Not-So-Spooky Salem #5: Salem Willows

Any regular reader of this blog knows that this post was a long time coming. In fact, I'm sure a lot of you were wondering when this was going to pop up.I'm actually kind of surprised by that as well. I think maybe I wanted to showcase some of Salem's other offerings before I immediately began gushing about my favorite place in the entire world. For anyone who HASN'T been following this blog regularly that place is the one and only Salem Willows Park.

It's hard to put into words just how much this place means to me. One part of me wants to share it with the world so everyone can enjoy it and have fun. But the other part of me wants to be selfish and hide it away in my pocket or something so no one else can have my happy place. Which is impossible I know. But I can dream, right? ;) 

Generations of families have been enjoying the shady willow trees and concessions here since the late 1800's. It's practically a staple for North Shore families to visit over the summer. There is something for everyone at the park! Whether you come to play some of the old-school arcade games, go for a stroll down by the water, play on the curiously hard mini-golf course (yes they  have a full 18 hole mini-golf course), or if you just want to have a BBQ or picnic, you can do it all and more! The only real downer about this place is that they're only open seasonally between late April and mid-October. But that is to be expected since the park is situated right on Salem Harbor. Playing Skee-ball in 30 degree weather is probably no fun at all ;). See, you October-only tourists might be missing out on one of the best parts of Salem right here. 

   

I have many fond memories of the Willows, especially ones involving my Nana. When I was younger, my family would always make  it a point to come to the Willows at least twice every year. Everyone would arrive around opening time and we'd have a little picnic lunch before we went to play all the games and go on the rides. As a kid, it was all about the games and the tickets and the prizes of course! But now that i'm older, I've grown to appreciate the full experience. The sea breeze, the food, the atmosphere, everything. Sadly, the family trips don't happen as much anymore. Everyone is a sicker, older and now without Nana it doesn't really feel the same. But Yeti and I have been trying to do our part to keep the tradition alive. We held our wedding celebration here as well as our first anniversary/my 30th birthday party. (Thankfully, Nana was still there for those :) ). 

And that's partly how my fondness for Salem began. I always knew as a kid coming to Salem meant fun, happy times were on their way! As a teen, I found more reasons to love the city from all the cool spots to hang out and places to eat. Finally as an adult I realized what it meant to have a happy place and for me that special spot was Salem. To be able to share that spot with Yeti and with all of you MAKES me happy! Helping others see the fun and beauty in this place is the whole point of this blog series :). 

I hope I can reach at least one of you October visitors with this. Come on up and see the rest of what Salem has to offer. Outside of the Downtown area ;).  

Not-So-Spooky Salem #4: Witch City Consignment

Can you tell I have a strange obsession with vintage consignment and antiques of all kinds? I can't help it. Yeti and I both love things that are older and have character and a history behind them. I guess it's a good thing we live in Salem, huh? ;) That's why when we came across Witch City Consignment we were kind of excited! What better place to help furnish our new apartment!

The store is massive! They even have a basement level that they open up when the main floor starts to fill up with product. The whole shop is a giant menagerie of nostalgia. It's part antique store/part thrift shop with an inventory ranging from beautiful gently-used furniture to piano rolls. Yes pianos rolls. Like for an old school player piano!I'm always very impressed by the furniture selection whenever I go in there. The prices are fair considering some of the items. Yeti and I actually bought an oak table from them with a set of 4 chairs for $140. That's a pretty sweet deal! If we would've gone to Jordan's or Bernie and Phyl's, who knows how much that would have cost us! Even if we don't have anything in particular to buy, it's fun to just go in, look around and see just how many strange things we can find. Like this shelf full of typewriters:

Seriously,those signs make everyone want to play with them....

And my adorable new Halloween tree:

That's also the oak table we bought in the picture :). 

