Friends on Essex Street. I’m the one second from the right in my new Ouji board-inspired jumper. Salem is forever linked to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693, which resulted in the wrongful hanging deaths of 20 innocent people and more than 200 accusations of neighbors against neighbors. Today, it is a mecca for people who feel “different” and want to celebrate their uniqueness.
“Travel” in the summer of 2020 demands a smartphone. In the touchless era of COVID-19, prepare to scan restaurant menus, museum audio guides, and tickets purchased prior to arrival. Or not, depending on the state you’re traveling through.
Recently, I traveled through Boston to Salem, Mass., where I hoped to visit family. Salem, also known as the Witch City, is one of my all-time favorite places. Banners hanging over the streets announce the “Salem Together Pledge.” This strategy requires strict compliance to certain guidelines in order to maintain the “shared goal of health and happiness in Salem.”
Residents are dead serious because they do have to protect themselves in order to keep their businesses running. Sanitizer flows like holy water at every store and museum entrance. Business owners greet you and immediately motion for you to use the pumps arranged neatly on table displays.
Only 15 miles from Boston, Salem is a small coastal city, population 41,340, that generates much of its income from tourism related to maritime history, Salem’s native son Nathaniel Hawthorne, and yes, visitors in pointy hats. October is, of course, the city’s highest-grossing month. August ranks second—in usual times.
When I arrived one Friday in late August, I immediately noticed the absence of daily witch trial reenactments on Essex Street. Witch shops closed earlier than usual. With less to do in the early evening, I wandered into Salem Common, a 17th-century green, where I plopped down far from others and peeled off my hot, sticky mask. To my surprise, volunteers in orange vests sweetly gestured for me to pull my facial covering over my nose and mouth. They were so nice about their request that I didn’t mind. Had I not complied, I could have faced a fine of $50, according to Salem.org.
Hotels
When I checked into the historic Hawthorne Hotel, usually filled with goths and Harry Potter fanatics, I found a line at the front desk with six feet between each guest. The wedding in the ballroom also used the Tavern on the Green so that the limited guests could socially distance while wearing masks printed with the names of the bride and groom. Because the wedding used extra space, I missed being able to grab a drink at the Tavern, a favorite of local politicians and colorful characters.
Usually the hotel offers free temporary membership to the Y, one of the oldest and best maintained in the country, but today that privilege is only for actual residents and not passers-through like myself.
Elevators, usually filled with pierced guests, were designated with a sign as two-person only. Rather than wait for the lifts, I took the stairs to the sixth floor, which has a reputation for paranormal activity. That’s where I chose to stay.
For guests staying more than one night, housekeeping staff clean rooms only when requested and then after checkout. (This is actually a great environmentally responsible idea that I hope remains. Who needs to have their towels and sheets cleaned after only 24 hours?)
Museums
An Alexander McQueen dress inspired by Elizabeth Howe, McQueen’s ancestor who was hanged for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. This fabulous dress was on display at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, not to be missed. During COVID-19, fewer crowds mean a more intimate experience with the collection.
Purchase tickets before you go, as you will want to get scheduled set times for your visit. Strict guidelines forbid crowds. Bring your charged cell phone in case you have to upload an audio guide, scan your ticket, or fill out additional paperwork without touching pens and paper.
Be prepared to answer numerous questions upon arrival, including: whether or not you have been in close contact or cared for someone diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 14 days, if you have exhibited symptoms associated with the disease, and if you are abiding the Massachusetts’ Travel Order requiring you to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival or be willing to self-quarantine for 14 days if you have traveled from any state other than New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, or Hawaii.
You get used to protocol. Staff are friendly and efficient about doing this once upon arrival.
Sadly, since tourism is down, many locations seem to be suffering, including the smaller witch- and pirate-themed wax museums so synonymous with the city. A silver lining is the gift of being alone in what might be a jam-packed venue.
Shops
At Wicked Good Books, you are asked to stand “six cats apart.” Now that’s just adorable. At Modern Millie’s only a few customers can shop at a time. Not a problem. I stood outside on the street. Waiting didn’t stop me from buying a Ouji-board-embroidered jumper that I viewed from the window before going in.
Tarot Card Readings
Gone are palm and tea leaf readings, usually readily available late into the evening on every corner. During COVID-19, the only fortune-telling service available is tarot card readings. I had mine read at Artemisia Botanicals, where Marcia, my masked reader, took me into a side room and had me sanitize before I even touched the cards.
At Crow Haven Corner, tarot readers have sneeze guards in front of their tables. None of this took away from the charm of the shop. In fact, a shopkeeper wore a sweet black cat dress that glowed in the dark of night. She stepped out into the street to demonstrate for me.
Notice sneeze guards on the tarot card tables at Crow Haven.
Restaurants
Here’s where I was disappointed. No one wants to eat off cardboard take-out boxes when dining on vacation in nice restaurants. I was so frustrated with the smartphone tipping and menu system at Turner’s Seafood Restaurant that I asked if the server could just take my darn credit card. He told me locals are used to the system, which makes sense. In my neighborhood in northern Manhattan, which I rarely leave, we have a way of doing things that makes sense to those of us living within a few blocks of each other. Rather than foodie meals, I stuck to ordering clam chowder at small shops and eating while sitting on the sidewalk curb.
Speaking of locals, reduced tourism puts the spotlight on residents, some of the most interesting people in America. Many can trace their ancestry back to the Salem Witch trials of 1691-1693.
Locals Rock
On Essex Street, I visited Jerry’s Witch City Consignment. Last year, during the Freaks and Uniques Fair, a fellow guest at the Hawthorne Hotel recommended it to all fiber arts artists. (That fabulous fair is cancelled this year, of course.) Displays aren’t fancy, but dig in to find working antique weaving looms ($200) and radios from any era, all reasonably priced ($38) by New York standards.
Across from Jerry’s, I had my hair cut at Moon Baby Hair Salon. I had overgrown COVID-hair and couldn’t stand how messy I looked. To honor my appointment, I had to fill out forms via email and then text outside the shop upon arrival. Once inside the funky shop, I was told to “stand on the Stevie Nicks” dot while the attendant took my temperature. My stylist, Brianna, was a lovely local with tattoos of Vampira, Frankenstein, and the Bride of Frankenstein on her arms. “I love Halloween,” she said. She gave me one of the best cuts I’ve ever had.
Tours
Salem still has multiple haunted and history walking tours advertised out of nearly every attraction, including Crow Haven Corner. But group outings are limited to 10 people as is clearly stated on the websites of businesses like Salem Historical Tours. I recently became a NYC sightseeing guide, so I was interested in how such professionals make a living and “write” their own tours or build on a standard model. I followed some guides around while wearing my best, cutest travel wear and mask.
There are sloppy-looking guides wearing wrinkled sweatshirts and crumpled vampire capes. Others look like beloved characters from books.
One of the best-looking guides, a plain-clothes Quaker in suspenders and broad hat, informed me that I was the most interesting person he had seen on the street all day. I told him I wanted to try doing similar small quality tours in New York. He promptly gave me his card that stated: “I’m Kenneth Glover. Who the … are you?” We met up for coffee the next day.
A tour guide in Salem who met me for coffee in the Hawthorne Hotel. I just became a tour guide in NYC and wanted advice.
In Nathaniel’s Restaurant in my hotel, he sat in front of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrait. With his blue eyes flashing, he informed me he had been learning about the Salem Witch Trials since he was a child attending a Unitarian church in nearby Beverly. He also took me through the Peabody Essex Museum where he has a membership. We spent a few hours together talking about the elements of a good story: something small to hold like silver spoons, quotations, and strong presentation skills. Meanwhile, we strolled through the museum’s Yin Yu Tang House, a former merchant’s resident dating to the Chinese Qing Dynasty.
Here we are in the Peabody Essex Museum’s Chinese House.
Other tourists
Never get depressed during a COVID-vacation, especially in Salem. When three fabulous women in witch hats asked for me to take their photos, we spent a half hour on Essex Street posing and laughing. “I love you!” we shouted at each other. “No, I love YOU.”
The women were songwriters. One of them had played Maureen in Rent on Broadway, But we never saw each other’s faces because we kept our masks on.
And here’s another thing, mask-wearing gets creatively competitive in Salem, as noted by this Aug. 14 article in The Boston Globe. You can buy monster faces with bungee cords, smaller rectangles emblazoned with witches over a Salem seascape, and endless arrays of masks with black cats. I walked around with a blue African mask face I purchased at the Peabody Essex for $12. The nose fits just right. Other tourists asked to take my picture.
That was worth it.
