the family/home. One of the rooms upstairs actually had a coffin in it. Jason was ahead of me on his audio. I looked at him and saw this horrified expression, but wasn't sure what it was about. He told me I'd find out. A few moments later, I heard. He laughed at me when he saw the same horrified expression.

Each room in the top and bottom of the house, overlooked the courtyard. The roof, also, was slanted so that rainwater could pour back into the koi pond. It was made so that the rooms and home was breezy. Another interesting thing the home had, were posters of Mao in each room, which was a requirement by the communist government. Also, there was a pink radio in one of the rooms that represented the loud speaker in town which could never be turned down or off. It would play music or political announcements and could be heard easily from the home. Another fun fact... they said that women who married, would move in with their spouse and his family in a home like this. The man would be a merchant usually and leave for years at a time to do trading in Shanghai. That's a rough first start of marriage... "Hey honey, here are your in-laws. Bye..." Pretty cool exhibit.

One interesting thing to note: why the museum has so many Chinese artifacts. The sailors from Salem would do most of their trade in Shanghai, which meant a lot of them brought back a great deal of Chinese artifacts. The people from Salem then started the museum and had a great deal of Chinese objects to displace. They have continued this tradition ever since.

After this exhibit, we went to American history section (particularly the nautical part). Here are pictures:

This picture above was off a huge boat. It looks small in the picture, but it took up most of the wall.

After the museum, Jason and I continued to walk around Salem. We revisited many of our favorite spots from our honeymoon and took similar photos as from on our honeymoon. Here are pictures, with their 5 year counterpart pictures:

Us at the Commons:

 2015

To the left: 2010 (Honeymoon)

To the right: 2015 (5 year anniversary)

To the left: 2010
To the right: 2015

We revisited the Old Burying Point Cemetery--the one we love most of all. Here is a picture of Jason exactly like the one from our honeymoon.

To the left: 2010
To the right: 2015

Below is another picture of the Cemetery. Love this place! It was way more packed with people than we previously remembered. Partly because we arrived in Salem on a Sunday instead of a Saturday last time. We also arrived after the 9th (our wedding day) and this time we arrived before the 9th. Nevertheless, I was able to get a picture with few people:

Below: me at the cemetery:

After reliving the past, we decided to enjoy the present with ice cream and cocoa. Aztec Cocoa from Maria's Sweet Something. Here are pictures:

My Apple Crisp ice cream (which I split with Jason):

Jason's Aztec Cocoa (Which he split with me):

We enjoyed our ice cream and then revisited the Town Hall of Salem. This is one of my favorite spots in Salem. Sadly, we are arriving in Salem a week earlier than the last time we visited, so the leaves aren't as yellow as they were five years ago. Still beautiful though. Here are pictures:

To the left: 2010
To the right: 2015

After visiting the town hall, we went back to the hotel and relaxed and blogged before dinner. We decided dinner should be lobster. I have never, not in my entire life, eaten lobster. Today was the day. Jason found the Lobster Shanty which is a staple for Salem. Fresh lobster right off the bay. We walked in and were told it would be a 15 minute wait. We sat down on a bench outside and got comfy. About a minute later, the waitress came back and said she forgot there was already a part of 6 waiting, so it could be a while. A long while. We decided we still wanted to eat there, so we just picked the table outside. It was a cold night, very windy, but we were bundled up and comfortable enough. Below are pictures:

I love how pretty it is here! Below is my lobster. Fyi, I'm now a murder and I loved it!

Jason and I voted not to wear the bibs, although this turned out to be a mistake later. Jason has had lobster earlier but never a whole one and never this fresh. Jason says it was very different and less salty--it was good. We read the instructions on how to eat dinner (never thought I'd say that before). I ribbed and cracked and pulled it apart. Suddenly, I saw slime and green gunk erupt from the lobster. I panicked thinking his brains were leaking and he was somehow a zombie lobster. Turns out that part is normal--I don't exactly agree with the "normal" part, but whatever. It was still amazing. I had no idea lobster was so good! That butter sauce! Yum!  Below is a picture of Jason at the table:

Me with my lobster:

After finishing as much lobster as we could, we asked for the check. Jason noticed the waiter's name on the check was Samuel L. Jackson. Who'd of thunk!?  Below is a picture of the Lobster Shanty:

On the way back, I took a picture of Maria's Sweet Something. So pretty at night here!

After lobster, Jason and I agreed we wanted something sweet. We were hopping for Dunkin Donuts, but ended up at the Salem Screamery beside the Boston Hot Dog Co. We came to this same ice cream parlor 5 years ago, but it was then called Ben and Jerry's. Turns out, Salem Screamery took over. We split a cup of ice cream. One scoop Maple Bourbon (ooooo so good!) and one scoop pumpkin (again, ooooo so good!)! It was packed. There was no seating left. We stood by the wall and enjoyed our ice cream together. Here is a picture of the outside of the shop (the shop on the bottom left of that building):

Jason with the ice cream.

After ice cream, we returned to the hotel. End of a beautiful day in Salem, MA.

Before I end this section, however, I should mention one final event that occurred on this night. We were just finishing to blog and getting ready for bed when Jason and I began hearing loud noises from a room nearby. It was the sound of a terrible argument between two guests (a man and a woman). We got nervous. Jason got up and checked that our door was locked. The arguing continued to get louder and louder. We heard doors slamming and someone yell "Unlock this door!" I asked if we should call the police but wasn't sure what to do--in order for the police to even get in the building, we'd have to go through the arguing to let them in (the owners leave and lock up for the day). We weren't sure what the safest option was. Luckily, another guest also heard the noise and was close to a door outside. Jason looked outside and said that someone was standing at the front door of the hotel. We assumed it was whoever was yelling and slamming the doors. We heard another hotel guest calling the police and giving our address. We watched the police drive up. We heard them talking to our neighbor and get the description of a car and license plate number. It didn't last long, but for a moment it was a little scary. Not another peep was heard all night and peace was restored thanks to the Salem Police. I should mentioned here that the police in Salem have very special uniforms--on each badge and on the side of each police car is a symbol of a witch on a broomstick. I love this town!