If you're a sucker for old-world style and furnishings like me, hold onto your wallet when you walk into this store. It's hard to walk out empty handed. I really was not planning on buying that Halloween tree but I couldn't resist! You've gotta act fast if you see something you like at Witch City Consignment. It could be there one day and sold the next! It's shopping at places like this that have ruined shopping malls for me. Sure I could go by a bookshelf at Target that is way overpriced and cheaply made, but it would be the same bookshelf everyone else has. Maybe just in a different color. It would have no character or life of it's own or story to tell. The items in stores like this most likely ended up there at the end of someone's life or because they wouldn't fit in someone's new home. They obviously held significance at one point. Why shouldn't they go to another good home to be enjoyed and support a small business at the same time? Or even better maybe at a store like the Goodwill or Salvation Army whose profits go to a good cause. Thrift stores are awesome and Witch City Consignment is one of the best around.

If you happen to stumble upon it during your October trek and you like what you see, make sure you come back and see them during the off-season. We'd like to keep them around until next Halloween season  and for a good long time after that ;).

Not-So-Spooky Salem #3: The Engine House

Aaaaand i'm back! Sorry, I was a way for a few days. I was ::ahem:: a little busy this weekend:

But more on that later ;). For now, let's get back to business, shall we? 

When I was in my late teens,  I started coming to Salem more regularly on my own. Some of my fondest trips were spent going to Harrison's (which i'll talk about in a later post) with one of my good friends at the time, picking up some comics and then heading on over to the best pizza place in town for lunch. The two of us would walk in, order a large extra cheese pizza and some pepsi's and read the comics we just picked up. At the end of each trip, we would generally leave only one lonely slice of greasy deliciousness left on the tray. Two 19-year-old, 110lb, 5'2" white girls would just gorge themselves on pizza and walk away leaving the staff stunned. How in the hell did we eat all that pizza and stay so damn small?  Ahhh, those were the days of awesome teenage metabolisms. It'll probably catch up to me in my old age but i'll be fat and happy and full of awesome pizza, dammit! To this day, I don't think I've ever had a more delicious pizza than at The Engine House on Derby Street.

(photo credit to the Engine House website!)

Now don't get me wrong, I truly believe there is no such thing as a bad piece of pizza. Even if it's mediocre store-bought frozen pizza. There's something about the combination of pizza dough,sauce, cheese and whatever topping you could possibly want that's just a delectable fiesta when it hits your palate! Am I wrong? And nobody seems to do that better than the Engine House. Maybe it's the mix of spices they use, or the cheese blend or the sweet sauce but the end result is absolutely to die for. It even brings back fond childhood memories for Yeti! He's a South Shore native having grown up down in Dorchester so when I first brought him to Engine House, he was quite surprised when what he tasted was very similar to a place he used to order from with his family called Roy's. He was so excited to finally find a place of comparable taste! I think that's when I knew it was true love ;).  

The only problem I've ever had with the place was that they don't deliver too far outside of Salem which is understandable. They're not a chain after all but I think that adds to their charm.The pizza where we used to live in Medford was just o.k.. Did we drive up to Salem just for pizza sometimes?  Yes. Yes we did.  And it's that drawing power that always kept me coming back! Of course now that we're residents, we just have to walk out our front door and down the street. But you might find if you give Engine House a try, it may not be your cup of tea. There are plenty of other options throughout the city! There's Damatas, Georgia's, Mandees, The Flying Saucer, Salem House Of Pizza, the list goes on! Find your flavor here in Salem. There's something for everyone :)

I'll leave you today with a fun fact about Engine House to pique your curiousity though. Horror fans will no doubt recognize the joint as one of the locations used for filming in Rob Zombie's latest film "Lords Of Salem". But no need to worry, there's no threat of the Lords coming back to town anytime soon ;). Unless they want really great pizza of course! 

Not-So-Spooky Salem #2: Modern Millie Vintage and Consignments

Over the past few days since I came up with this blog idea, I started compiling a list of "all-things-awesome" about the city of Salem. There is actually enough to keep me going for everyday of the month! Now let's see if I can actually keep up with writing a new post for everyday of the month. I've  With a list that big, it was hard to figure out exactly where to begin. As I sat here at my desk at my grown-up job, I started people watching as I normally do. I couldn't help but notice some of the atrocious wardrobe choices of the day. Anyone who knows me well knows that I kinda despise modern fashion as a whole. I hate going clothes shopping for this very reason. I can never find anything I want to buy. Leggings and acid wash jeans and off the shoulder big sweaters. Egads, it's like we've never done this before, people! 

