Are you scared? Let's all those feelings of terror and…read moretension fall aside? We are going to do this together. Hand in hand, we are visiting here and Salem ! This is my first, I said "first" haunted house. We just wandered up and went in . Not even realizing that it's a haunted spooky place. After you pay the price of entry. You are given the rules. I'm ready! The kids are ready ! Are you sure you're ready? The scare is about to begin . At eat turn an eerie noise rings in my skull! The sounds are loud and unclear. One of the twins is holding onto me. I lead the way . All sorts of fog and spook at every moment and turn. We are going to survive to see the end of this. Finally we make it to the end . Ahhhh we can breathe . We survived the haunted house . Yay !

I went in with a young friend who was seeing her first haunted house, and she was nervous. The…read moreguide found out it was her first one and offered her a free broom-shaped pen to commemorate the experience. I was very impressed with the character he was playing as the guide, a great mix of trustworthy and spooky. We made it about halfway through before the sudden loud noises were too much for her, and the guide didn't miss a beat when I asked him for help leaving. He found a good spot to ask the rest of our group to wait and then used the big prop lantern to guide us back. He immediately dropped the spooky character and went back to being kind and encouraging. I wish I could have seen the rest of the haunt because I was enjoying the effects! But I had to give major props to them for making sure we were safe and happy customers.

The International Monster Museum in Salem delivers some solid jump scares and a good collection of…read morecreepy animatronics featuring all kinds of monsters and horror creatures. The setup is entertaining and definitely has moments that will catch you off guard, especially if you're easily startled. The museum itself is on the smaller side, but the pricing is reasonable enough for what you get. One odd touch was being handed a lighted lantern to carry through the exhibit -- not entirely sure of the purpose beyond adding atmosphere. If you scare easily, be prepared, because some of the jump scares are surprisingly effective. Overall, not a bad quick horror attraction to check out while in Salem.

If you're a fan of the strange, spooky, or creepy this International Monster Museum is a must…read morevisit! The moment you step in, you're greeted by the cool staff dressed in costumes. As soon as you walk in there is a collection of cool props that really bring the world of monsters to life. From detailed sculptures to eerie set pieces, each display shows a lot of creativity & attention to detail. What makes this museum especially unique is its focus on mythical monsters. It's not just your standard horror fare here, you get to learn about creatures from folklore, legends, & myths from all over the world. The exhibits are both entertaining & educational, giving you fun facts alongside the spine-tingling visuals & well-timed scares. Overall, it was a really enjoyable,fun experience!The museum strikes a nice balance between fun & informative, and you can tell a lot of care went into curating the displays. Whether you're a longtime monster fan or just curious, it's a spot that will leave you intrigued & maybe a little spooked in the best way!

It was perfect. The music and mannequins really completed the vibe. And the fact that all the…read moreexhibits hold genuine artifacts really shows how much commitment went into the history of the exhibits.

While we were visiting the City of Salem. We wanted to find something to do or experience while we…read morewere in town. We looked up the map and found this interesting Salem Museum of Torture. Curious minds brought us to this interesting and cool museum. There was a nice gentleman that was working at the time, he helped us decide if this was something we would have a great time exploring. He wasn't wrong. It was an interesting experience to say the least. After we paid for our tickets, he explained that we can stroll thru there at our own paces. There is no time limit here. You can go through there fast or take your time to read, and take in the history of all the different torture apparatuses they had inside the museum. We find it fascinating how they used to use these devices to torture people back in the days. Glad we aren't living in those times. Can't imagine the suffering they used to go through. It was a very interesting visit. Glad we at least experience it once to learn the history and the stories behind each device. After you are done, you can head back up and check out their gifts shop. It was a great and interesting experience. If you happened to visit Salem and is curious about torture devices, definitely stop by and experience it for yourself.

A trip to Salem for spooky season and a love of all things local theatre brought us to The Gedney…read moreHouse for Poe! Theater in the Open. This is a 'pay what you will' event put on by a local theatre group, highlighting some of the works of Edgar Allen Poe at a historical New England home from 1665, but my review is for the home itself. Gedney House is one of several properties on the roster for Historic New England, and is being refurbished to bring it back to its former glory. MUCH more interesting than the 7 Gables property stealing the limelight nearby, this was a very nice walkthrough without the throngs of tourists packing the rest of Salem.

