Apparently, I and coworkers have the self-preservation instincts of donuts. A building wide alarm went off that we'd never heard before. Everyone just stood around. "Man, that's annoying!" And the building manager came wandering out and stared up at one of the blaring speakers.

I am pretty sure that the most annoying people on my commute are not tourists/visitors to the city. I am pretty sure that they are Jackholes. They are the same locals that take large strollers on subways at rushhour and the same elderly in my neighborhood that wait until 5:30 on weekdays to go grocery shopping or ask the pharmacist a short history on medication in pill form.

I would like to suggest that visitors overwhelmed by New York might benefit by waiting until after 9:30 to head out on the subway, and also finding a cafe/place to sit between 5-6 would be more enjoyable than trying to navigate the streets or subways.

Shiny award there, Allyson!

Much cooler, I thought, than the witch museum

Which one? I guess that is kinda cool - living in a town where you can have multiple witch museums.

The only touristy things I'm really tempted by (but still haven't done) are the House of Seven Gables (secret panels! hidden staircases!) and the Peabody-Essex museum.

Way cool, Allyson!

GF and were in Salem in October a few years ago (work-related trip - October was a coincidence). We loved the town and had a blast at the House of Seven Gables, Peabody-Essex museum, and one of the cemeteries. The witch museum was a bust. We also enjoyed lunch and beer at BeerWorks.

Someone came up to Tom once and asked him "where is the museum?" Tom asked, "The Peabody Essex?" The kid looked at him like he was insane and said, "NO! The Witch Museum."

Honestly, I actually don't know where the Witch Museum is. I do know where the Pirate Museum is, though! Because a) pirates and b) next to the Beerworks.

I love the Peabody Essex though.

I don't know if there will ever be a chance that Jamaica will be able to feed its children without a fair degree of whoring itself out, and for that I am steely-eyed in the face of tourism. Flipside, though--we're a third world country, and that's not pretty, and if we could pretend convincingly to be pretty for you through and through, well, then, we just wouldn't be ugly at all, would we?

So be sensible, and think twice about the things you're complaining about. Some of the things you wanted--you needed to stay home to keep getting.

I was in the coffee shop in our Botanical Gardens this weekend, and there was a sign by the cash register that said, "We accept US currency, but we cannot give you US currency as change."

Honestly, I actually don't know where the Witch Museum is.

There are several (although I think technically there's only one Witch "Museum" - there's also the Witch Dungeon and the Witch House, that I know of). I think the museum Museum is the big cathedral looking one near the common & Hawthorne Hotel. Alas, I think that cool looking front is just a facade and the building itself is no where near as cool, but I'm not sure.

I love Salem Common, though I hate the cheesy carny stuff they set up in October. I was so psyched when I moved into my current apartment and found I out I have to walk through it to get to town.