Friday Fun – Page 18 – Salem Happenings

Friday Fun: Labor Day Weekend Events

Just in case you’ve been working too hard to actually look at a calendar, this weekend is Labor Day weekend. As a result, it’s a time to sit back, relax, and eat more burgers, steak, hot dogs, and other food than you would typically ever think possible. In fact, Labor Day is the third most popular day to have a cookout trailing only slightly behind Memorial Day and way behind the Fourth of July. However, if barbecues aren’t really your thing (and I have trouble understanding how that could actually be the case) or you’re looking for something to do before or after your BBQ this weekend, here are a couple of things that you may want to check out.

First, if you’re looking for something that you can do earlier in the day and you’ve always wanted to know what it was like to swab the decks, the U.S.S. Constitution Museum has the exhibit for you. The U.S.S. Constitution Museum currently has an exhibit entitled All Hands on Deck: A Sailor’s Life in 1812. This exhibit will allow you to see what it was like to furl a sail in strong winds, sleep in a hammock, swab the deck, and ultimately what it was like to live aboard the U.S.S. Constitution during the War of 1812. Best of all, the exhibit is included in the regular fee to see the museum, which is only $5 for adults and $2 for children. For more information on the exhibit, please visit the U.S.S. Constitution Museum website.

Secondly, if you’re looking for something that you can do later in the day or you’re thinking that swabbing the decks is best left to the professionals, you can always go see a laser show at the Museum of Science. The Museum of Science currently has three laser shows running every Friday and Saturday night from now until the beginning of September (with extra shows this Sunday and Monday.) These shows, which each last about 40 minutes, will allow you to listen to the music of Queen, Pink Floyd, or even Justin Bieber (*cringe*) while you watch the museum’s highly advanced planetarium display lights and laser images that go along with the music. I have to admit that these light shows are one of my favorite things about the Museum of Science, and they are definitely worth a look. For more information on each of the shows, please visit the Museum of Science’s Planetarium page.

Friday Fun: Maritime Festivals and Movies

As the summer begins to wind down, it is usually a lot harder to find interesting things to do with your family. In fact, if you’ve been looking for something to do this weekend, you may have already realized that unless you consider barhopping to be a family activity, finding something that kids and parents alike will enjoy is quite a challenge. Fortunately, there are a couple of events going on in the Boston area and north of Boston this weekend that almost everyone will enjoy.

First, if you’re a big fan of antique boats or you simply like the sea, there is a festival in Salem, MA that you won’t want to miss. This festival, which is known as the Antique & Classic Boat Festival, features artists, a boat parade, a craft fair, music, photographers, over 40 vintage boats, and more maritime stuff than you can shake a stick at (or perhaps an oar.) Best of all, the Festival is a great way to entertain the family without breaking the bank as it is only $5 for adults and children under 12 are free. For more information, please visit the By The Sea website.

Secondly, if your family is more interested in movies than they are in maritime history, the HatchShell in Boston may have the solution. Tonight, August 23, 2013, the HatchShell will be showing Oz The Great and Powerful as part of their “Free Flicks” summer series. The movie, which is absolutely free, will begin at sunset and will end approximately 2 hours later (the total run time is 130 minutes.) For more information on the event itself, please visit the HatchShell website. For more information on the film, which tells the origin story of the wizard from the Wizard Of Oz, please visit the Oz the Great and Powerful website.

Friday Fun: Horses and Fortresses

Do you like acrobats? Do you like horses? Do you like special effects? If you answered “yes” to all three of these questions, then you may want to check out Cavalia Odysseo. Cavalia Odysseo, which is currently performing in Somerville, is a two to three hour equestrian show that features over 50 extremely well-trained horses, a group of acrobats that are just as skilled, if not more skilled, than those found in some of the best circuses and acrobatic shows in the world, and more special effects than your brain may be able to handle.

In fact, Cavalia Odysseo is often said to be Cirque du Soleil with horses by many of the show’s visitors, and although it doesn’t actually have any connection to Cirque and lacks the clowns and circus-type feel typically associated with Cirque, Cirque du Soleil with horses is a pretty good way to describe the show. The only thing that you need to remember is that if your kids aren’t demanding a pony now, they will be after the show (and, if that doesn’t make your life difficult enough, Cavalia actually has ponies that you can adopt.) For more information on the show and to order tickets, please visit the Cavalia Odysseo website.

If you really aren’t into acrobats, horses, and special effects or you’re really concerned that your kids may actually end up with a pony if you go to Cavalia Odysseo, you may want to head on over to Castle Island Park in Boston instead. Castle Island Park is offering free tours of Fort Independence from 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday until labor day weekend. These tours will give you and your family the opportunity to explore the oldest continuously fortified location in British North America as the Fort was first constructed in 1634 and was in use by military forces (either British or American) until 1962. However, even though the fort was in use for 328 years and survived multiple wars, including the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, the forces stationed at the fort never actually had to fire on an enemy. For more information on these tours, please visit the Fort Independence website.