Saint Peter's Fiesta is a staple of Gloucester, greasy pole competition included! It's a 5 day…read morefestival that brings out the whole family. It's absolutely packed, from the restaurants, to the vendors, to the rides, to the beach. I used to come to Fiesta when I was younger, and it had been 15 years or so since I've been, so I returned. * Your experience of Fiesta is completely dependent on who you know or go with. It is a very different experience for locals and tourists, and both have their pros and cons. I went on a couple rides, it was $20 and the ticket booths take cards for an extra charge. I had so much fun and I never went on the rides before. The staff were nice to let me get on as a single rider instead of waiting in long lines when there was space available. I went on Sunday, so the boat race was rescheduled for Monday since it was completely foggy. You could hear people cheering and partying from their boats but you couldn't see them. The weather was bizarre, but it didn't stop the crowd. I ended up trying Tonno's after, and it was the perfect place to end the evening.

We were in town for a celebration of life last year on Father's Day weekend and the town was…read morebuzzing about this Fiesta celebration. We decided that we wanted to come back this year to see what the fuss was all about. I have to say I didn't have any crazy expectations for this event and wasn't sure really what to expect but it was so much more fun than I thought it would be. Everything from the greasy pole competition on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, to the carnival rides, games and food, to the late night drinking celebrations at the various bars by the wharf to the parade. It was all so much fun! I love that this small fishing town gets together for this crazy tradition. Check it out if you haven't before. Look up the YouTube videos of the Greasy Pole and see why it would make for a fun weekend getaway.

2009 was my first time going to this fest, and we walked right in. No line. No wait. No trouble…read more 2010 was an entirely different story entirely. We waited outside in the cold for nearly 2 hours, just to get in... to taste an array of pumpkin beers... to go out to celebrate Halloween... to sip, sip, sip and savor... Was it worth it? Was it worth the 2 hour wait in the freezing cold? Was it worth the $10 cover charge? Was it worth the $20 cost in tasting tickets? HECK YES. Next year, I'm dressing up as the Michelin tire mascot. This way, I'll be really, really warm for the come-on-just-let-us-in-already wait outside.

According to its website, the Boston Veg Food Fest has been running for 23 years. I attended the…read morefestival for the first time in October. Oddly enough, there wasn't much online about what to expect here. The fest was held at Gillette Stadium and mostly featured commercial vendors (versus food vendors). While the indoor venue shielded festival goers from the cold, it made for really close quarters. The festival was jam packed from the moment we stepped in the door. That's the major drawback here. This venue is too small to hold such a widely attended event. I need room to breathe! The Veg Fest in Las Vegas mostly revolves around the food, so I was a little disappointed that there weren't more food vendors here. Don't get me wrong, there was Taco Party, Belmont Vegetarian Restaurant and Tofu Hut from Worcester, and 2 dessert vendors. The line for a world famous donut vendor was allegedly hours long - I skipped waiting in that line and got a cookie sandwich from the alternative dessert vendor with no line. Since there's so many commercial vendors there were plenty of freebies and samples to go around. I'll definitely come back next year, although I hope Veg Fest finds a larger venue. YELP'S 2018 REVIEW CHALLENGE: #34

My mom and I toured Beauport when we visited Gloucester for a day a week or so ago and it was one…read moreof the many highlights of our Cape Ann trip. The house was built in 1908 as the summer home of interior decorate and antique collector Henry Davis Sleeper. Sleeper designed this unique house, where he lived until his death, when it was bough by Charles and Helena Woolworth McCann. They preserved most of Sleeper's designs and decor (making only a few modifications) until their heirs donated the house to Historic New England in 1947. The house is full of incredible decor: a kitchen that utilized 17th century paneling from his mother's ancestral home, a central hall with an incredible amber glass cabinet, a dining room with incredible views of the Harbor, an Octagon Room, and so much more. We reserved our tour ahead of time, and three others joined our tour. Our guide was wonderful, and we learned so much about this unique house, Henry Davis Sleeper, and the McCanns. Our time in Gloucester was wonderful, but Beauport was one of the highlights of our time there. It's a really incredible house, and I'm so glad we had time in our itinerary for a tour!

My girlfriend and I toured Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, on Friday, August 8th…read more The house was beautiful and we enjoyed the wonderful interior designs, but unfortunately our tour was tainted by our rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional tour guide. Shortly upon beginning the tour, our guide, Alberta Hill, made an extremely rude and uncalled-for comment, slut-shaming and embarrassing my girlfriend in front of the entire tour group for her clothing. Her outfit was not that revealing- it was a hot day and she had on shorts and a tank top- but even if it were, it would not grant a tour guide the right to treat a guest in this manner. It's sad that what was otherwise such a fun experience was impacted by an insensitive guide who made my girlfriend feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. It's disappointing that Historic New England would employ someone with such an old-fashioned mentality, someone who would go out of her way to police another woman's body and enforce traditional gender norms. This is especially troubling to see at the Beauport Sleeper-McCann House, a space that was once a sanctuary for the queer Henry Davis Sleeper and a pinnacle of early individual expression. I would expect those employed by the Beauport house to reject moral conservatism and embrace personal freedoms and expression, but sadly Alberta did not.