Capt.'s Celebrates Turning 4

Salem has great dining. I may have mentioned that when I first came to Salem in 1998, there were a handful (and no more!) of restaurants to choose from. Now, I could eat in a different restaurant - and taste different ethnic treats! - every day of the week.

One local favorite is turning 4, and wants you to celebrate with them! Capt.'s on Pickering Wharf offers great food, wonderful ambiance, and terrific views of Salem Harbor. They have a great promotion on their web site right now - $25 coupon for your next dinner for 4. They also have a menu of specially priced "Winter Warmers" - comfort food like Macaroni & Cheese, Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Pot Pie that will take away the chill. Daylight Savings or not, we still have a few more weeks of winter in New England! Register for the coupons at http://www.capts.com/Coupon.aspx. You can view Capt.'s menus on their web site, too.

Discover the magic of great dining in Salem!

Salem Waterfront Hotel in The Boston Globe

There is a great review of The Salem Waterfront Hotel & Suites in The Boston Globe today. The article gave a great sense of how contemporary and comfortable the hotel is. Having the Waterfront Hotel as an accommodation option is definitely a benefit for travelers and those of us who need to accommodate guests. It gives an option in town for people who are not seeking a historic hotel or bed & breakfast experience.

I really wanted the article to mention (but I realize it was a review of the hotel, not an endorsement of visiting Salem!) is the Waterfront Hotel's proximity to the shops and restaurants of Pickering Wharf, as well as its proximity to all of the attractions and sites in downtown Salem. Salem is a small city, and all of the sites are easily within walking distance of each other. That puts the Salem Waterfront Hotel & Suites, and all of Salem's downtown accommodations, in the perfect location for exploring this bewitching seaport!

The Salem Waterfront Hotel can be found online at www.salemwaterfronthotel.com/. For information on all of Salem's accommodations options, visit Salem.org.

Enter a Giveaway for Two to Visit Salem!

The Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, also known as MOTT, is running a sweepstakes right now for a trip for two to visit Salem. It's an exceptional prize package (if I do say so myself). Click here to enter the sweepstakes. I've copied the details of the package below.

Discover the magic of Salem in 2008!

Explore the interesting nooks and crannies of Salem, America's Bewitching Seaport. Be sure to enter now through March 31, 2008.

• An overnight stay for 2 - come from May through September, and you will stay at the Amelia Payson House Bed & Breakfast. , or come from November through April 2009, and you will stay at The Salem Inn;


• $25 Gift Certificate for lunch at the Tavern in the Hawthorne Hotel;


• Lunch at Caffe Graziani;


• Round trip tickets to Boston aboard the Salem Ferry. (May through November);


• Two passes on the Salem Trolley, includes a one-hour narrated tour and all-day, step-on and step-off service through the city;


• Two tickets to sail aboard the Schooner Fame (May through October);


• Two passes to the Peabody Essex Museum;


• Two combination tickets to the Witch Dungeon Museum, Witch History Museum, & New England Pirate Museum;


• Tickets from Historic New England to visit The Phillips House on Chestnut Street.

What a great weekend this would be! I wish I could enter! The sweepstakes runs until March 31. Here's the link again to enter: http://www.massvacation.com/specialOffers/win-salem.php.

Good luck!

Thinking Pink was Great for Salem!

I have to start by saying that I was exhausted by day's end yesterday. Things have been really busy at Destination Salem, and I was ready to call it a day by the time Girls' Night Out crept up on the clock. But, I rallied. I'm a true professional and if my job suggests that I should go out and sample wines and browse beautiful clothes, cosmetics, and gifts for the home, so be it!

And what a great event it was. Congratulations to Salem Main Streets and The Wellness Center for organizing what I hope is a (somewhat) regular event in Salem. I stopped by some of the stores I know and love on Essex and Front Streets, and then had the delightful experience of finding new places to love on Derby Street.

We went into Radiance Aveda first and received a tour of the fairly new salon/spa as well as mini-make-overs and hair analyses! Looking beautiful, we stopped by New Civilitea, which is a wonderful tea shop (don't ignore the scones) and I fell in love with a pomegranate green tea. After that, it was off to Rouge Cosmetics, where I was set up with some skin care samples and great pointers for how to use products.

