News

Columbus Day crowds flocked to Salem

By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
Published: October 15, 2008

SALEM — The warm fall weather helped draw a large crowd to the city over the Columbus Day weekend.

The National Park Service Visitors' Center reported nearly 17,000 people came through its doors over the three days, which was almost a 40 percent increase over last year.

The Witch House, the former home of a Witch Trials judge and now a city-run attraction, had one of its biggest Columbus Day weekends in years, an official said.

"(My foreman) told me it was like Halloween," said Park Superintendent Doug Bollen.

Some coffee shops were so busy they closed early.

"We were running out of coffee and milk," said Brenda Silva of the Front Street Coffee Shop. It was the same at Fuel, a coffee and juice bar that Silva and her husband operate on the Essex Street pedestrian mall.

"We had to close early there, too," she said.

The crowds seemed to flock to restaurants with outdoor seating.

"By the end of the weekend, we ran out of half our menu," said Lee Wolf, owner of The Lobster Shanty.

"We ran out of lobster by 4 p.m. on Sunday — that's before dinner."

The crowds also produced traffic jams throughout the downtown and, at times, backed up traffic all the way onto Route 128 in Peabody, an official said.