Laurie Cabot: Salem’s official witch.By Rachel Lipko / Staff writer

I dropped my English muffin at the sight of the 200 pound plus pasty woman sporting nothing but a red velvet bra top lined with white fur. The kind that ladies usually wear during the Christmas season to ensure not nice, but naughty fun ensues. This somehow seemed like a good choice to accompany her silk royal purple drawstring pajamas and red felt slippers.

Did I mention that this lady was at least 60?

Ah yes! Nothing beats when you’re joined in at a continental breakfast by 35 of the Boston chapters Red Hat Society. For those of you who haven’t heard of the Red Hat Society before, think of the person you know who keeps celebrating their 49th birthday, petrified of the big 50. Well, this group is dedicated to “greeting middle age with verve, humor and élan.”

As the title insinuates, these ladies wear red hats and usually their other club color - purple. It was quite a sight at the Comfort Inn, Danvers, Mass., a town 20 minuets outside Boston. Half of the room was filled with women decked out in bright red and purple, while the other half housed my cause of the trip, sporting black and white wingtips and ’40s attire.

Danvers was the host of “The Boston Tea Party,” where around 4,000 swing dancers from all over the world met to dance, compete and of course share their passion with fellow enthusiasts.

The event was held at a hotel down the street, and while I had come up there for the sole purpose of dancing and making new connections, I decided I couldn’t leave without really seeing some of Massachusetts.

First, the food. We were very close to the sea no matter where we traveled, which meant the seafood was much fresher than back home. A local told us to try the Maine lobster since you can really only find it around here and Maine, explaining that the waters wouldn’t let the fisheries sell the crustation outside of the territory. He seemed to really take pride in telling us that if we saw Maine lobster on any menu not in the territory, the company was being fraudulent.

Also, Dunkin’ Donuts are HUGE there. We actually came to an intersection that had two Dunkin’ Donuts next to each other, then joked about how we never went more than three miles without finding one.

And finally, roast beef. Unknown to me, Boston and the outer areas are actually widely known for roast beef sandwiches and go as far as to devote large sit-down restaurants to a simple roast beef sandwich. We, my dance partner Jason and I, decided to try a few different places and pick a favorite, but after eating six different sandwiches, we found it a difficult task. They were all so good.

Now onto the sights. I’m sure your all thinking you’re in Boston so that’s what we’re in store for, but no. On our way to the hotel while checking out all the books on Boston and surrounding areas, one out of the 25 we grabbed had a little fact I didn’t realize - we were three miles away from Salem, Mass. With this new information, there was no way we were going to Boston.

We took all of Saturday to go check out Salem, which is also famous for Nathaniel Hawthorne, a famous writer born there. Salem is right on the water, so if ever sightseeing there, remember the weather is about 20 degrees colder than Pittsburgh so dress appropriately.

The town gives visitors many different travel options such as guided tours, trolleys or you could just go explore on your own since every sight is in a one mile walking distance. They make the last option very easy with a bright red line painted all through Salem sidewalks that visitors can follow to be taken to different destinations. We chose that option. Salem has such a charm about it. The cobblestone streets and Victorian houses that line the streets may not give you that 1600s Salem witch trials vibe, but you really feel like you’ve stepped back in time when walking through that pseudo-modern town.

The town has multiple museums to educate travelers and pay homage to the 18 that lost their lives in the trials. But as we discovered most of these are not open all year around, and actually open on April, 2, the day after we returned to Pittsburgh. Such luck! Museums such as “The Witch Dungeon Museum” have reenactments and actual transcripts from 1692, but out of the 15 or so museums listed, once you’ve seen one, you’ve kind of seen them all. And most of them just recap the story of “The Crucible,” which is a book based on the Salem witch trials.

When all museumed out, most travelers find themselves down at Pickering Wharf for one of its main attractions, Laurie Cabot, or better known in Salem as the “official witch.” Most sightseers end up at her shop on the wharf to catch a glimpse of her and hear a little bit about witchcraft and wiccans, or the modern day witches/pagans.

The biggest misconception is that Wiccans worship the devil or evil. The religion is based on ecology and doing good through using the earth.

Also, another big attraction in Salem is pirates. They showcase the Salem Harbor’s history with pirates in museums throughout the town and even have “The Friendship” pirate ship docked in its harbor for visitors to come aboard and see the fully resorted ship.

We ended the day with going to dinner at Capt’s Waterfront Bar and Grill, known for their authentic and fresh New England seafood. Crab cakes and, of course, Maine lobster tail were selected and they were both really good. The price is what was expected, a little high, but then I thought when would be the next time I foresaw myself eating Maine lobster in Salem? Probably never.