Oh, my aching ass!! Hate the bed – love the shower!
On this day I set out to take photos of the beautiful mansions on Chestnut Street. My purpose? To look for Coffin Doors. Yes, you heard that right – Coffin Doors! In the old days, there were no funeral homes to take care of everything when someone died. The families had all the death festivities at home. The front door or Coffin Door was really a normal door and a third. They were really a 3-part door big enough to make it easier to remove the coffin and the body out of the house for burial. Here’s a photo I took of said door-type. Sort of creepy don’t you think?
Anyway I go back to Red’s for breakfast. Looking cool again. This day … a silver glittered tunic with black capris underneath, purple and black stripped socks to my knees and ankle-high black suede boots. Today, a little different reaction from people. They are looking but it’s not really friendly. From the women, they slide their eyes up and down me and then it’s kind of a “Why didn’t I think of that?” attitude. The guys ARE talking to ME! How strange. They don’t talk to me in Houston at all. It’s all looks …. it’s the clothes. I’m always the same person. I’m always Janet!
Some of the attention I’m getting is kind of scary. I am alone after all and I’m walking all over this busy town taking pictures with an expensive camera or two. I’m being careful. I spy some house builders up ahead, one of them stopping to look at me a little to long, a little too hard. I turn around and walk the other way. I spy another guy walking towards me. I don’t like his looks. I step out into the street and put a couple of parked cars between us. If he grabs me, I’ll bite his balls off. I ain’t kidding either! Teeth = balls, that’s the ticket!
I then make my way around to the Howard Street Cemetery by the old Salem jail. I can’t get in this one and I don’t feel exactly comfortable here. I don’t know why, it’s just that something gives me the creeps here. I’ll be on my way thank you very much! But before I go, I snap some photos of the houses here and guess what?! One of these photos gets featured in the Salem Tourist Guide 2011 and that’s it there on the left! Good gawd, who would have ever thought that would happen!
I now wind my way around to the Witch House, my favorite house here in Salem. I do love the Witch House! It looks like a witch house but guess what? There’s never been a witch in it! It’s all hype. One of the judges of the witch trials owned it and lived there but there were never any witches there. Well now that sounds kind of dumb. There were no witches at the witch trials either! I’m a dumb ass. Anywho, I go inside for my first time and spend quite some time and get lots of pictures. The guy that works there likes what I’m wearing and we joke about me dropping glitter in the Witch House. At least I’m leaving something he can remember me by. I make a point to move some of the artifacts a little out of place here and there. Mark my territory I guess you’d call it. I haven’t been called a witch my whole life for nothing, right? Right! Now there’s been a witch in the Witch House …… kidding!!
Speaking of the Witch House, check this photo out that I took in the Witch House. Am I going crazy or does that look like the image of a witch’s face in the artifact? Do you see it?”
As I’m walking back to the Hawthorne, I see this guy with long hair, a black duster coat with a shovel thrown over his shoulder. My kind of guy! As I walk by him, he falls in next to me and starts walking with me all the way down the Pedestrian Mall. Turns out he’s a Salem tour guide and asks what I’m doing tonight and why don’t I come to the ghost tour. I say I just might do that as I notice that he’s got just about every other tooth missing. On second thought ………. As we are walking and talking, I mention to him where I’m from and that I have a friend who has a popular ghost tour in Galveston, Texas that does very well. I mention that there are a lot of ghosts in Galveston what with the 1900 Hurricane and all and the guy reminds me that a lot of people have died in Salem over the years as well and loses interest in me and kind of wanders off. Can you say competition? Too funny! At least our guy in Galveston has all his teeth!!!
Ahhh, still walking down the Pedestrian Mall… My meetup with the gravedigger was fun but I got the chills from a funky friendly vampire who so reminded me of the head vampire in Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. I’ve actually got this guy hissing at me and trying to bite me on video which I will try to get up at some point. A photo here will do quite nicely for now.
Also too, I had a bit of a run in with Frankenstein on this very afternoon during my walk through Salem. Ho, hum, just a typical day on the Pedestrian Mall!
Look see! There goes the Bronze Witch! Oops, no, she can’t walk, she’s a statue, but there she is. I love her to death!
I had a wonderful romp with the squirrels in the Howard Street cemetery along my way. Don’t they have an interesting place to live?! They seem to be looking at me right in the eyes which makes for fabulous photos as you can see. Always, with the camera ready!
What a fun day this is. All these wonderful monsters and wild animals greeting me as I make my way back to my hotel. And now I am back to my room, I enter, glare at the bed. Gawd, I’m exhausted and these boots are killing me! Being beautiful is hard work! I’d like to go do another harbor tour but I’ve got to go rest and that’s just what I do. The streets are quiet again tonight in Salem but this will be the last time for several nights now. Watch out, Halloween weekend is almost upon us! I now go run a luxurious bubble bath and decide just what adventure will I have next!
Luvs,
Janet
I was also able to get a few pictures of the Witch Memorial and the “The Burying Point” cemetery which I’ve included below. The Cemetery Tour was so up my alley and the things I learned were awesome. Our Tour Guide loves Salem and is a true historian of Salem’s troubled past. I will have much more on the cemetery and the Salem Witch Trials so be looking for it in this Blog. And too, I don’t know if y’all remember me telling you but the movie “Hocus Pocus” is one of my very favorites and it was filmed in Salem. I found many of the locations and there’s “Allison’s House.” Cool? Yup!
My Salem Happenings 