Monday, November 30, 2015

Macy's Day Before Thanksgiving Balloon Inflation - NYC

 Wednesday Before Thanksgiving Macy's has a big Balloon Inflation Party at Central Park and Columbus Avenue at The American Museum of Natural History. It is so much fun watching the Balloon Handlers inflate them for their honor in flying in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I felt like a kid again and I have seen this many times before. I think the adults had a better time than the kids.....ok maybe not! At the end of the Parade Santa comes to Macy's and it is the official kick off to the Holiday Season. Stay tuned for a December full of New York Holiday posts.
Long winding lines very organized



Aflack Duck



Sponge Bob



Cool Aide

Wimpy Kid

Hello Kitty

In front of the Museum of Natural History

Thomas the Train



Elf on the Shelf 

Snoopy

Me Daniela and Joe selfie

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

The Parker House in Boston


When I visited Boston with my niece Daniela I was trying to get in lots of different experiences in a short weekend and so we met my cousin Bridget at The Omni Parker House, one of the oldest hotels in the US. Located at 60 School Street - Boston, MA.  The Parker House is where Jackie said "YES" to John Kennedy. Story goes that he proposed someplace else and she said "I Will Answer You later After We Eat I am starving" and the Parker House became a "landmark" at table 40 where it all began. The Parker House has the best "Parker Rolls" they now do a regular and whole wheat together. They are wonderful. Parker House invented the famous Boston Cream Pie and can I tell you this was Amazing!







Friday, November 6, 2015

Salem for Halloween 2015

The Weekend Before Halloween my niece Daniela and I went to Boston. I had been lots of times but she had not and wanted to go into Salem to get the whole Salem Witch Halloween experience and so we went. We took the Bus and had the Best Driver called Bob. Bob was so knowledgeable in the History of Boston and Salem he made the ride so interesting and wished we could have him just be our guide once we got dropped off. Salem was bustling with witches and warlocks and had a street festival and fair. On our Bus we met a Young Lady from CA Amanda who joined us on our adventure to explore Salem. I wish we had more time there or that we stayed at a local hotel. There is always next year!






Built in 1668, this is the oldest surviving 17th century wooden Mansion in New England. Nathaniel Hawthorne's Cousin lived here and this is where he was inspired to write the book The House of the Seven Gables. Years later Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birthplace built circa 1750 was moved onto the property.







Very Cute Chalked Mermaid


This Statue of Elizabeth Montgomery as Bewitched the famous nose twitching TV witch was placed here at Lappin Park in 2005 by TV Land. In 1970 Bewitched TV studio had a fire they needed a 6 week location and chose Salem. The people of Salem did not like this statue or the representation and mockery of the witches but I personally think it is cool. Obviously people love it because to get to take pictures of it there were tons of people.



Stickwork is an outdoor sculptural installation created by Artist Patrick Dougherty
Roger Conant the Founder of Salem

Salem Witch Museum

There was a craft fair and we bought these cute mouse on a broom 

This is the actual Badges Design for the Salem Police




Real actors perform a scene from an actual Witch Trial


This is an original beam that was in the original Witch Dungeon everything else was replicated to the actual sizes of the Dungeons.



No words

We stopped by one of the oldest cemeteries in North America. Off of the Cemetery there is a Memorial dedicated to the Witch Trials. A stone represented each of the 20 people. 19 people were hung and 1 pressed to death. I found it fascinating that there were pennies and coins on some of the stones and in The Witch Memorial there were flowers or a little gift from a family member. (you will see below)


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Giles Corey was pressed to death


A paper Mache of Bernie Sanders running for President

everywhere you look there was something cool and interesting


Me and the scary witch casting a spell on me


Pirates climbing ropes on a parking lot wall 

Red's Sandwich Shop is where we had our lunch. Usually lines are over an hour long but we waited until we were done seeing everything and the lunch crowds were down. We had this amazing Thanksgiving sandwich that had turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce and a dash of "Thanksgiving Love"! We had to try the Bloody Mary and that too was wonderful. Ok I am sure the Pilgrims did not do Bloody Mary but I figured we were in Salem and there must have been a witch name Mary and oh so bloody.... The building that houses Red's was called The London Coffee House and was built in 1698. It was the meeting place for the Patriots before the American Revolution.

Allison's House from the Movie Hocus Pocus



Old Town Hall Hocus Pocus Movie - our new friend Amanda and my Niece Daniela
Old Town Hall exterior was used in the Movie Hocus Pocus for the location of the Halloween Party Max and Dani's Parents were at. The Old Town Hall was built in 1816 and is the oldest surviving municipal building in Salem.

First Church in Salem 1629