The Marauders: Trip to Salem

The Marauders is a feature where Book Yabber, Marci from The Plot Bunny and I will showcase our bookish adventures around New England. Whether it is a bookstore or a library, we wanted to discover new places to share with the bookish community. We each took an Animagus form. Can you guess who is who and what animal is each person's Animagus?

On Saturday, April 16th, Marci, Elizabeth and I met up in Salem, MA. Salem is known for the Salem Witch Trials but is also know for other things. Salem is rich in history and has some of the best shops and restaurants around. Red's Sandwich Shop, which is one of the best places for breakfast in Salem. Seriously, this is where the locals go. I ended up getting a delicious Eggs Florentine.

After a delicious brunch, the Marauders decided to venture to The Trolley Depot, which is a good place to check out fandom mugs, Salem related souvenirs and more. Wicked Good Books is the local bookstore in Salem. They have new and used books and once in awhile, they host author events. Elizabeth, Marci and I were fortunate to attend the Halloween Teen Scream event back in October at the Hawthorne Hotel. If you can't find a title that you're looking for, Wicked Good Books will be happy to place an order for you.

The Coven's Cottage is the place to go for your apothecary needs. From Nettle to Mandrake root, you can pretty much find anything you need for a spell or potions. The Marble Faun Books & Gifts is a cute little store full of books and gifts. We definitely found a lot of bunnies around the town. Marci has been counting how many bunnies are in Salem and this is definitely a place to find a bunch of bunnies. However, we did find a place that has a room full of bunnies but more about that later.

Afterwards, we ended up taking photos of Stickwork which is a Peabody Essex Museum stick installation created by Patrick Dougherty, which located across the street from the Hawthorne Hotel. This is a fabulous piece of artwork and also great area in Salem to take photos. Marci's black and white photos are amazing and it have the right amount of eeriness to them. Stickwork in black and white definitely reminds all three of us of Kim Ligett's Blood and Salt. If only Stickwork was made out of corn stalks.

Remember Salem and Wynott's Wands are the places to go for your Harry Potter needs. Remember Salem has everything Harry Potter related from books to T-shirts to aprons.You can even get Butterbeer here. Okay, it's Butterscotch soda but it's the closest thing you can get to the Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Remember Salem also a small selection of Doctor Who and Game of Thrones fandom items. There's even a Crown & Shield Hall in the back of the store for those who want to host an event such as a birthday party. Complete with a Great hall decor, the Crown & Shield Hall has a potion room attached.

Wynott's Wands is the like walking into Ollivanders. Not only are there wands at Wynott's, but other trinkets such as wax seals and candles are sold here. The lady working at Wynott's definitely is super nice and was very mystical. We even saw two birds named Bill and Fred. This is a good place to take dueling pictures too.

Photo Credit: Random person using Elizabeth's phone

Dueling | Photo Credit: Marci

Our next stop was at the Jolie Tea Company. This new tea store/cafe is the best place for tea in Salem. Not only can you buy loose leaf tea by the ounce but you can have afternoon tea or Le Petite Tea. The ladies and I opted for Le Petite which includes a pot of tea of your choice, one scone, one madeleine and one macaron. I chose Gyokuro Jade Dew tea, a lemon scone, a plain madeleine and an Earl Grey macaron. Remember those bunnies I was mentioning earlier? Well, Jolie's bathroom has decked out with bunny wallpaper. I think we lost count of how many bunnies we found in the city of Salem.

Photo Credit for Top and Right Photos: Marci

I felt bad because I drank so much tea. Pretty much I was scouting out for a bathroom after popping into Five Hands Curiosity Shoppe. Sorry Elizabeth and Marci. I have a bladder the size of a pea. Five Hands is part museum and as the site mentioned, "a menagerie of dark, macabre antique, vintage, oddities and unusual items from all over the world." It hard a very eerie vibe and the punk/metal music there definitely reminded me of my high school days.

After Five Hands, we headed to the Old Burying Point Cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Salem (1637) and contains the graves of witchcraft trial judge John Hathorne and a Mayflower Pilgrim. Most of the gravestones are weathered, are hard to read or are cracked but there are still some intact. Marci was super sad that her favorite tree is now part stump :(.

During our trip into Salem, the ladies and I visited Silver Moon Comics and Harrison's Comics & Pop Culture. I love looking at all the latest comics, graphic novels, manga and pop culture items such as Funko Pops and figurines. Elizabeth fell in love with all the Star Wars items and Marci was eying a Snow White poster. I definitely need to complete my collection of Sailor Moon manga soon. Elizabeth found a Jules, the miniature mechanical horse from the book, Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell. Let's say that we always find things that remind us of books.

Overall, the Salem trip was very relaxing and the Marauders and I walked over 4.5 miles. There were a lot of places that we didn't end up going to but I am pretty sure we will visit Salem again in the near future.

If you want to follow The Marauders on social media, please check out the hashtag, #TheMarauders3, for pictures about our bookish adventures. We solemnly swear we are up to no good. Mischief Managed.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth