My Salem Happenings

Yes, I have gone to Salem once again and much to my dismay, my trip has been defined by cellphones, starvation and a local she-beast from hell … and I flew all the way up here for this! Oh Lord, I really need your assistance for I really believed for a second that I would finally get into a physical altercation after this last encounter! I’ve reached my limit! Somehow it seems inevitable that my last visit would be to the Salem jail? Oh, traveling has been so hard on me as you have witnessed in my Salem blog (but I’ve loved every minute of it). Alas, I digress, let me tell my newest Salem story for 2017!

So, I sort of at the last minute decided to take another trip to Salem in October 2017. It has been five long years and I have missed Salem. The changes I made this time was that I would stay in Salem for three days and nights and then climb on my broom and fly to New York! In theory, this was an excellent idea but as most of my ideas go, some of them suck. I guess another question would be should I tell my New York stories here or create a whole nuther blog? Don’t you just love the way we talk here in southern Texas? A whole nuther … geez. Well anywho (stop it), another blog it is … a New York blog! I have taken so many photos in New York in my three times visiting there with my trusty camera, that it deserves it’s own home. (Pop Quiz: In what movie was an umbrella referred to as “my trusty umbrella?”). I even went to the top of the Freedom Tower/World Trade Center! But here I am getting carried away and I must talk about Salem, right? Right!

Just so you know, I traveled to Salem and New York a week before Halloween. That weekend would be the biggest celebration for Halloween and I was in New York. So, I’m here to tell you don’t ever buy your air fare in all one-way flights! I thought I would save some money …. which I did but I boarded 6 different airplanes! Now that’s 6 takeoffs and 6 landings. I didn’t think of that since I was so engrossed in trying to save some money. And when I realized it, I was crawling onto my first airplane. Too late now! Although I love the takeoffs and landings, they scare the shit out of me! Have you ever been that scared? Well, I have and it gives you the shits. So I rode a lot of airplanes with a lot of people. Only once did I get scared. The guy next to me screamed like a woman when something near the engine that was close to us suddenly shut off. Yes, we all keep a poker face when we fly, don’t we? See? I’m not scared. This is a piece of cake and I’m so brave … yeah right!

So I was up and down (4 times) and finally landed in Boston. Now I always take the same shuttle company to Salem and, yes, I’ve had some problems but no cause for alarm. Well, cellphones have changed all that. Normally the guy is standing there waiting. I mean he is always standing outside of his car looking for me and I can easily see him. Well, this time I did not see the guy and could not find him. I was looking around and around and suddenly this guy (big guy) rushed up behind me and yelled “Are you Janet?” I almost jumped out of my skin (you ever seen that on Caspar cartoons)? I yelled “Yes!” and I’ve just had my first Halloween scare. So he ushered me to his car which was parked out of sight. Hmmmm? Well the first part of the trip was just normal chit chat like always and then the conversation died. Why, you ask? Because this jerk got on his cellphone, yes, while he was driving me to the Hawthorne Hotel. Between Boston and Salem is a lot of residential streets, like a lot of stops. This jerk was texting, calling, talking the whole way and it got scary. He would run up on red lights and slam on the breaks. He was continually having to get back into his lane. Stop signs were a true challenge for him. At one point, he hung up and put the cellphone down. I took my chance and asked if he wouldn’t mind not using the cellphone while he was driving with me. “Oh, sure, sure!” He laid the cellphone down and then turned up the radio. Then he turned down the radio and picked up the damned cellphone again and went at it. By this time we were almost to the Hawthorne and I was so glad to get there and get away from him and his cellphone! I did tip him as I usually do. I know, I’m an enabler.

To say that I was unnerved is an understatement. I got out of the car and felt like I had just left a war zone. I did get into the Hawthorne and was so grateful to be there (yet again). I checked in and pretty much was disappointed with the room … not the Hawthorne’s fault, like I said, this idea was last minute. I was so tired but I decided to do some walking around. I actually got some good shots in the brief time before dark. It seems there is an exhibit at the museum that’s right up my alley. Music/horror movies at the Peabody Essex Museum sponsored by Kirk Hammett of Metallica. I always loved Metallica!

And, of course, like always, I hadn’t eaten that day and once I start walking in Salem, well….. You know? It’s a very crazy thing these days when I don’t eat for long periods. I literally start staggering around like a drunken old woman. I try to straighten it out but I just can’t. My head goes this way and my feet go that way. I am literally starving and too old to handle it! I walk and walk and at the last minute, I decide to walk all the way down to the Witch House. This is a bad decision. On my way back, I’m intent on getting to the pizza restaurant that I haunt. I’m walking on cobblestones which I have trouble with in the best of times. I almost eat it. I tripped on a cobblestone and almost go flying. Have you done that? My forward trajectory is so far in front of my feet I feel like an airplane about to take off. I’m literally running to keep up with my nose! I am doing this crazy lurching thing, I know I look like a sight. I’ve lost my composure, oh my gawd! After some anxious seconds, I regain my footing. Whew! Okay, I’m good ….. except this helpful idiot decides to come up to me and tell me he saw me trip. He was like, “Uh, I saw you do that.” Okay, and …. That’s all he said. He seemed sympathetic, not ugly at all so I say, thank you(?). He walks off. Okay. I can only surmise that he has done the very same thing and just wanted me to know that he has shared my experience? Hell, I don’t know, just get me to my pizza. Feet don’t fail me now! When I get to the pizza joint, my mouth is literally watering. I sit quietly and wait. I swear I will never let myself get this hungry again. I’m feeling woozy, sweaty. They finally call my number, ahhhhhhhhh yes.

And yet another day in Salem for me. I wonder what the next two days will bring? (shiver)

Love you all, Janet