Tag Archives: Peabody Essex Museum
Zebra Finches, Guitars and a Chinese House–Just a Typical Afternoon in Salem
It’s hard to believe that this afternoon we threw on our shoes, drove five minutes and walked into this amazing building in downtown Salem.
Then paid nothing (because Salem residents are admitted for free), and waited in line for twenty minutes to view from here to ear, an exhibit featuring zebra finches playing electric guitars and cymbals…
No photos were allowed, but check out the video in the right margin here on the PEM website and you’ll get the idea. It was quite an experience.
While we waited to see the birds we looked out and enjoyed this view of Yin Yu Tang, a two hundred year old merchant’s house that was brought here piece by piece from China in 2003 and reassembled by the museum…
No photos are allowed of the inside of Yin Yu Tang either, but it’s full of original artifacts from the house as it was while it was used by the family that owned it. It was easy to imagine what it might have been like to live there.
After all of that amazing cultural opportunity, we ran right into this guy
Who elicited this reaction from my littlest girl…
There was even a quick view of a frozen garden through a window…
Maybe we don’t need spring in Salem after all? We’re doing just fine.
Enjoy everything!
Michele
A Little Bit of Ice Sculpture
I love, love, love ice sculpture and this weekend is the Salem So Sweets ice sculpture event. It was originally scheduled for last week but it was postponed due to the blizzard. It’s hard to believe that that was a week ago already. Where did the week go?
There are sixteen sculptures this year. I always think their amazing, so every year I lead a spirited tour around town to take a look. We just saw a portion of them today because my little guy was sick all week and this was his first venture out of the house. My little girl doesn’t share my love of ice sculpture and wanted to go to Target to buy a new toothbrush. I really did not want to go to Target. I could have stayed downtown all day. We forged on…
This pretty heart was outside of Rockafellas Restaurant. Rockafellas hosted the festival’s wine and chocolate party so it’s a very fitting decoration for their entry way. 
This guy was further down the street.
The detail is amazing.
Last year a head was stolen from one of the sculptures. What a cute play on that! 
The Taj Mahal graced the entrance to the PEM (Peabody Essex Museum)… 
And this film projector outside of the Salem Cinema has a special story. A few months ago the Cinema announced that in order to remain open their projection system had to be upgraded to a digital format. The price tag for this was $60,000. A fundraising campaign was organized and within twelve days the Cinema had reached its goal. Our community loves this theatre because the theatre loves our community. 
I could have stayed all day, there were lots of other sculptures to see, but it just wasn’t our day. Maybe we’ll get back down there later in the week if the weather stays cold.
If you have kids of any age be sure to check out Happy Holligan’s colored ice post just below. What a fun thing to do with the kids when cabin fever sets in. I’m heading to my freezer to stock up on some colored ice. It’s school vacation week here, the perfect time to make some ice creations!
The ice won’t be here for long, garden days are coming!
Enjoy it while you can!
Michele
Related articles
- coloured ice sculptures (happyhooligans.ca)
The Salem Garden 