The evening ended at Strega, where complimentary appetizers were passed - that Strega Pizzeta is to die for! And then a number of people headed off to Salem Film Fest, while I finally got to call it a day at 8:30 pm. It was a great evening that did what I suspect it wanted to - introduced me (and others!) to businesses that can now cultivate us into regular, devoted customers.

Discover the magic of Girls' Nights Out in Salem!

Plan Your Visit to Salem Online

When one is marketing and promoting a destination that's high season is June through October, winter is spent scurrying about preparing the new visitor guide, refining the web site, working with publications and businesses to make sure our audience (you) is receiving our message. It may be a bit quiet on the streets in Salem, but behind closed doors there is much work being done to create pieces that will make YOU want to come HERE.

And I'm very happy to say, the pieces are falling into place! The Salem.org web site has been undergoing a much needed overhaul to ensure it is not only user-friendly, but helpful. (Hence the addition of this blog.) A key component of the web site has been put into place this week, and that is the comprehensive listings of businesses in Salem. They are organized categorically and alphabetically, and they include links to the attraction's, restaurant's, accommodation's, shop's web site.

Pictures are coming soon to the enhanced listings, but for now you will find a great list of businesses in Salem who are ready to serve you! I want to thank Pickering Publishing for all of the great work they have done on the Salem.org site.

The 2008 Salem Visitor & Travel Guide will be out this week, and a printable pdf will be posted on Salem.org as well. I'm sure I'll be talking about that incredible accomplishment in the next couple of days!

In the meantime, browse all of the business listings... Use the calendar of events... Brush up on Salem's history. Discover all that Salem, Massachusetts has to offer, and discover the magic of Salem.org!

C'mon Ladies - It's Girls' Night Out in Salem!

Let's fight those winter doldrums with a night on the town, shopping and playing in Salem! Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and Salem Main Streets have organized a Ladies Night in Salem on Wednesday, March 5 that will encourage all of us to shop, eat, and Think Pink.

The Wellness Community is co-sponsoring the evening, and they will be distributing brochures and information to support people who are affected by cancer. The Wellness Community at Sue's Circle of Hope in Salem provides professionally-led support groups, educational workshops, nutrition and exercise programs, and mind body classes to help people affected by cancer learn vital skills that enable them to regain control, reduce isolation and restore hope regardless of the stage of their disease.

Show your support for Cancer research when you stop by A Touch of the Past on Washington Street - two Salem women who are participating n the Avon Cancer Walk will be at A Touch of the Past seeking sponsorship for their walk.

The Mayor will be visiting businesses on Washington Street, Essex Street, Front Street, and Derby Street before ending the evening at Strega on Lafayette Street. (If you want to know the Mayor's tentative schedule for the evening, let me know and I'll post it.) Many of the businesses will be providing complimentary refreshments, and socializing is encouraged!

So, you and your girlfriends should come on out to shop and dine on Wednesday, March 5 from 5-7pm. See you then!

Friendship's Mighty Volunteers

Yesterday Captain Jim Fox, who is the volunteer captain of Salem's replica tall ship Friendship was recognized for his contributions to Salem and the region with a Hospitality Award, given at the annual Governor's Conference on Travel & Tourism. Captain Fox leads an incredible group of volunteers who not only keep Friendship ship-shape, but who actually sail her to ports of call including Gloucester, Newburyport, Boston, and Newport.

The Boston Globe ran a wonderful article about the shipwrights who donate their time to Friendship last year. I recommend reading The Old Men and the Sea.

The original Friendship was built in 1796-1797. The three-masted, square-rigged, 342-ton vessel was an “East Indiaman,” the type of merchant ship that made Salem a leader in trade with the Far East in the years after the American Revolution. The model used to construct Friendship is on display at the Peabody Essex Museum. The National Park Service has a bulletin about Friendship available on their web site, www.nps.gov/sama. Friendship is open for visitation year-round.

Congratulations to Captain Fox on his award, and many thanks to Captain Fox and all of the volunteers and NPS staff who contribute so much to ensure Salem's maritime heritage is alive and well on Derby Wharf.