By Jarad Sassone-McHugh
From a Halloween trip to a maniacally fun Salem, Mass., to a visit to New York city’s Radio City Music Hall, Salve Regina’s Office of Student Activities is running a number of trips this year. There are more weekends with the opportunity of a trip than there are weekends without an opportunity to go somewhere.
Salve student Chris Lehrbach, who recently transferred here, is impressed by Salve’s plethora of activities. “Salve provides a diverse and wide range of activities in which to participate,” says Lehrbach, who sounds fully satisfied with his decision to go on a few of these trips.
Media Credit: Museum of Science - An exhibit on electricity at Boston’s Museum of Science.
If leaving this quaint island bubble sounds appealing, Saturday, Nov. 12, there will be a trip to the Boston Museum of Science. At the museum, the scientific side of wild animals and nature can be explored, the universe can become a mind-blowing conceivable sight on the screen of a huge Imax theater, and (despite what you may have thought about classes) math and physics
can sound surprisingly interesting. Future trips include one to Plimoth Plantation on Nov. 19 and Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular on Dec. 4. Tickets are $5 and $25 respectively.
The most recent trip marked the arrival of Halloween. With the leaves of change, a cold wind blowing off shore, and a mood for everything macabre, it was typical of college students, Salve students included, to become desirous of madness and fear. As an outlet for those who were feeling particularly maddened and in need of some kind of maniacal fun, thenSalem fit the bill.
As a group of Puritans dragged Bridget Bishop through the cobble stoned streets of Salem a shrill, “Off with her head!” yelled by the Queen of Hearts, could be distinguished among shouts of “Burn the witch!” and “Hang her! Hang her!” In a spirited reenactment, Bishop was accused of witchery and the Salem townsfolk would not stand for her devilry.
In the midst of the chaos, a mangled Elmo dangled from the right hand of an Ernie whose blood stained mouth told a horrid tale. Drunken ghosts on vacation walked along, hand in hand with little demonically possessed children who morbidly glared at grungy teenagers who shouted,
“Get your free blessings! Free palm readings! Free fortune telling! Get your free blessings!”
The air of an unholy insanity lingered in the streets and intoxicated all those around, but for those who were more drawn to the historical aspects of the colonial town, there were museums, candle lit ghost walks, and quieter reenactments of the trials in which the audience can vote on the innocence or the guilt of the accused witch.
Not too far off the main street, a sullen grave yard, which housed ancient tombs and a number of ghost stories, many from the 1692 peak of the witch trials, reminded both Salem’s citizens and civilians of Salem’s dark, haunting history.
For such discounts that can only be found while attending college it’s worth taking advantage
of these trips. Besides the trip to Salem, there have been trips to Attitash Mountain, Red Sox games, and Block Island.
