What's to do in Salem on a Monday night?

[Bucky]

I'm in Salem (and can travel as far as Portland) on Monday night. What can I do to kill time and still be able to say I've had the "Oregon experience"?

*Note: the real Oregon experience was walking around this morning and running into beaver, a very grouchy looking beaver.

[Zoigal]

1. Recommend traveling on to Portland. Lots to do there.

Can't think of anything in Salem. If you like gardens, the Japanese Garden in
Portland is worth seeing.

Well, it is the Beaver State. Maybe the old grouch was on the welcoming committee. z

[Cabcere]

2. I have no idea, but

for some reason this subject line reminded me of a quote from "Ringo" in Yellow Submarine (I love trippy movies!):

"Liverpool can be a lonely place on a Saturday night...and this is only Thursday morning." :silly:

Anyway, I hope you have fun in Oregon, whatever you decide to do! :hi:

[SeattleGirl]

3. Go to Portland

I love that city! Lived there years ago, and still travel through it when going from Seattle to Eugene.

[grasswire]

4. where the hell did you see a beaver?

I've never seen one outside the zoo.

[Bucky]

7. in the parking lot of my motel

I'll post pictures when I get back to Houston

[grasswire]

14. uh.............I don't think that was a beaver

If you saw something that you think looked like a beaver in an Oregon motel parking lot, it was a nutria. Trust me on this.

[Omphaloskepsis]

21. The water rat..

We found a confused one in the parking lot at work one night and it took about five people to get it back to the river.

[momophile]

5. get eaten by vampires?

oh, wrong Salem...

[FloridaJudy]

6. Go to the witch hangings?

Oops. Wrong Salem. And wrong century.




-----------------------------------------never mind.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. Witch burnings are better.

[FloridaJudy]

9. That is SO old world

We never burned witches in this country, but we did hang them. Not much of an improvement, I know, but I'm a stickler for historical accuracy.

[Marrah_G]

13. Not really- we killed a handful of good Christians due to a hoax inspired hysteria though !

Nineteen accused witches were hanged on Gallows Hill in 1692:

June 10
Bridget Bishop
July 19
Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Good
Susannah Martin
Elizabeth Howe
Sarah Wildes
August 19
George Burroughs
Martha Carrier
John Willard
George Jacobs, Sr.
John Proctor
September 22
Martha Corey
Mary Eastey
Ann Pudeator
Alice Parker
Mary Parker
Wilmott Redd
Margaret Scott
Samuel Wardwell

One accused witch (or wizard, as male witches were often called) was pressed to death on September 19 when he failed to plead guilty or not guilty:

Giles Corey

Other accused witches died in prison:

Sarah Osborn
Roger Toothaker
Lyndia Dustin
Ann Foster

[Marrah_G]

12. There will be no burning of witches thank you very much!

Just so you know....it's sort of a touchy subject after what happened in Europe.

Relatively the same as saying "Jew gassing is better"....but on a much wider scope.

"putting on my flame suit"

[MorningGlow]

19. Heeeyyyy

I resemble that remark. Good thing I'm a white witch, or I'd turn you into a toad! :evilgrin:

[Chovexani]

20. The last guy that tried to set me on fire

Got a broomstick where the sun don't shine. :evilgrin:

[Biscottiii]

10. If you do go to Portland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Ends_Park
"smallest park in the world"
If you're wandering around, keep an eye out for this little guy (not far from the beaten track)

Also, my Sister took her Grandkids to some submarine exhibit they said was pretty freaky going inside:
http://www.omsi.edu/
http://www.omsi.edu/visit/submarine/

[Marrah_G]

11. Now here I thought you were talking about Salem Mass

I actually had some good ideas for you ....

Oh well.

[Deep13]

15. There's a million things to do in Boston...

...and that's a lot closer than Portland, Maine. :evilgrin:

[dpbrown]

16. See who weighs the same as a duck?

Count newts?

