Exploring Salem: Day One

[Ever been to Salem, MA? Me neither. Fortunately, Jessica Tennant of My Path to Mommyhood took a road trip there this summer from her home in upstate New York and is telling us all about it! –S]

Salem

My husband Bryce and I go to Maine every summer. There is nothing quite so beautiful as coastal Maine, and we get to see many different parts of the state because my in-laws live in the capital area, which is central to just about everything.

It just takes a REALLY long time to get there, so we’ve started stopping partway on the way there and the way back, which gives us the added benefit of exploring New England.

Salem - coach house inn tile

Weekend in Salem

This year, we decided on a romantic weekend in Salem, Massachusetts to break up the trip to Maine.

I had actually never been to Salem before, which is a shame. Salem is a tremendously kooky town, full of serious and tragic history (ahem, witch trials) as well as an affinity for ghosties, ghoulies, and all things Halloween, and a literary history involving Nathaniel Hawthorne and H.P. Lovecraft. It has cobblestone streets, tremendously old houses, and a red line painted throughout town called the Heritage Trail – following it sends you past many interesting historical attractions.

Coach House, Salem by boblinsdell

Bed and Breakfast

We stayed in The Coach House Inn, a bed and breakfast on Lafayette Street. It was built as a Victorian ship captain’s house in 1879. The inn was great, the innkeeper was very helpful and hospitable, and the breakfasts were continental and came in a Red-Riding-Hood style basket to your door at 8:30 in the morning, like magic.

Salem Breakfast

One thing about the Coach House that wasn’t so great was the location. It was right on the street that leads you straight into historic Salem, but, to get there, you had to walk through a fairly sketchy (and, as we heard from locals, heroin-plagued) section of town. We walked once and used Uber to go home and then took advantage of street parking after that…so if you don’t mind driving instead of walking, it’s perfectly lovely.

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Geek Pizza

Our favorite place to eat was Flying Saucer Pizza Company, which sounds like a strange choice for me as a person with Celiac disease, but it had delicious and safe gluten-free options. AND, it was decked out in art and action figures and all kinds of paraphernalia from Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, the Avengers, Ghostbusters…it was a terrifically geeky place! All the pizzas were named after various things from sci-fi, and they have a Space Pug, Charlie, who is their mascot.

I had The Vision pizza, TWICE (for dinner the first night and lunch the next day, because it was THAT GOOD), which had walnut pesto, cheese blend, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic fig. Does that not sound amazing? The regular pizza was excellent too, with Bryce mumbling “This is THE BEST pizza I have EVER HAD” to the server with his mouth full of a Hawaiian-style pizza with jalapeño peppers.

Salem burying point

Ghost Tour

It was an appropriately thunderstormy night for a ghost tour with Black Cat Tours. Our guide was dressed in old-timey clothing and delivered a great mix of historical and paranormal tales. He brought us through the burying ground, past an original house that was restored and, apparently, has a very Ring-like ghost of a girl who was quarantined in the attic for having scarlet fever and peeks out the windows.

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Giles Corey

There was a section of the burying ground that had stone benches jutting from a stone wall, with each bench etched with one of the names of the witch trial victims and the date of their death.

All were hanged except one – Giles Corey, who was accused of witchcraft in his 80s (but, lest you think he’s a good guy, he also accused his wife), and knew that if he was convicted or confessed he would lose his property to pay for his time in jail (yup, they had to pay for their meals and everything they got in the deplorable jail conditions themselves). He refused to confess or consent to be tried. He was tortured to death through “pressing” – they lay a board on him laden with more and more stone weights every time he refused to consent.

Although he died, he saved his property from confiscation this way, and now you know what it really means to be pressed for an answer (!)

Supposedly, he haunted the head of law enforcement who had him arrested, hanging out at the end of his bed and causing chest pains.

Salem

Favorite Haunts

We also learned of an angry divorcee ghost who haunts the space where they have weddings and dances and other events, tries to push people down the stairs, and wreaks havoc on art displays, stomping around the top floor and going down invisible stairs that don’t exist anymore to frighten people on the first floor.

We didn’t personally see any of the ghosts, but thought the tour was fabulously spooky and informative. (Who knew the inspiration for The Tell-Tale Heart was a real-life murder of a stingy old captain by his caretaker right there in Salem?) I am a sucker for a good ghost tour, and this one was atmospheric and not corny at all.

So much to do and see in the first day, how could our second day in Salem compare?

[Part 2 is coming up on Monday!]


Photos –
1, 2, 6: Jessica Tennant.

5: Doug Kerr on Flickr, color corrected. CCL.
3, 4, 7: Robert Linsdell on Flickr, color corrected. CCL.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon

DIY Costume Hacks

There are lots of reasons to wear a costume coming up: this weekend is Keen Halloween (more on that in the last section), then there’s Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest, followed closely by actual Halloween. Plus, all the various October costume parties and fall festivals and whatnot.

