Going to Salem,Ma for Halloween - Best things to do

[3boymthr]

the play is called 'Cry Innocent' (my bf, btw, is a direct descendant of Brigid) and they still did it last spring. It's really fun and interesting.

It gets reallly crowded the closer it gets to halloween. Me, personally, I wouldn't do it but I'm old an far*y now.

Gloucester is very close by...worth a drive to see the Hammond Castle and they also do schooner cruises and whale watches outta Gloucester. 2 weeks ago we saw 3 whales and a HUGE blue fin tuna doing flips in the air.

I second Hammond Castle. It's been years since I've been there but it was very cool.

 

[Disneyaunt4]

The best advice I can give you - if you're driving - is to follow the designated electronic signs to Salem and stay off of my street, so I can get home from work hassle-free every night

Check www.hauntedhappenings.org
www.salemweb.com/HH/
www.salemhalloweencity.com

I feel for you, we live in a neighboring town and when October comes we avoid driving in Salem. Did go through this weekend and already a lot of delays. My advice would be get to your hotel, leave your car and walk to everything.

 

[dakcp2001]

OP- how old are the people with you (are there any kids?) and where will you be staying? I also say go to Kowloons if you have a chance. Bring a camera and wear a GOOD COSTUME! I love Salem on Halloween such a good time.

 

[Rafiki31]

http://www.hauntedhappenings.org/dailyevents.php

 

[plummer925]

We are in Maine and go to Boston a few times a year - Hilltop Steakhouse is a MUST STOP for us each visit (our next Boston visit is TOMORROW!! )

Since I said it was a must stop for us, I have to tell you about my experience on Sunday!!!

We went to Hilltop on Sunday and got the WORST food we have ever been served there!! I ordered the prime rib and hubby ordered steak. At most restaurants we order either "medium" or "medium well" (we like pink but not bloody meat). Our waitress recommended medium well. I also ordered shrimp cocktail.

My shrimp cocktail took about 10-15 minutes to come out, then it took ANOTHER 40 MINUTES to bring our food to us (it was EXTREMELY slow there, people wise, there were no more than 30 tables with people in it - at a restaurant that every other time I've gone has had BOTH dining rooms FULL and food took 1/2 the time!!).

The prime rib and steaks were SO overcooked that the steak was BLACK charred and the prime rib was shriveled (I have NEVER seen a prime rib do that before - it was awful!). When she came back to check we told her they were not cooked properly and she said they were!!! Ummm...NO they were not - these were OVER well done - we ordered medium well. They were black on the outside and completely dry! She said she'd bring us new and was mean about it (I mean sarcastic and rolling her eyes!). We said never mind, since it had already been an hour since we arrived, and please just charge us for the salads (since it came with salads) and shrimp cocktail. She rolled her eyes again - took the plates to the manager (who was standing at the entrance, and was only 3 tables away so I could see/hear) who said "I don't want to deal with it, take it to the kitchen" .

She came back about 10-15 minutes later with a slip and said "well, we won't charge you for the steak, so here is a bill for the shrimp only" and dropped it on our table, turned on her heal and walked away.

We were stunned.

Okay, I watch a LOT of cooking shows and I do think that we, as consumers (as a whole), do expect more from restaruants because of the shows, but REALLY!?

What should she have done?! Well, start by being nice, and she would have saved the sale. If we insisted on sending it back and not getting another, there could have been 2 things that would have made us go back as customers (we have been customers there for 15 years) would have been 1) Have manager come and talk to us - maybe even insist on getting it right at no cost or 2) Comped the entire check including the shrimp (yes, the shrimp WAS fine, but the TIME that we waited for everything was not).

Just a little bit of niceness and compassion will go a long way.

Oh, and we did tip her - not a whole lot - $5 just because it seemed the right thing to do - but she WOULD have got $20 had she been nicer (even with the error - it started as a cook error, but ended as a 'fail' all the way around).

So, I don't know right now if I can recommend the restaurant to anyone. Had this been our first visit, we never would step back in again. I am not even sure if we WILL go back again ourselves....