Vacation Week Isn't Over Yet

If you're home with the kids this week, you're probably going a bit stir-crazy.  The weather has not been conducive to outdoor fun, and the kids (at least in my house) are getting a bit stir crazy. 

Well, vacation week isn't over yet, and there's lots to do in Salem that will keep you out of the elements.  Here are a few ideas.

Ride the red trolley.  Salem Trolley tours are awesome for all ages.  Younger kids who might not understand all of the historical nuances will just love being on the trolley, and older kids will appreciate Salem's diverse and dynamic history.  When you disembark from a trolley tour, you will be one-hour richer in Salem trivia, and full of facts on topics including Monopoly, the US Coast Guard, Salem's original sea wall, where Alexander Hamilton almost got to dance, and why doors on Chestnut Street are slightly wider than usual. 

Your trolley ticket is good for on-and-off shuttle service all day, too, so you can use the Trolley to visit the New England Pirate Museum, Salem Maritime, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, Salem Willows (trust me, you need popcorn from Hobbs), and the House of the Seven Gables.

Drop into the Peabody Essex Museum for Art Activities to benefit Disaster Relieve in Japan.  Join the PEM for a celebration of Japanese art and culture this week.  There are drop-in activities (included with admission) all week, and on Friday students from MassArt's Boston Origami Project will be on site creating Origami cranes and fund raising for Red Cross emergency relieve efforts in Japan.  For complete information and a schedule of activities, visit pem.org. 

This Saturday, April 23rd is Junior Ranger Day at Salem Maritime, the National Park in Salem.  This is a great opportunity (and, frankly, excuse) to take the kids to Salem Maritime and celebrate all of our National Parks.  There will be free, Ranger-led programs for kids of all ages between 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM at the Salem Visitor Center, on Derby Wharf, and on board the tall ship Friendship. The Junior Ranger program is a great way to engage your kids in the national parks.  It's fun, and kids who complete the tasks can earn a Junior Ranger badge. 

There's always the old standby of taking the kids to the movies. CinemaSalem is showing Rio this week, which is a film made for School Vacation Week.  It's animated.  It's funny.  And the kid's concession combo only costs $5. 

All of this exploring is bound to get the kids hungry, so here are a few options for food:

Diner-style, enormous servings... eat at Reds Sandwich Shop.  The pancakes are enormous, you'll only need a half-portion of the Mac & Cheese, and for adventurous eaters, the daily specials are $6.95 and market-fresh.  Located on Central Street, a block away from a Trolley stop.

Pizza... Essex's NY Pizza and Deli provides quick counter service for pizza, subs, sandwiches and salads.  It's located inside Museum Place Mall, so you are a short walk from both the PEM and CinemaSalem.

Italian... you've got to try Caffe Graziani for the fresh pasta in a family-friendly environment.  Located on Washington Street, just a short walk from the closest trolley stop (use the rear entrance to make it shorter!).

Seafood... try the new Seaport Cafe on Derby Street at the entrance to Pickering Wharf.  The seafood is fresh and they will event get some veggies onto the plate for the kids! 

So, if you need activities for the rest of vacation week, look to Salem.  For even more ideas, visit the Calendar on Salem.org.  Enjoy the rest of the vacation week.  Grab a sweatshirt and a rain coat or a poncho and you'll be having so much fun you won't notice the weather!  

Salem Stores Raise the Roost!

 

Two of Salem’s community-minded stores, Roost and The Beehive, are hosting the city’s first Gimme Shelter Birdhouse Auction on May 1, 2011 at 5 p.m. The event will be held at the 40 Front Street location with all proceeds from the auction benefitting the Northeast Animal Shelter (NEAS).

Owners Kate Leavy and Jamie Metsch are teaming up with the NEAS on a project they have deemed to be a “shelter for shelter” fundraising event.“As owners of three former shelter dogs, we’re happy we can support a cause in our community to which we relate so closely,” said Leavy. “The Northeast Animal Shelter is so committed to these animals, and we’d like to show our appreciation.”

Earlier this year, Leavy and Metch sent out a message to mobilize local artists to design and build beautiful inspiring birdhouses for donation. The birdhouses could be functional or ornamental-- as long as they fit through the door. “We plan to showcase the birdhouses in our front window one week prior to the event,” said Metsch. “This is going to be a lot of fun for a great cause.”

Hors d’oeuvres will be provided by local Salem restaurant, 62 Restaurant and Wine Bar featuring well-recognized chef Antonio Bettencourt for all event guests.

The Northeast Animal Shelter provides safe shelter, food, and healthcare to rescue animals in the North Shore area.  The Northeast Animal Shelter is located in Salem, MA and is one of New England’s largest no-kill animal shelters. 

Roost and The Beehive are located in downtown Salem, MA at 40 Front St.  Roost features and original mix of art, furniture, gifts, accessories, lighting, jewelry, and bath products.  The Beehive, Roost’s sister store, is located at 38 Front St.  Both cater to local artisans and promote sustainability and the freedom of expression. 

Learn to make pasta from a pro

At his one and only visit to 62, my son took one bite of the pasta and declared, "I shall never eat pasta from a box again."  Well, he hasn't been so lucky.  Here is a class, however, that could make pasta-lovers' dreams come true.  Learn to make pasta from a pro. 


A great way to spend a Sunday...

For more information, visit 62Restaurant.com.

New Salem Museum Celebrates Preliminary Opening

After almost two years of rigorous research and design, the long-anticipated Salem Museum will welcome the public to a Preliminary Opening featuring eight of the eventual thirty themed display panels, a presentation and tour by the Museum Planning Team, and a reception.

