Last fall I decided I needed a girl’s trip so I sent a text to many of my friends to see if anyone would respond.. to my surprise everyone responded. Apparently, all of us moms, wives and career women needed a break! When it came time to decide where to go, all of us being 90’s children decided since Hocus Pocus 2 was coming out we needed to take a trip to Salem and Boston!

Boston

I love the east coast and especially love the east coast during the fall. It’s beautiful and really gets you into that cozy autumn feeling.

This wasn’t my first trip to Boston, but it was my first girls’ trip to Boston. We decided not to plan to much ahead of time, however we did some research on restaurants and places to see. Just walking around Boston there is so much to see and do. We decided to stay in the Warf area at the Marriott. The walkability is great and the ferry is right outside the doors of the hotel making it very convenient for our day excursion to Salem. We ended up taking Uber’s a couple of times but for the most part the weather was nice so walking around the city was a good way for a large group to be able to break up and do different activities and stop in different stores and bars. Our first day walking in Boston we walked partially on The Freedom Trail. This is a walkable path through Boston that takes you to 17 historic landmarks, some of the highlights are Park Street Church, Faneuil Hall, and Boston Common. If you like history this is a great way to see the city.

Our first day walking in Boston we walked partially on The Freedom Trail. This is a walkable path through Boston that takes you to 17 historic landmarks, some of the highlights are Park Street Church, Faneuil Hall, and Boston Common. If you like history this is a great way to see the city. There are many large shops and small boutique store scattered throughout Boston. Ash and Rose is one that we walked into with beautiful clothing. Walking through the city with no plan we also stumbled upon the memorial for the Boston Marathon Bombing marks the locations where the two bombs occurred. They are lit up with a beautiful blue light and are right in the middle of the city when walking on Boylston Street.

If you have a beautiful day outside another fun place to visit is the Boston Public Gardens. If you have time this would be a great place for a picnic, to bring kids to run around or if you have time to yourself, find a bench and relax with a good book. The garden is also right across the street from the Cheers restaurant. If you are a fan of the show it is worth stopping inside. The set is still in place upstairs and is a nice cozy bar to grab a drink and a bite to eat.

We are all baseball fans and since there wasn’t a game playing, we still wanted to go and see Fenway. Little did we know that the Bleacher Bar would be open and full of energy. The bar is somewhat hard to find but once inside you are actually inside Fenway Stadium behind the field. You can look right inside and would be really fun during a game. I am assuming, during seasons with nice weather, this place is always busy so you may have to wait for a table but it was a great way to spend some time in Boston.

There’s plenty of bars and restaurants to try and we checked out our fair share. It was a girls weekend so relaxing and doing what we wanted, not on a timeline, was important to us. We decided to go to the North End a couple of days. Most of the restaurants are smaller, delicious and give you that cozy feel. If you are going to Boston having Italian food in the North End is a must. We went to Giacomo’s for dinner one night and loving it so much I actually came back a month later with my husband. It’s a family owned and operated small restaurant that had delicious food. One plus is that they will also let you cork wine bottles to bring home. Keep in mind that they only except cash, but do have an ATM downstairs.

Another spot we went to, at the recommendation of a bartender was 1928 Beacon Hill. This restaurant is tucked away downstairs which gives you a quaint feeling. The food is Classic New England American and absolutely delicious. I wouldn’t be taking my two year old here but is a fun spot for a girls night or date night.

The Details

To do

To Stay

To Eat and Drink

Salem

We took the ferry from right outside our hotel to Salem, this was about a 45 minute ride. It’s nice, as long as you have nice weather, and very convenient and comfortable. The ferry does drop you off about a 20 minute walk from the heart of the town so be prepared to walk or grab an uber. We first made a stop at some of the stores on the main street, grabbed a coffee and breakfast sandwich as Jaho’s Coffee and then grabbed our uber to get into town.

Being the Hocus Pocus fans that we all are we made sure to stop at all the famous spots from the movie.

Allison’s House is right in town that you can walk to and is also home to the Ropes Mansion and Garden. You have to buy tickets to go inside but outside is a beautiful garden around back that you are free to walk through.

Town Hall where the large party in the first Hocus Pocus is held is right in the middle of town. It is open for tours but you have to purchase tickets to enter. We decided to just take a few tourist photos and move on.

Thackery and Dannie’s house is a bit out of the way and you probably will need an uber to get there. This house is a private residence so we got out, checked out the house, took our photos and left. I am sure people come here all the time and that they are used to this but we didn’t want to spend more time then we needed.

Now if you are a fan of the actual historical parts of Salem, and not just Hocus Pocus, there is plenty to see and do. Throughout Salem you will see a yellow line painted on the ground. This line is the Heritage Trail and it will direct you to all of Salem’s main historical sites. The streets are still laid out as they were in the 1600’s and most historical pieces remain the same. The Charter Street Cemetery and Witch Trials Memorial are right next to each other. It is a bit eary walking through and seeing many thombstones with the same death dates on them as that is when there was a hanging in town. The Witch House, is another spot we made a stop at. It is located on the way to Allison’s House if you are doing the Hocus Pocus tour.

It is a bit odd seeing all th historical and sad parts of Salem right in the middle of a modern town.

One of the girls on the trip was in Salem the year before and recommended a restaurant that she really enjoyed. We made reservations, which I would suggest to do, at Ledger. It is a fun and trendy spot in the main area of town that is located in the old Salem Savings Bank Building. The cocktails have fun names like The Devilish Diva and Lotus Flower and also had a couple specials for the Halloween Holiday season. Another stop we made was Mercy Tavern. It is right by Ledger and a good spot to grab a drink. It’s pretty large and also has TV’s if there is a sporting event you need to catch.