But that's when it hit me! I knew exactly where to start! My go-to place for clothes! If you're looking for a spot to find fun, vintage threads at a reasonable price and if you like stores like The Garment District, why not give Modern Millie Vintage and Consignments a try! They're located at 3 Central Street in Salem which is right off of the pedestrian mall on Essex Street. They also have a second location in Newburyport. The stores should be pretty easy to spot considering they always have such jaw-droppingly gorgeous window displays like this one:

(photo credit to the store's FB page)

I really and truly have a hard time leaving this store without a bag in my hands. They have everything! Here you'll find beautiful vintage dresses (I actually bought my wedding dress here), fun skirts, hats for all occasions, gorgeous shoes, gloves, scarves, vintage aprons and even old school lingerie! I'm talking legit heavy satin nightgowns, folks, not your grandma's flannel nightdress ;). The staff is always super nice and helpful too. Living a 5-minute walk away from the front door of this place has been dangerous for my wallet! If it wasn't for those pesky bills and rent getting in the way, I'd be in there every day! 

So next time, instead of hitting the mall up the road for some new threads, why not give Modern Millie's a try? You won't be disappointed :). 

Not-So-Spooky Salem #1: An Introduction

Well, well, well, what have we here? A new blog? What is this madness?

To be completely honest, I haven't had much to blog about recently. Nor have I really had the time! Between my grown-up job, my grandmother getting sick and dying and Yeti's grandmother dying, there hasn't been too much that has been inspiring me to write. But about two months ago, Yeti and I finally got the opportunity to move to Salem! Finally! After wanting to live there practically my whole life, we officially became Salem residents in August. Now that we have our own space and are getting back to normal after the move, I feel like my creative juices are starting to flow again. I even took a brief hiatus from cakes! Brief though, not long term ;).

For the past few weeks, i've been toying around with writing something. I had a few brief flashes of inspiration for one of my never-ending passion projects There were a few fun story ideas that ann through my head brought on just by daily life in general but nothing seemed to be sticking. Nothing felt right.  It wasn't until I started noticing the increased amounts of traffic and tourists around my neighborhood that I realized what I needed to be writing. It's something that I would think about every time I came to town before I even became a resident and something that will probably stick with me until I leave (which is hopefully never). Why is it that Salem only gets an influx of love in the month of October?

Is it because peopIe equate witches and psychics = scary/Halloween fun? Is that really all there is about the city that is bankable? It may be hard to believe but there was a time when the city didn't really make a huge deal out of its notorious history. That's thanks in part to an episode of Bewtiched back in the 70's where the Stephens family comes to Salem for the "Centennial Witch Convocation" and are soon plagued by shenanigans. Then it all went downhill from there. Or uphill depending on who you ask. So thanks a lot, Samantha Stephens. 

Although I guess in a way the town I know and love so much often shoots itself in the foot in this respect. But I mean that in a good way! If it brings revenue and visitors to the city then why not promote the hell out of Halloween as much as you can, right? However it's this very reason that causes people to forget Salem exists for the other 11 months of the year. It's like it disappears off the map! The crowds don't seem to have any other reason to come here which is sad. My city is far more than some haven for all things terrifying and spooky. Granted that part is fun, but my city is also friendly, vibrant, charming, beautiful and full of life for the other 334 days of the year! There is so much that people are missing by limiting their visits to just one month. 

So my goal with this blog series throughout the month of October is going to be to highlight some of my favorite things about the city as a new resident. Now I know I've only lived here for two months but I've been coming to Salem my whole life as more than just a tourist. I have very fond memories of this little seaport town. The happiest times of my life were spent here with some of my favorite people in my favorite spots. This city has given me so much that I feel like it is only fitting that I should try and help the town out a little and do what I can to support tourism throughout the year in my own way :)! i hope you'll continue on this fun journey with me throughout the month! 

With any luck I may just keep up with posting on a regular basis once this is all done but only time will tell ;).