Salem: A Haunted Town in Massachusetts
Published:
What would you think of if you heard the name Salem? Witches? Haunted? or Tourists trap? Let me show you what kind of experience I had there!
Before I went to New Hampshire to be a TA for the Thai Scholars summer camp, I got a few days off and had nothing to do. My friend, Purim, and I decided to go to Boston to visit our friends in Boston college. For some reason, we got so bored and searched for interesting places to go in Massachusetts, and Purim shouted with excitement, “Salem, let’s go to Salem!” Without hesitation, we booked a ticket to Salem and rent a house through Airbnb. It cost us around a hundred dollars for both the house and the roundtrip ticket per person.
By the time we arrived in Salem, it was around 4 PM, and the summer sun was getting low. We decided to throw all the bags in the house and started the journey before sunset! The entire town is full of witch statues and dolls. Some were like those pointy-nose witches you have seen in the movies, and others were like fairies.
This town is more like a tourist spot for American people around MA as we barely saw other Asians. That night we didn’t just go to bed because we were in Salem! We should befriend the darkness, right? Thus, we went for a night tour at 8 PM. There was still some light out, so it was not completely scarily dark. The guide’s storytelling was so amazing that everything seemed REAL!
“The guy told me sometimes he saw a headless ghost through that window…”
She kept pointing to the old, ruined, and dusted buildings. She told us which building was used for caging suspected people. To be honest, it was not scary at all, but the story was so much fun and exciting. If you ever get bored in Salem at night, please consider this option!
On the next day, we went to a random breakfast place. It was funny that one of the waiters seemed surprised to see these four Asians in town. After we were fully energized, we went to see the area outside downtown. Some places are not quite related to the witches and pretty costly, so we decided just to walk past by. However, we spotted a lighthouse near the beautiful sea area on the way back to downtown. That seems to be a good ending to the trip, but we forgot that we forgot to do something important! Yep, we forgot to visit some of the witch museums! We did not know which one is the best witch museum, so we just walked into the most scary-looking one. Inside, there was not much to do. There was no exhibition; instead, we were seated in the middle of the darkroom, still. Then, the show began. A spotlight went to each corner of the room, showing some scary scenes made of wax. It was short but quite worth it. Since the train to Boston was not there till in the afternoon, we decided to go to the Peabody Museum of Art, which has nothing to do with the witches. All in all, this town was great for a short visit. A day or two should be enough. Although many stories of this town are not so believable, I really like how they wickedly used their dull history for boosting their economy.
There are not many national parks that are ideal to visit in winter, except for those in the desert. For this Christmas trip, we chose three desert national parks, namely, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, and Joshua Tree. In addition to these, we also stopped by some of the most iconic landmarks in Arizona’s desert landscape, including Horseshoe Bend and Monument Valley. It was a dry, sandy, and breathtaking Christmas. One that turned out to be truly memorable for both of us.
Despite the polar vortex that swept through Illinois, we decided to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, driving from our home in Champaign. Along the way, we got to meet some friends in Cincinnati and Akron. In fact, we didn’t stop only at Cuyahoga Valley; we also continued on to see a much bigger set of falls in upstate New York—Niagara Falls. Everything was freezing cold, but the fresh snow somehow gave the entire trip a magical atmosphere.
Foliage season feels so fleeting to me, so Poy and I never really planned to chase fall colors anywhere beyond our university campus. But there are a few national parks that are especially beautiful in autumn, and we wanted to try visiting them at their peak. We followed the fall–color predictions closely and booked our flights well in advance to keep costs down. On this trip, we were lucky enough to catch vibrant red and yellow leaves in Shenandoah, New River Gorge, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks. We also had the chance to explore the beautiful wetlands of Congaree National Park before flying back home!
At the end of Summer 2025, we embarked on a grand tour of the northern United States. Our goal was to explore a mix of popular national parks and hidden gems across Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington. The journey took us through breathtaking mountain ranges and bountiful wilderness teeming with wildlife. Thanks to booking our flights more than six months in advance, we were lucky enough to fly directly out of Champaign, a perfect start to our adventure!