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Showing posts from November, 2011

Rare Objects Become "Unbound" at Salem's Peabody Essex Museum

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NOTE : This exhibition ended in November 2012. Visitors to Salem, Massachusetts may go there lured by a curiosity to know more about the 1692 Witchcraft Trials but chances are good they leave with the knowledge that there is so much more to Salem than the tragic story of mass hysteria and people wrongly accused during a time when superstition and fear ruled the day.  For example, they may leave knowing that Salem is home to the Peabody Essex Museum (or the PEM as it's more locally known) whose origins date to the 1799 founding of the East India Marine Society by a group of Salem-based captains and supercargoes (officers on merchant ships in charge of the commercial concerns of the voyage) making it the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States. Home to one of the major collections of Asian art in the United States, the PEM's holdings total about 1.3 million pieces including paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, textiles, architecture and decorat

The Dining is Fine at Nathaniel's During Salem Restaurant Week!

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For the fourth year in a row, local restaurants in Salem, Massachusetts are participating in Fall Restaurant Week sponsored by the Salem Chamber of Commerce.  In an article in Boston.com , Rinus Oosthoek, the executive director of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, stated that following the rather hectic month of October, “It’s a welcome back to residents because residents tend to stay away from downtown Salem during October and this is a way to get them back and sort of reward them for all the trouble they see in October with the number of people and less parking, etc.” Technically,  Salem Restaurant Week is actually Salem Restaurant Weeks as it runs from Sunday through Thursday for two weeks giving people a chance to visit more of the participating restaurants that are offering either a two-course prix-fixe dinner menu for $15 or a three-course prix-fixe dinner menu for $25, or, in some cases, both options are offered. This year there are 21 different restaurants participating in Res

A Comfort Station of Historic Proportions

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If you've had a chance to knock around here at The Distracted Wanderer a little bit you'll have noticed the tabs just below the Blog Header that list pages with different things of interest that you can find here at the blog.  One of those tabs is titled "Comfort Station" and - though there aren't many there yet - it holds helpful links for those who may be traveling or thinking about traveling in the future. When I first developed the page I didn't have my own picture of the historic 1904 Comfort Station located in Milton, Massachusetts that I wanted to use so I borrowed one from Wikipedia with the thought that I would someday get over to take a photo or two of my own.  After all, Milton isn't really all that far and as someone who travels to the North Shore quite frequently, I didn't think that getting my own picture was going to be an impossible task. With that in mind, on my last trip up to Salem, Massachusetts to serve as a VIP Judge at the h

The 2011 Hawthorne Hotel Halloween Ball - THE Place for Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts

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A party might not seem like it would be a travel destination but it most definitely is when that party is held at the historic Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts and it's their annual Halloween Ball! It goes without saying that The Witch City - aka Salem - is one of America's top destinations for travelers during the month of October as the city rolls out its month long celebration "Haunted Happenings" with one special event after another including tours, haunted houses, psychic fairs, parties, children's events, theater productions, Halloween balls and an extensive list of activities for both young and old alike. Even though Salem has a very extensive maritime history and was once one of the richest cities in America due to its involvement in the East India Trade, it seems to be better known as the location of the 1692 Witch Trials during which time over 150 people were accused and arrested and 20 men and women were put to death - 19 by hanging and 1