If there’s such thing as a costume-wearing season, this would be it. And, if you were thinking of making your own costume, then costuming panelists from Phoenix Comicon 2016 have some tips to help you out.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon - duct tape panel

1. Duct tape

You can make an entire costume from duct tape. In fact, one speaker, Huntington Keith, won a scholarship contest by making Firefly cosplay/prom outfits for himself and his date. It took about 40 hours of work for him to construct her shindig-worthy dress with its layers and layers of ruffles. He also made himself a tux.

He shared lessons he learned through trial and error that could help with your next duct tape creation.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon

Duct tape dos:

  • Use a flat surface to construct your costume.
  • Stretch it as taut as possible.
  • Use scissors or an X-Acto knife to cut.
  • Covering a t-shirt or other piece of fabric will help the costume breathe better.
  • Create texture by putting things such as twine between the layers of tape.
  • Buy in bulk. 30 yards will typically cost $5-6, but you may be able to find better prices online.
  • Use the color/s you want or find a type of paint that adheres to polyurethane (most don’t).

Duct tape don’ts:

  • Because the adhesive starts to melt at about 175 degrees, you can’t mold it like thermoplastics. A residue will form and the top starts to shrivel off.
  • It will break a regular sewing machine.
  • Permanent marker doesn’t stay.
  • Paint usually flakes off.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon
Making a closure for your costume:

  • The ideal closure is actually a piece of duct tape.
  • You can handstitch a zipper on, but it would need to be lateral because stress is a problem.
  • Hook-and-loop tape may not work when it gets hot.

 Phoenix Comicon knits

2. Knitting and Crochet

Shirley Will‏ (a.k.a. @BooMeringue) had a funny and informative panel about knitting and crochet for cosplay. I don’t actually know how to do either of those things, and I was still entertained.

She brought up the fact that knitting and crocheting can look intricate – but there are only so many kinds of stitches.

Knitting for cosplay

Iconic knit costumes for nerds:

Since she felt the stripe was too large in most patterns for Jayne’s hat, she created her own. She started by measuring a screenshot from Firefly of Adam Baldwin as Jayne. After estimating the width of the stripe was about the length of his nose, she texted several male friends to ask for their nose measurements(!) and based her pattern on the average. The result is a much more proportionate pattern for a hat that, for legal reasons, she calls the Not-Jayne hat.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon
More ideas:

  • Crocheted cogs for steampunk.
  • Make a wide brim on a beanie and fold it up to make a tri-corner or pirate hat.
  • Hood with Ewok ears.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon
Tips:

  • There are tons of craft tutorials online. If the first one doesn’t work for you, keep looking!
  • Make gauge swatches. She says, “People hate making gauge swatches, but it’ll save your life! You can use any yarn with any pattern if the gauge is right.”
  • Have a backup “comfy” cosplay, in case you need a break from your costume or something doesn’t work.

Shirley sells knitting patterns (as well as finished products) in her Etsy shop. There are some free patterns on her site and on gutenberg.org. I also came across Harry Potter knitting patterns on Ravelry and knittingfornerds.com.
Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC No-Sew Cosplay

3. Other No-Sew Techniques

I ducked in to the tail end of a No-Sew Cosplay panel hosted by artist and cosplayer KatDensetsu.

I was just in time for a discussion of cross-play and binding techniques for women who want to make themselves appear less busty when portraying male characters. (Think Éponine disguising herself in Les Misérables.)

As far as making costumes without sewing, certain materials don’t require sewing and can just be cut to size. There’s also a lot you can do using fabric glue, thrift store finds, paint, and/or iron-on transfers.

DIY Costume Hacks from Phoenix Comicon - No-sew cosplay

Learn more about costume-making and cosplay!

This weekend (9/24-25) is Keen Halloween, which has several craft and costuming panels on the schedule.

Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest is October 22-23 (earlier than in past years) and will feature cosplay meetups and panels on topics like costuming mashups.

5 Telltale Signs You Went to Phoenix Comicon 2016

Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC

Did you or someone you know go to Phoenix Comicon 2016?

Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC

You may notice some or all of these symptoms:

1. Persistent laughter over PUGS-related incidents. Chuckling resulting from things said during the Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown may continue for days.

This is a tournament of geeks to see who can most passionately debate absurd topics like “Ant-Man vs. Aunt Mae: Who was the better A(u)nt?” As bizarre as the questions were, this year’s contestants took some even more bizarre – and hilarious – approaches to arguing their respective sides.

Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC
Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC

2. Outbreak of photos of dogs in superhero costumes.

Superdog, Wonder Dog, Batdog, and a four-legged Ewok were among the cosplaying pooches that gathered on the patio of the Herberger Theater ahead of the Comi-PAWn Pet Parade.