Friday Fun: Salem Heritage Days

There’s no question that Salem, Massachusetts is typically associated with witches as even the city’s police cars have the image of a witch emblazoned on them. In fact, the city’s police cars not only have the image of a witch, but also have the words “The Witch City” clearly printed below the word “Salem” in almost every logo. As you might guess, this fascination with the witch hysteria (or this hysteria about the hysteria if you will) has caused the month of October to become the city’s big draw because everyone wants to be in Salem for Halloween. However, even though the city is already preparing for the festivities that will occur in a couple of months, there is an event that started this past week and will continue into the weekend that is more aimed at the local crowd than the tourists that come for the witches. This event is Salem’s Heritage Days.

Salem’s Heritage Days is a week-long celebration of everything that Salem has to offer. The celebration, which began last weekend and runs until this Sunday, features an antique car show, a comedy show, a Jazz and Soul Festival, a Kid’s Night with rides and games, music, a street fair, a women’s 5k run that includes wine and chocolate for each of the runners afterwards, and a bunch of other events. Best of all, these events are just the events happening this weekend as part of the festival and most of the events are free. If you’re interested in finding out more about Salem’s Heritage Day celebration, you can find all of the information you need and more on the City of Salem website.

Friday Fun: Comic Books and Concerts

As we say “sayonara” to another summer month, it finally looks like we may be in for a weekend where we’re not going to be drenched in sweat or rain. Unfortunately, since we’re now past the halfway point of summer, there isn’t as much going on in the Boston area as there was a few weeks ago, which just sort of figures. In fact, you may have already realized that finding stuff to do this weekend is going to be a little more challenging than usual as your favorite app, website, and/or newspaper just doesn’t seem to have a whole lot listed. However, there are still a number of events going on in the area, and you should be able to find something for just about everyone.

If you’re a comic book fan, there is one major event that you should definitely check out in Boston this weekend. Boston Comic Con, which runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Seaport World Trade Center, is one of the largest comic book conventions in the Northeast. This event will give you the opportunity to attend panels with well-known comic book artists, buy a wide assortment of comic-book related merchandise and artwork, check out all of the people in costumes, enter contests (including a cosplay contest), meet actresses from the Walking Dead and True Blood, meet actors from the Hobbit, play games, watch a variety of independent and zombie-themed films, and a whole lot more. Tickets for the convention are $25.00 for one day or $40.00 for both Saturday and Sunday, and you can purchase tickets and find out more about the convention at the Boston Comic Con website.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for something that is aimed more at younger kids than teenagers and kids at heart, you may want to head on over to Georges Island. Georges Island, which is actually an island located in Boston Harbor, is holding a Family Jam with Karen K and the Jitterbugs from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, August 3, 2013.) This concert will feature kids music, dancing, kids crafts, and other kid-friendly activities. The concert and all of the activities are free, but you will have to pay $15 for each individual 12 or over and $9 for each person between the ages of 4 and 11 to take the ferry to the island (kids 3 and under are free.) For more information, check out the Boston Harbor Island website.

Friday Fun: Music and Art Weekend

I don’t know how the weather’s been where you are, but for most people, it’s been one strange summer. In fact, it was over 100 degrees in some places last week with the sun shining so brightly that most people were desperately trying to get out of the sun before they burst into flames. However, this week, at least in the Northeast, it’s 60 degrees and so wet that everyone and everything from the flowers to the small scurrying creatures that are trying to hide under the petals would really like to see that big, bright ball of flame in the sky dry things out a bit. To be honest, it’s just one of those summers where no one can really decide what they want because no matter what they wish for, they end up trying to hide inside where it is cool and dry. Fortunately, if you’re really getting sick of hiding inside your stuffy house with your A/C cranked up or your windows closed so the rain doesn’t get in, you’re in luck because there are a couple of interesting events happening in the Boston area this weekend.

If you’re a big fan of the arts, you may want to check out Copley Square. The Boston Globe, Citizen’s Bank, and WGBH are hosting the 2nd annual Summer Arts Weekend, which runs from tonight, Friday, July 26th at 7:00 p.m. to Sunday, July 28th. This festival, which celebrates art in all its forms, will feature a number of live performances by local bands and Grammy-winning musicians, panels with reality TV chefs, dancers, and a whole lot more. However, one of the best things about the Summer Arts Weekend is that almost all of the events are absolutely free. For more information on the festival, please visit the Summer Arts Weekend website.