The Preliminary Opening will take place on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem, as part of the Old Town Hall Lecture Series. Tickets are $20 general admission, $10 for students, and may be purchased at oldtownhalllectures.com. Tickets will also be available at the door.

“The Salem Museum will be an entry point for visitors -- an overview of Salem history, if you will” says K. David Goss, Museum Project Director and Assistant Professor of History at Gordon College. “Our goal is to heighten people’s awareness of the richness and diversity of Salem’s history through this relatively simple visitor center, and then send them on their way to real sites.” From the museum, visitors will have ready access to Pioneer Village and the play Cry Innocent, both presented by Gordon College’s Institute for Public History.

The Salem Museum will fill the large, colonnade gallery on the first floor of Salem’s historic Old Town Hall. Visitors can take a leisurely stroll through over 400 years of Salem history, starting with Native American settlement, through European settlement in 1626, to the present day. Displays include vibrantly colored text-and-image panels, objects, models, and reproductions.

The display panels visitors can expect to see at the Preliminary Opening on April 21 include:

• Founding of Salem 1626 
• Revolutionary War 
• China Trade
• The Pepper Trade
• The Civil War 
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Frank Poor and Sylvania
• The Great Fire

The remaining twenty-two panels will be unveiled when the completed museum opens on Saturday, June 11, 2011. The Grand Opening will coincide with the 1630 arrival of Governor John Winthrop and the Arbella fleet to Salem, and with the seasonal opening of Pioneer Village.

“This will be a very family friendly museum,” says Ken Harris, artistic director. “We’ve included information about the lives of young people during the past four centuries, and provided fun, interactive activities.” The museum panels will also be available in Spanish translation.

For information on the Old Town Hall Lectures Series: oldtownhalllectures.com

For information on Gordon College’s Institute for Public History: gordon.edu/public-history

Cinema Salem Showtimes for April 15-22 (Rio is nearly here!)

Beginning Friday, CinemaSalem will be showing:

Rio (G)

The Time That Remains (NR)

Arthur (PG13) 

Hanna (PG13)

Here's what CinemaSalem has to say about the films...  
 

"Rio is a joyful celebration of the great city and the glorious plumage of parrots. It is also the most enjoyable animated film since Toy Story 3D," writes the London Globe and Mail, and HitFix concurs: "With Rio, it feels like this filmmaker (who was born in Rio himself) has made something with that extra added bit of personal passion, and maybe that's why I found it to be one of the most enjoyable things the studio has made."

Rio opens Friday at (4:20), 6:45 and 9:00; Saturday at (11:45 AM), (2:00), (4:20), 6:45 and 9:00; and Sunday-Thursday at (11:45 AM), (2:00), (4:20), 6:45. 

Hanna won over the Denver Post: "Hanna plays out as a visceral fairy tale about a naif discovering a world both fascinating and dangerous," as well as New York Magazine: "What keeps us hooked is Ronan, a young actress of seemingly limitless abilities, and the tension she creates between Hanna's inhumanly agile body and quizzical eyes, which turn cold only when she pulls the trigger."

Hanna will screen on Friday at (5:10), 7:30 and 9:50; Saturday (12:15), (2:45), (5:10), 7:30 and 9:50; and Sunday-Thursday at (12:15), (2:45), (5:10) and 7:30. 

Mr. Katy Perry rules the box office this week as the voice of Hop and as the live-action star of Arthur, which has sparked something of a controversy among critics. Kurt Loder writes in Reason Online: "The most hysterical thing about the new Arthur is the instant wave of hatred it has drawn from the nation's 10 million movie reviewers," while Reeling Reviews dubs it "a perfect remake vehicle for British comic Russell Brand ...in his most winning cinematic performance to date." If all the critic vitriol stems from nostalgia for the original Arthur, we'll let Richard Roeper have the last word: "It would be impossible to top the original Arthur but this modern version is a consistently funny and sweet." 

Opening this week in the Screening Room is the extraordinary The Time That Remains, which has won critical raves from all over the world. If "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and "slapstick humor" have never been mentioned in the same sentence before, the time has come. The Hollywood Reporter loves it: "Seven years after Divine Intervention, director Elia Suleiman returns with more humorous-sad stories from his native Palestine, couched in the ironic autobiographical language at which he is grandly adept", and the New York Post agrees: "Another Palestinian director dealing with the same events might rant and rave. Not Suleiman. He knows the power of well-conceived humor." 

Portraits and Easter Biscuits at Penelope's

Penelope's Pet Boutique has two fun events coming up this week.  On Thursday, April 14th, Corrina will be offering Pet Portraits ($15 sitting fee per dog).

On Saturday, April 16, Penelope will host her annual Easter Biscuit Hunt, which is a ton of fun for dogs, and their two-legged friends. 

 

Penelope's Pet Boutique is located at 99 Washington Street.  For more information, call (978) 745-0566.

School Vacation Week program at the Phillips House

The Phillips House is celebrating a century of the Phillips family at 34 Chestnut Street in 2011. Celebrate this milestone with your family during April vacation week by viewing Phillips family home movies featuring celebrations and parties. Tour the house and go on a family-friendly scavenger hunt where children can earn a special birthday present. Cupcake decorating will follow the tour. This event is co-sponsored by Salem Parks and Recreation.

This April school vacation week program takes place on Wednesday, April 20, from 10:30 a.m. – noon. The Phillips House is located at 34 Chestnut Street in Salem, Mass. The special cost for Historic New England members and Salem residents is $5.00 for an individual and $15.00 for a family (2 adults, 2 children). The general public price is $10 for individuals and $25.00 for families (2 adults, 2 children).

Advance registration is required for this program. Please call 978-744-0440 to purchase tickets. Salem residents and those interested in family pricing must place ticket orders over the phone. Please visit www.historicnewengland.org for more details.