Stuck in Salem: Spring Break Edition

Staying here in Salem for Spring Break? The Clypian has compiled a list of interesting things to do here instead of traveling other places. It can be surprising how many cool things a person can do right here at home.
Go out to eat: It is pretty fun to have a night out and go to a fancy restaurant. These are just a few of the tasty places to go eat food:
La Hacienda Real: On the spendy side, but offers delicious Mexican food. They provide complimentary chips and beans while customers wait for their meals. Their tortillas are known to be some of the best in town. Madelyn Hedstrom ‘21 highly recommends trying out their virgin margaritas and enchiladas.
Olive Garden: Commonly known for a dressy-casual type of atmosphere, Olive Garden is a fun and affordable place to go out with friends. They offer breadsticks as appetizers, and serve mainly Italian styled food.
“It’s at a great price for great flavors,” said Camilo Hart ‘21
Best Little Roadhouse: A good family-friendly place to eat. They offer a variety of meals from steaks to salads and a mini-golf course for before or after entertainment, making the perfect little outing with family or friends. They provide both the food and the activity, making an entire day or night out.
Go see a movie! It can be pleasant to settle on the couch and rent a movie, but it’s also lots of fun to go out to a movie theater and watch a new movie on the big screen. It’s simple to go online and find an interesting movie that’s playing at the theater. A helpful website is Fandango. Some common movie theaters one can go to over break include: Northern Lights – An affordable option with tables so watchers can eat while the movie plays. A bonus to Northern Lights is their “Escape Quest!” Participants get put in a room with a certain amount of time to solve clues and ‘escape’ from the room. Cinebarre – A more expensive option that serves food as well throughout the movie, and their popcorn bowls are huge, so be sure to bring a friend along to help!
Challenge yourself: there are lots of options to go out and move around with friends, getting both the interaction and the exercise that’s necessary over break.
Laser Tag at Pietro’s Pizza offers both an arcade and a laser tag arena. Get together with some friends and go shoot lasers at each other to see who can get the most points! Make sure to wear bright neon or white colors for an extra cool look!
Get Air offers a place to show off some new tricks, or just bounce around. Visitors can jump around on a bunch of trampolines, or into big piles of foam, or practice cool tricks like flips in a place where it doesn’t hurt so bad to mess up or fall.
The Rock Boxx is also a fairly new climbing gym here in Salem, where participants can climb wherever they want without a harness. Don’t worry, there are mats. Bring a few friends and see who can climb the fastest, or challenge each other to the more difficult courses.
There are a few places to go in Salem to get creative. Artists can make memories to keep forever, and show off their skills at the same time.
Located in downtown Salem, Create A Memory is a quaint shop to paint pottery or glass pieces. Aspiring artists can choose from dishes, decorations, and lots of other sculptures. The experience includes tons of paint and paintbrush options, which come with the cost of the initial item chosen. When customers finish painting, they can hand off their creations to the professionals, who will cook the art in a kiln. The dishes are completely usable when buyers return later to pick them up. Perhaps the more introverted artists don’t feel like creating around strangers or being under a time limit. In that case, they can go to a crafting store such as Craft Warehouse or Joanns and pick up supplies to host a crafting party!
After all this traveling around Salem, it’s about time for a tasty treat! There are some delicious places to get dessert around here.
For people in the mood for some ice cream, Baskin-Robbins has 31 different and diverse flavors, from vanilla to cotton candy. They offer different toppings and cones as well, and it’s all delectable! For a more elegant dessert, one might consider visiting the Konditorei for pastries and cakes. They offer so many different kinds of incredible dessert, including a whole display of cheesecake!
The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is also a great option located downtown for a treat to take home. They have all sorts of little treats, from chocolates to caramel apples.
These are just a few of the things one can do in Salem over spring break on a staycation. Salem is filled with interesting shops, great food, and fun things to do.