If, on the other hand, you like your art to be a little more on the traditional side, Lowell may have exactly what you’re looking for this weekend. The City of Lowell, the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Lowell National Historic Park, the Lowell Festival Foundation, and the National Council for the Traditional Arts are hosting the Lowell Folk Festival from tonight, Friday, July 26th at 6:40 p.m. to Sunday, July 28th at 6:15 p.m. This traditional music and art festival features folk music, woodcarving, stone carving, and a whole lot more from both local and visiting artists and musicians. And, if all of this isn’t a good enough reason for you to attend, all of the events at the Lowell Folk Festival are completely free (you will have to pay for drinks, food, or merchandise if you want any of that though.) For more information on the Lowell Folk Festival, please visit the 2013 Lowell Folk Festival website.

Friday Fun: How To Avoid Melting

Has your thermometer given up even trying to show a real temperature and is just reading “Hot, Hot, Hot? Has your air conditioner, realizing that there is no hope of cooling down your house, gone on strike? Are you afraid that if you don’t find something cool to do this weekend, you’re going to end up melting like the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz? Well, if you answered “yes” to any of these questions, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re in the U.S. right now. With temperatures approaching 100 degrees in many areas throughout the country, finding a way to stay cool is definitely at the top of most people’s to-do lists. Fortunately, if you’re in the Boston area this weekend, there are a number of events that are not only taking place at cooler places or cooler times of the day, but a number of events that are also absolutely free.

First, if you and/or kids are looking for a cool and refreshing treat, you may want to head over to Taza Chocolate in Somerville, MA tomorrow (Saturday, July 20, 2013.) Taza Chocolate is offering free Mexican-style popsicles, which are also known as Paletas, from 12 to 3 p.m. as part of their Chill Out Saturdays. These treats are made by a local vendor based in Cambridge, MA, known as Real Pops, and they come in a variety of flavors. For more information about Taza Chocolate’s Chill Out Saturdays, please visit the Taza Chocolate website.

If you are looking for a way for your kids to have some fun in the water, you may want to check out the Frog Pond Spray Pool & Fountain, the Rings Fountain on the Greenway, or the Veterans Memorial Swimming and Wading Pool. The Frog Pond Spray Pool & Fountain, which is located on Boston Common, features a free wading pool for young children and a 70-foot spray plume for children and their parents. The Rings Fountain on the Greenway, which is located in the Wharf District Parks in Boston, features a giant circular spray fountain that uses 64 nozzles to spray water in a series of circles around the people in its center. The Veterans Memorial Swimming and Wading Pool, which is located on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, features a full-sized swimming pool that adults and kids can use for free and a free wading pool for younger children.

Finally, if you and your kids are looking for something that is a little dryer but still pretty cool, you can always head on over to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace not only has a number of shops, restaurants, monuments, and museums that everyone can enjoy, but also has a free light show called Summer Blink every night from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. until September 6th. This special show features over 350,000 LED lights that will allow you see the entire Marketplace and the entire Boston skyline light up as the Standell’s famous song about Boston, Dirty Water, plays in the background. For more information, please visit the Boston Blinks website.

Friday Fun: It’s a Retro Weekend

Unless your life has been absolutely perfect or perfectly boring from day one, there’s probably been at least one point in your life where you really wish you could go back in time and do it all over again. In fact, there might be an awkward conversation that you had with a guy or a girl you really liked in high school that you would like to hit the reset button on, a day back in college where you partied a little too hard that you would like nothing more than to delete entirely, or a day that you would give almost anything to relive. Unfortunately, no matter how much you would like go back in time, there’s really no way to get your hands on an actual time machine and there’s really no way to undo the past. However, you may be able to relive the memories of your past through some of the retro activities that are happening in the Boston area this weekend and beyond.

If the mid sixties and early seventies are the era that you would really like to relive, the Citi Performing Arts Center may have exactly what you’re looking for. The Citi Performing Arts Center is hosting “A Midsummer’s Night with the Monkees” on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. This one-night concert will allow you to hear a number of the band’s famous songs from the 1960’s T.V. show and new songs sung by three of the band’s original members, including Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. For more information and to order tickets for “A Midsummer’s Night with the Monkees”, please visit the Citi Performing Arts Center’s website.

If, on the other hand, reliving your childhood seems like more fun than reliving the sixties, you may want to check out the Salem Toy Museum. The Salem Toy Museum, which is located in the Museum Place Mall in Salem, MA, features over 2,000 toys that were originally released somewhere between 1950 and now. As a result, there’s really no better place to go if you want to see all of the toys from your childhood again or you just want to show your kids that you weren’t making them all up.

Finally, if you prefer your retro to be really retro, like 400 years before your time retro, you may want to head on over to Boston Common some night over the next couple of weeks. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company is performing the Two Gentlemen of Verona as part of their Shakespeare on the Common Series from now until July 28, 2013. This show, which is performed almost every night, will give you the opportunity to see one of Shakespeare’s famous comedies for free. For more information, please visit the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s website.

