Six ways to raise your spirits in Salem

The forecast for this weekend looks awfully good. Here are six ways - of many - to raise your spirits in Salem this weekend.

1. Dine Outside! Grab a table in front of Rockafellas, Caffe Graziani, or Gulu Gulu Cafe and watch the world walk by on Washington Street or sit harbor side at Finz, Capt's or Victoria Station on Pickering Wharf for a maritime view. Find the perfect restaurant for your taste at Salem.org.

2. Take a Lighthouse Cruise aboard Mahi Mahi Cruises. This weekend kicks off Mahi Mahi's summer cruise series. The two-hour lighthouse cruise will take you out and around the historic lighthouses of Salem Sound, including Beverly's Hospital Point, Marblehead Light, Derby Light, Pickering Light, and Baker's Island Light. MahiCruises.com

3. Eat Ice Cream. Stop by Maria's Sweet Somethings or Ben & Jerry's and get an ice cream cone, and eat it fast because it's going to melt all over your hands. Don't forget the jimmies.

4. Slow down, Stretch, and Breathe. Stop by Green Tea Yoga and find a calmer state of mind for your weekend. Classes range from high intensity Forrest Yoga to a gentler Hatha Mix. GreenTeaYoga.com

5. Be inspired by the Maya. The Peabody Essex Museum "Atrium Alive" Series will celebrate Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea with family programming on Saturday and Sunday. pem.org

6. Unplug. Fretless, an a capella quintet will be performing in the Cornerstone Books Cafe on Saturday at 7:00 pm. This is a cover-free show in the Cafe. CornerstoneBooks-Salem.com

Plan 9 from Outer Space hits Salem on Saturday

The final film in Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery's 2010 film series is coming this weekend. Check out Plan 9 from Outer Space on Saturday, May 22. Bela Lugosi! Tor Johnson! Vampira! What a night...

Admission ($8.00) includes the movie and a tour of Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery, a fantastic museum of horror cinema.

Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea Weekend Festival

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, grab the family (or not!) and check out the special events at the Peabody Essex Museum. The PEM is hosting a weekend festival that celebrates their current exhibit, Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, May 22-23.

Demonstrations

Maya Dugouts Boat builder Wade Smith reconstructs a large-scale, speculative model of a dugout canoe based on ancient Maya designs.

Guatemala Maya Sawdust Carpet Master artist Ubaldo Sanchez creates an alfombra from hand-dyed sawdust, rice, dried beans and flowers on the Atrium floor. Help make the border!

Dance

Grupo Awal Noon and 3 pm Young troupe members represent the Maya culture of Guatemala through folk dances, dress and cultural traditions.

Performances

Puppet Theater 1:15 and 4 pm Gustavo Boada and members of the dance troupe Grupo Awal perform the Maya creation story - El Popol Vuh - with life-size puppets.

Story Time

Rain Player 2 pm A boy named Pik challenges the Maya god of rain to a game of pok-a-tok - a cross between soccer and basketball - to avert a drought.

Film

Breaking the Maya Code 4:45-6:45 pm Based on the best-selling book by Michael Coe, Breaking the Maya Code traces the epic quest to unlock the secrets of the script across 200 years, nine countries and three continents.

Art activities, docent-led gallery tours, presentations are included with museum admission. For reservations and a full schedule of events visit pem.org.

Saturday Events

Sunday Events

How We See Salem: Destination Salem's own Stacia Cooper shares her thoughts

Today the local perspective is coming from Stacia Cooper, Project Assistant extraordinaire at Destination Salem.

Destination Salem is the destination marketing organization for the city of Salem. In addition to managing Salem.org and HauntedHappenings.org, we create the annual Visitor & Travel Guide to Salem. We also work with tour operators, travel agents, travel associations, concierge, and tourism councils to get the word out about Salem - and that word is awfully good these days!

Stacia Cooper, Project Assistant Destination Salem
Where are you from originally? Upstate New York
Ilion, New York

How long have you lived or worked in Salem? 13 years

What is your favorite thing about Salem?
The diversity of the community. The city offers some of the richest culture.

What’s your favorite place to eat in Salem? Bella Verona

What’s your favorite place to shop in Salem? Modern Millie, Roost

What is the first thing you do with guests from out of town? In the summer, we have a picnic at Winter Island and then to the Peabody Essex Museum.

* * *

If you want to shop, dine, and explore like Stacia, here are links to the places she recommends:

• Bella Verona
• Modern Millie
• Roost
• Winter Island Maritime Park
• Peabody Essex Museum

Learn more about Destination Salem at Salem.org.

The House of the Seven Gables to Host 100 Years of the Gables Colonial Revival Garden Lecture

The House of the Seven Gables welcomes spring and continues to celebrate its centennial anniversary with its Seven Lectures at Seven Gables series. The third of these will be 100 Years of The Gables Colonial Revival Garden, given by landscape designer and historian Robyn Kanter on Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 2:00pm.