:shrug:

[Parche]

17. Portland Here is awesome

Salem sucks, there are tons of things to do in Portland here, and we are having
good weather for a change..............:hi:

[Left Brain]

18. awww hell, Bucky, there's lots to do in Salem!

You could go to the fairgrounds (bummer, closed in winter.)
There's the famous Chemeketa Community College (what do you mean you can't pronounce it?)
Check out Schreiner's Iris Farm (so who cares that Irises don't bloom until May?)
If you come back in the summer, you could make the rounds to the veritable plethora of farmer's markets in the area.

Come on now, Oregonians, Salem is really moderne nowadays. Dining, museums, recreation, sports, all that refined stuff.

Just not in February.

(on second thought, come to Portland)

;)

[this_side_up]

22. The Willamette Queen is back

in town after its checkup. I don't know what time the
dinner cruise begins or the price. Reservations required.

Riverfront Park is cool. The WQ is docked there.

The Carousel is in the park. $1.25 per ride.

Farther south of the carousel is the recycled acid ball.
It is now called the Eco-Earth.

[Arugula Latte]

23. I agree that Portland is your best bet, but if you want a cool nearby

outdoor experience, check out Silver Falls State Park. Lotsa waterfalls within easy hikes through beautiful forest. It's open from 8 am to 5 pm in February, so I don't know if you'll have time.

[laconicsax]

24. Drive up to Portland and back

You'll get the real "Oregon Experience."

Spend some time in each lane for the whole deal. What can you expect?

Entering the freeway is a bit harrowing because the car in front of you doesn't understand that the point of the on-ramp is to accelerate to freeway speeds and when it's time to merge, there are no spaces in the right lane, no one is making any effort to let you in, and the car in front of you that had only reached about 45 mph just hit their brakes because they don't know how to merge.

In the right lane, there's a healthy mix of cars going 10+ under the speed limit and tailgaters who want to go 10+ over the speed limit, but don't want to go through all the hassle of using the relatively empty center or left lanes. Find yourself in the unenviable position of having to move to the center lane because a steady stream of traffic is about to merge onto the freeway, but you can't move because there's either a car or couple of trucks (the big kind with trailers) formation driving with you.

In the center lane, you can zip past traffic in the left lane while driving at or around the posted speed limit. Get tailgated by trucks (again, the big kind) even if you're maintaining 70+. Slam on your brakes because the car in front of you realized that they are going over the speed limit and the only safe way to slow down is to slam on their brakes until they're going 45-50. Watch as the car behind you speeds up and swerves into the left lane then back to pass you before cutting across the (empty) right lane to make their exit. Discover the difficulty of making your exit because the right lane has suddenly filled with a long line of cars and trucks driving somewhere in the 45-50 range with nowhere for you to squeeze in.

In the left lane, put up with people who don't understand that the left lane is for passing and insist on going 50-60 mph in a 65 zone. Experience the sheer horror as you drive along going close to 80 and notice that a truck (you know what kind I mean) is bearing down on you. Do you hope that they slow down? Do you try to get out of their way only to find that there's someone in the center lane who is driving in formation with you? (This happens in all three lanes, but is freakiest in the left) Freak out as you drive 15 over the speed limit past an Oregon State Trooper with a radar gun then experience the confusion as they don't pull out and pull you over or the guy doing close to 100 in the center lane.

Exiting the freeway is also an adventure due to the driver in front of you that doesn't understand that the point of the off-ramp is to slow down at a reasonable rate and started riding their brakes a little before they got on the off-ramp. I think that another authentic "Oregon Experience" is going about 25 the entire length of a long freeway offramp, then yelling at the driver in front of you to pick a lane because they're lazily drifting between the two (all three)

I swear to FSM, Oregon has the shittiest drivers I've ever seen. There are also a lot of really nice things to see/do in Portland that would make the "Oregon Experience" worth it.

[Critters2]

25. There must be some witches who need hangin'!

I kid. I kid.

[Parche]

26. In Salem Those Witches Need bangin......

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I know, show me the finger.............:hi:


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[Critters2]

27. You are wearin' out my finger finger!!

Parche!