Salem, Mass.
Hello, Elizabeth Montgomery. We miss you.
The late actress of “Bewitched” fame, who died in 1995, popped up twice on the last day of our fall swing through New England.
We saw her first at the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Mass., where we spent the final night of a long weekend. On display in the room where one of the infamous ax murders happened is a dress she wore when she played Lizzie in a 1975 television movie. On a wall near it are photos of her as Lizzie — one wearing this dress.
And on our final stop, in the equally infamous witch trial town of Salem, here she is again — riding a broom past a sliver of moon as Samantha Stephens from the popular 1964-72 TV comedy, which filmed episodes in Salem in 1970. The bronze statue, commissioned by TV Land and installed in 2005 to mark the 35th anniversary of the filming, is a light-hearted nod to the town’s dark 17th century past as the center of witchcraft prosecutions in colonial Massachusetts — exactly 200 years before the Borden murders an hour or so south.
Salem now is more of a fall festival stop in New England, with tourists wearing witch hats and young people dressed as zombies roaming the streets. On this Monday in October, the streets were packed with tourists and other monsters even as rain threatened. We walked the streets for a few hours, stopping at the Old Burying Point, with tombstones dating to the 1600s, and the adjacent Salem Witch Trials Memorial, which was dedicated in 1992 — 300 years after the the dark display of mass hysteria and religious extremism. The names of the 20 people executed in 1692, including six men, are carved on granite benches. Nineteen of the victims were hanged; one man was pressed to death with heavy stones.
After a quick stop for lunch at Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub for clam chowder, lobster rolls, and a seasonal pumpkin beer, we had to head to the airport in Boston. But we got just enough of a taste of Salem for it to cast its spell.