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3. Thermoqueuephobia – fear of waiting in line in the heat.

About the time it topped 110 degrees on Friday, a “perfect storm” of crowds and computer glitches resulted in a registration line that spilled out onto the sidewalk and stretched about a block-and-a-half. Organizers apologized for the hours-long wait and worked to rectify the situation so lines would be inside the rest of the weekend.

Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC

4. Claims of spotting Jedi weapons in unusual places, such as on Phoenix streets and in place of a symphony conductor’s baton.  

Outside programming included pairs from Syndicate Saber demonstrating their surprisingly elegant lightsaber combat and choreography. This was followed by a lightsaber walk, where anyone with a lightsaber could light it up and march around downtown Phoenix.

While that was going on, Phillip and I were at the Phoenix Symphony’s Star Wars vs. Star Trek performance. The audience could vote via text for which franchise’s music they preferred. To announce the winner, Conductor Tito Muñoz emerged with a red lightsaber, which he began using to conduct the “Imperial March!” (We were not allowed to take photos during the performance, but I found one on Instagram!)

PHXCC

PHXCC

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5. Sudden increase in geeky and/or pop culture related skills, such as learning in a matter of days how to make a duct tape prom dress, a music video, and a tabletop game.

Yep, as usual there were a plethora of diverse panels, including…

  • Huntington Keith’s panel on making costumes from duct tape. In high school, he used duct tape to make a tux and a Kaylee-from-firefly-inspired prom dress.
  • While the protracted music video’s post-apocalyptic theme may have felt contrived, the cast and crew were able to accomplish a lot on a budget. The song itself, “They Pretend,” is a catchy, reggae/Afro-pop melody by K-Bass & Farafina Musiki, who are worth a listen.
  • The Making the Game panel, where Father-and-son team Eric and Gavin Torres spoke about their experience in making and distributing their indie board game.

 

Phoenix Comicon 2016 PHXCC

If you missed out, check out Phoenix Fan Fest this October. (Passes are on sale now.)

We received media passes from Phoenix Comicon and the Phoenix Symphony.

Phoenix Comicon 2016 Picks #phxcc

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Wading through the Phoenix Comicon schedule can be a bit daunting, so I wanted to highlight some panels and events I thought you lovely maker geeks might be interested in.

Phxcc cosplay

I’ve asterisked the items that don’t require a Phoenix Comicon membership pass for anyone who can’t make it to the whole Con but still wants to be a part of the action.

For more recommendations on what to eat/drink/see around the Convention Center, check out our last post.

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Thursday, June 2

3pm Cosplay 101 – From Closet to Convention Floor – I love that this panel is about making your own costumes with what you already have!

*6:30pm Comi-PAWn Pet Parade – Probably the cutest event of the Con, pet lovers can bring their dogs in costume to the Herberger Theater patio to be part of a show and parade.

7:30pm The Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown (PUGS) – preliminary round of the annual, hilarious geek debate tournament

*8pm Star Wars vs Star Trek – The Music of Deep Space – The Phoenix Symphony will be playing music from Star Wars and Star Trek films, and the audience will vote for their favorite franchise! (Event tickets required.)

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Friday, June 3

1:30pm Making the Game: The Art, Design, and Imagination of Iconica – how to design your own tabletop game. (More info on Facebook.)

*4:30pm Geek Girl Brunch Phoenix: Comicon Meetup – cocktail hour with a group of geek girls who usually meet for brunch. (h/t friends Anne and Eileen)

7:30pm The Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown (PUGS) – geek debate tournament finals

8pm Star Party with the Phoenix Astronomical Society – telescopes will be set up for star/planet-gazing

justice-league

Saturday, June 4

1:30pm Cosplay for All Sizes – modify costumes and patterns to work for your body

7:30pm Dancing for Everyone! – introductory-level English and Irish community set dances

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Sunday, June 5

10:30am Confessions of a Cosplay Boyfriend – trials and tribulations of being in a relationship with a female cosplayer

4:30pm Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest Preview – apparently, this year’s Fan Fest will be at a new venue and in October (instead of December). Hopefully, they’ll let us know what’s up. (And hopefully I’ll make it to Sunday afternoon.)

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While the car show will stay on Third Street (full schedule under Phoenix Comicon “outdoor events.”), there will be a lot happening on Adams Street, as well.

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Fri-Sun: Con on Adams

This year, Phoenix Comicon is taking over Adams Street, where there will be live music, a party pavilion, San Tan Brewery beer garden, and food trucks.

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Bands:

Phenix convention center and food trucks

Food truck line-up:

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What are you looking forward to?

PS Travelcraft Journal turns 3 today! I’ll probably raise a celebratory glass – or spoon – at Comicon. Cheers to all of you for being a part of this community!