Friday Fun: Fireworks and Mysteries

The fireworks may be over but that doesn’t mean that the fun has to be. In fact, if you missed out on the 4th of July festivities, you may be in luck as there are still some places that are having fireworks tonight and tomorrow. As a result, if you’re looking for something to do now that the 4th of July has come and gone, you may want to look into some of the fireworks displays and other events that are happening this weekend.

First, if your kids love arts and crafts and are really into fireworks, you may want to think about taking them to the Boston Children’s Museum this weekend. The Boston Children’s Museum is holding a special event entitled Kitchen Science: Fireworks in a Glass on Saturday, July 6, 2013 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. This event will allow your children ages 5 and up to use oil, food coloring, and other items found around the kitchen to make colorful firework-like designs in a glass. For more information, please visit the Boston Children’s Museum website.

Secondly, if you’re looking for an activity that you can do without the kids and/or you’ve always been a fan of murder mysteries, the Museum of Fine Arts may have exactly what you’re looking for this weekend. The Museum of Fine Arts and Watson Adventures is hosting a Murder at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt at 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 6, 2013. This event, which is only open to adults, will feature a series of clues related to the art in the museum that will help you to determine why the museum curator was killed and, most importantly, who killed the curator. To find out more about the event or to register for it, please visit the Watson Adventures website.

Finally, if you were hoping to catch another fireworks display or you missed all of the displays earlier in the week, Falmouth, Hudson, Lowell, and Waltham are all having fireworks displays that begin somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30 pm tonight (July 5, 2013.) If you can’t make it to any of the displays tonight, however, don’t worry. Ayer, Brockton, Hudson, Salisbury, and Wilmington are also having fireworks displays this weekend, but each of these displays will begin somewhere between 9:00 and 10:15 pm tomorrow (July 6, 2013.) For more information, please check your local paper.

Friday Fun: Independence Day

Independence Day is next week, and no, I’m not talking about the movie with Will Smith and the locust-like aliens. I’m talking about the national holiday that celebrates the day that our founding fathers declared their independence from Great Britain with one of the most profound documents in modern history on July 4, 1776. The importance of this document, which we all know as the U.S. Declaration of Independence, cannot be overestimated as the Declaration not only helped to establish one of the most powerful nations in the world but also established that all men (and women) are created equal and that everyone has certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As a result, it should be no surprise that the celebrations that typically accompany this historic event often spill into the days both before and after the holiday, and if you’re one of the people trying to figure out what you’re going to do during the week of the 4th of July this year, here are some suggestions.

First, in order to make it through all of the events this week, you’re going to need to build up your strength. Fortunately, the Boston area has you covered, as there are a couple of events this weekend devoted to stuffing your face. In fact, if you’re into Caribbean cuisine, you may want to check out the Boston JerkFest. This festival, which is scheduled to take place at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology on Saturday, June 29, 2013 from 11:00 to 8:00 pm, will feature live entertainment and more spicy food than you have ever seen before. For more information, please visit the Boston JerkFest website.

If spicy food really isn’t your thing and you would really prefer to have a good meatball, the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville is hosting the Meatball Takedown on Sunday, June 30, 2013 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The Meatball Takedown is an all you can eat food festival that, as you might guess, will allow you to sample a wide assortment of meatballs. However, the Takedown not only features a whole bunch of different meatballs for the average attendee to eat but also features a meatball-eating contest in which a large group of people will try to cram as many meatballs into their stomachs as humanly possible. If this all sounds like something you just can’t miss, you may want to check out the Meatball Takedown website for more details and/or to purchase tickets.

Secondly, once you’re all fueled up and ready to go, you may want to think about taking the Official USS Constitution Turnaround cruise. The USS Constitution, which is the world’s oldest commissioned warship, makes a short trip to Castle Island every year on the 4th of July to fire off a 21 gun salute in honor of all the men and women who have fought and/or given their lives for our country. Now, while these cruises won’t actually allow you to sail on the Constitution itself, they will allow you to sail right beside it while you eat, enjoy music from the Middlesex Fife and Drum Corps, and listen to an expert discuss the USS Constitution. For more information and/or to order tickets, please visit the Boston Harbor Cruises Turnaround Spectacular website.

Finally, if you’re looking for something to do after the cruise is over and you’re not planning to head home for the local fireworks that most towns and cities have, you may want to head over to the Esplanade for the Boston Pops Firework Spectacular. The Boston Pops Firework Spectacular is one of the largest fireworks displays in the United States, and it is accompanied by a flyover, music , and guest appearances by a number of well-known actresses, actors, musicians, and bands. For more details on the event, which is absolutely free, please visit the Boston Pops Firework Spectacular website.