Salem, MA was the center of the Witch Hysteria that led to 20 people being sentenced to death in 1692. In the intervening few centuries, Salem has become considerably more welcoming to witchcraft, goblins and the supernatural. In fact, their month-long Halloween celebration likely is the largest in the nation and includes a parade, costume balls, haunted house tours, live music, lots of decorations and of course, plenty of costumed revelers.

Jennifer is a Halloween baby and this was our first time back in the U.S. for her birthday since 2012. Halloween isn’t celebrated much in the places we’ve been to around the world, so it was especially fun to be in Salem for probably the biggest Halloween celebration in the country.

Trip highlights from October 30th and 31st, 2016 in Salem, MA follow. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps

10/30/2016

Sunrise Position: -70 42.99, 43 3.36 Beautiful sunrise leaving Portsmouth this morning.

Cape Ann Light Station Position: -70 33.31, 42 41.06 The twin towers of the Cape Ann Light station were built in 1861 and were the first station in the United States to mark a navigational hazard rather than a harbor entrance, and the last established under colonial rule. When the lightstation was built, technology didn’t exist to produce a flashing light, so two towers were built to distinguish the lightstation from others nearby. The north light was discontinued in 1932 after revolving lens systems made it possible to produce a flash of a distinct frequency to distinguish the lights.

Eastern Point Lighthouse Position: -70 40.11, 42 33.95 The first Eastern Point Lighthouse was erected in 1832. The current tower was built in 1880 and the keeper’s house in 1879. The light was automated in 1985 and is still active.

Power Station Position: -70 52.14, 42 31.30 The new Salem Harbor Power Station under construction replaces the power station on the right, in operation from the 1960s to 2014. The old coal-and-oil fed power station took over 16 hours to startup before generating any electricity. The new natural gas plant can reach nearly half it’s output in 10 minutes and a full 674-megawatt capacity in under an hour.

Fame Position: -70 52.19, 42 31.20 The schooner Fame, a replica of an 1812 privateer of the same name, out for a tour in Salem Harbor.

Pickering Wharf Position: -70 53.40, 42 31.19 Salem apparently doesn’t have a public dinghy dock, making visiting from anchor a bit of a challenge. But for $5 you can tie off at the Pickering Wharf Marina dinghy dock right downtown. This was cheaper than most of the car parking rates we saw.

Halloween Position: -70 53.11, 42 31.33 Salem’s month-long Halloween celebration likely is the largest in the nation and includes a parade, costume balls, haunted house tours, live music, lots of decorations and of course, plenty of costumed revelers. The city is expecting 250,000 attendees over the course of the month.

Witch Museum Position: -70 53.44, 42 31.40 The Salem Witch Museum tells the story of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, where twenty innocent people were put to death for witchcraft.

No Parking Position: -70 53.93, 42 31.35 We got a chuckle out of this no parking sign at a downtown church.

Crowds Position: -70 53.49, 42 31.19 Many of Salem’s downtown streets were blocked to traffic and thousands of people filled the roads and sidewalks. Every haunted house had a line-up of about fifty people out front.

Police Position: -70 53.35, 42 31.24 With so many visitors filling the streets, lots of police were patrolling the area. Who’d have thought you could get paid for celebrating Halloween riding around on a Harley?

10/31/2016

Finz Position: -70 53.32, 42 31.16 We had an excellent meal at Finz along the waterfront to celebrate Jennifer’s birthday. Like everywhere in town, every table was taken with costumes throughout.

Costumes Position: -70 53.46, 42 31.34 After dinner we walked through the jam-packed streets to take in the festivities and the costumes.

Happy Birthday Position: -70 53.43, 42 31.38 This is Jennifer’s first time back in the U.S. for her birthday since 2012. Halloween isn’t celebrated much in the places we’ve been to around the world, so it was especially fun to be in Salem for probably the biggest Halloween celebration in the country. We didn’t get elaborate costumes this year, but we used to have regular Halloween costume parties at our houses in Seattle and Toronto. Here’s a picture of us in 2007 with James wearing a homemade Greatest American Hero costume.

Fireworks Position: -70 52.02, 42 31.23 An excellent fireworks display capped off the evening, and the month-long Salem Halloween celebration. We had a great view from Dirona anchored in the harbor.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps.