Recently I was blessed with a new job that provides me with great flight benefits SO of course, I had to make my way to Massachusetts for the Fall.

The first time I visited both Boston and Salem it was the month of September, which provided a stark difference to my visit this October – could this be attributed to by the new Hocus Pocus movie that came out? or is TikTok solely to blame for the sudden increase in popularity? OR could it just be because its Spooky season month? Not sure, possibly a combination of the three – but, all I have to say is it was really freakin’ crowded in Salem. Read along so you could avoid the crowds or find a way to get lucky despite the wait.

If you’re going to stay in or near Boston in October I highly recommend booking your place months out. It gets really pricey.

Salem recommendations

• Food & Bars:
  – Turner’s seafood: We had a few cocktails, oysters and calm chowder – definitely get the clam chowder!
  – Flying saucer pizza: They had run out of dough when we got here! Such a bummer, it’s supposed to be delicious though.
  – Gulu Gulu cafe: we had some beers and watched some live music, they also coffee and breakfast!
  – Red’s sandwich shop
  – Opus: for sushi
  – The Derby or the Ugly mug for breakfast
  – Mercy Tavern for drinks
  – Notch brewery and beer garden: totally love this place
  – Goodnight fatty for cookies
  
  
• Things to Do/See:
  – See the Bewitched statue
  – Pioneer village
  – The Salem Witch museum: I recommend buying tickets in advance
  – The Witch house
  – Old town hall
  – There’s a bunch of cute and fun little shops: Go to the Witchery and make a broom; Black Veil Shop
  – House of 7 Gables
  – The Hawthorne Hotel : (this is a haunted hotel, if you don’t know)
  – Witch trials memorial
  – Take a haunted walking tour
  – Conner’s Farm
  – You could go see the Hocus Pocus spots, I liked the movies but I’m more interested in the history so I didn’t
  
  
  

Boston Recommendations

So we stayed in Boston and I’m not 100% sure if this is factual so don’t hold me to it, but we did not pay for public transportation at all. We tried to pay one time and the man working just scanned us through and somehow we never came in contact with a place to scan a card or anything so I’m not sure if that’s just how it is or if we just got lucky. BUT you can get on a bus from the airport and it will take you into the city – I definitely wouldn’t order an Uber here!


Things to Eat/Drink
– Saltie Girl: On the pricier side but yummy lobster rolls!
– We had a pint and a delicious shepherds pie at Mr Dooley Tavern, they had live music!
– Loretta’s Last Call: We split the Truck Stop Breakfast which was SO much food and so tasty.
– Neptune Oyster
– Stanza dei sigari
– Cheers: touristy but, some people love it
– Roxy’s Grilled Cheese
– Galleria Umberto


Things to See/Do:
– Visit Fenway Park
– Go see where the tea was dumped into the Harbor at the Boston Tea Party; Bonus: you can try several different teas here, including the one that was dumped in the harbor!
– Visit Paul Revere’s House
– Take the ferry and see the city
– Freedom Trail
– Sam Adams Brewery
– Boston Public Library
– Visits Harvard Campus
– Quincy Market