In 1909, Gables founder Caroline Emmerton hired Joseph Chandler, a landscape architect, to layout the Colonial Revival garden overlooking the harbor. It was designed in Jacobean style as an “oasis of beauty” to be enjoyed not only by guests, but by Emmerton’s neighbors as well. After Hawthorne’s Birthplace was moved to the property in 1958, the entire site was re-landscaped by famed designer Dan Foley using Chandler’s raised bed design.

Kanter, of Kanter Design Associates, is the landscape designer responsible for the current arrangement of The Gables garden. Under her direction and attention to detail the old fashioned practices remain including hand pruning and cultivation to help retain the tradition of one of New England's most treasured places.

Utilizing The House of the Seven Gables collection of historic photographs, landscape records and her own research, Kanter will discuss the evolution of The Gables garden. In addition to the lecture, Kanter will guide guests through the present re-creation of the Colonial Revival garden on site, and introduce historical evidence from the garden’s past 100 years.

The lecture will be held on Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 2:00pm. Tickets are $10 for non-members and $5 for members of The House of the Seven Gables, Historic New England or The Salem Athanæum. For tickets, please call The House of the Seven Gables at 978-744-0991 ext. 104.

For more information on this year’s centennial events, please visit http://www.7gables.org/.

Summer Theatre at Salem Tickets Go on Sale Tomorrow!

Summer Theatre at Salem, the professional troupe in residence at Salem State College announces its 16^th season, opening June 17 with Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, and continuing in July with Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

Artistic Director David Allen George will share the stage with summer favorite Peter Zachari for the first time in their 20-year working relationship. They began as student and professor in the late 80’s, and each has directed the other. This summer, in Lend Me a Tenor, George plays a panicked producer whose star tenor (Zachari) is unable to perform just hours before curtain call. (Directed by Peter Sampieri.) The side-splitting farce is also currently on Broadway, starring Tony Shaloub, but the high quality professional performance in Salem has tickets available for just $20-$25.

The season continues July 8-18 with Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, directed by Zachari. The cast and crew of Summer Theatre at Salem is comprised of Salem State alumni who work in the theatre industry, regional professionals, and select students who in many cases are having their first professional theatre experience.

Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig
June 17-27, Thursday-Saturdays, 7:30 pm, Sundays 2 pm
Salem State Mainstage Theatre, 352 Lafayette Street

Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine
July 8-18, Thursdays- Saturdays, 7:30 pm, Sundays 2 pm
Salem State Mainstage Theatre, 352 Lafayette Street

Tickets are available at salemstatetickets.com
Info: 978-542-7555.
Tickets are also available at the door one hour before performances.

For the first time, Summer Theatre at Salem is offering subscription discounts! Call for details.
Individual show tickets are $20-25.

Looking ahead to the Antique & Classic Boat Show in August

AHOY! This is a perennial favorite. If you're thinking about a weekend to visit Salem this summer, this is a good one.

28TH ANNUAL ANTIQUE & CLASSIC BOAT FESTIVAL

August 28-29, 2010 (Sat. 11 am - 5 pm; Sun. 11 am - 3 pm)
Hawthorne Cove Marina, 10 White St., Salem, Massachusetts
Admission: $5. Children under 12 free
Info & Boat Entry: 617-666-8530, 617-868-7587, BoatFestival.org

The 28th Annual Antique & Classic Boat Festival is happening in Salem, Massachusetts August 28-29. Expected craft as of early May include:

• JUNIATA, a 1927 New York Consolidated commuter;
• CATHERINE ANN, a 1938 Richardson cabin cruiser;
• BREEZE, a 1946 Hinkley sloop; a 26¹ steamboat;
• a 1940 Lyman runabout towed by a 1948 Pontiac woody,
• TABBY, a 1946 Fenwick Williams catboat.

The Festival includes boats built prior to 1976. They can be power, sail or hand-powered, and do not need to be in show condition. "The spirit of the Festival is to gather together the grand old craft and all who love them," says festival organizer Pat Wells.

The Festival is about people as well as boats. "Over and over again, the public tells us that what they like best is seeing the beautiful old boats and talking to their owners," says Wells. "Boat owners sometimes meet old-timers who have known their boat in the past and can recount stories and history.

Here are a few great nautical connections made during past boat shows:

MATCHLESS, a 100 year old catboat owned by Peter Haney of Bourne (MA), was visited by a former owner who had her in the 1950s.

TEASER, a 1935 sailboat owned by Dana Marcorelle of South Hamilton (MA), was visited by Alice Bonney who saw her launched in Salem in 1935 and spent her honeymoon aboard her!

The Antique & Classic Boat show was held in downtown Boston, Charlestown and Quincy, Massachusetts, before it made Salem its home base in 1999. According to organizers, festival-goers love Salem, its historic district, attractions, and restaurants. The Hawthorne Cove Marina is lovely and compact, so visitors do not have to walk far to see the boats.

In addition to the boats, the Festival includes a crafts market, old-time band music, children¹s activities, the Blessing of the Fleet and the grand finale ­ the Parade of Boats.