Art in the Streets of Salem

Salem has so much going on.  One of the latest initiatives is art in unusual places.  To that end, we now have "art boxes" which are utility boxes transformed by artists into works of art, sitting on the edge of the roads in the Downtown area.

We also have artwork cropping up in other places, such as on the wall of the parking garage just a block from the Hawthorne Hotel.

I snapped these photos on my walk to work recently, and though you might enjoy seeing what is going on.

Juli

Something Nearly Invisible

We are pleased to announce that our new, free Wi-Fi system for our guests has been installed and is operational.  The units are nearly invisible, looking much like a smoke detector, but are powerfully strong and plentiful enough to provide all of our guests with the robust new bandwidth that those of us who depend on Wi-Fi have come to expect.

We have increased our bandwidth by 500% percent over what it was, and have gone from nine repeaters to 21 repeaters, with a special one for our Grand Ballroom that will carry 200 concurrent users.

All of this service is being provided to our hotel guests at no cost, as we believe that this is integral to a good hotel stay in today's world  -- as basic as are electrical outlets and running water.  So while many hotels still charge (a lot, in my opinion) for what we consider a basic necessity, we are providing it to our guests as part of what we do.

I hope you enjoy the fact that while we are an historic hotel, and while we do everything we can toward preserving the look and feel of this nice old building, we don't want our operating style to be considered "oldie" at all!  This latest upgrade to our technology is just one way we are keeping our guests on the cutting edge of all that is good in the technology realm.

Enjoy!

Juli

With Thanks to Destination Salem

Salem. Still Making History

---

Salem Celebrates the Fourth! Posted: 25 Jun 2012 08:19 AM PDT Many communities have their Fireworks and July 4th festivities on the weekend prior to the 4th. We in Salem stay true to the holiday, and hold off until the night of the Fourth. Join us at Derby Wharf, and Salem Common, next Wednesday as we celebrate America's independence in two very historic locations. Wednesday, July 4, on Derby Wharf at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Pre-Concert Activities Festivities begin at 4:00 p.m. with the opening of Kids' Space, an area filled with free face painting, games, crafts, contests and prizes galore.  New this year, we will be featuring two pre-concert bands on Main Stage.  At 4:00 p.m. Julie Dougherty and Friends will entertain the crowd and at 5:30 p.m., Britannica will take center stage. Opening ceremonies begin at 7:15 p.m. with a military flyover followed by a two hour 'POPS' concert by the Hillyer Festival Orchestra, a forty-piece ensemble with vocal soloists performing opera to Broadway favorites.  At 9:15 p.m. a magnificent fireworks display launched from Derby Wharf. Part of the allure of this celebration is its setting.  The first National Historic Site in the National Park System, Salem Maritime National Historic Site consists of nine acres of waterfront land and houses a dozen historic structures, including; the Custom House, where famed author Nathaniel Hawthorne worked; and, Derby Wharf, which was used by America's first millionaire Elias Hasket Derby, who made his fortune from this port of call.  Looking out at historic Salem harbor with hundreds of boats moored and the replica of a 1700's sailing vessel, the Friendship, serving as a backdrop, Independence Day is truly felt as you are surrounded by the history that helped us to become an independent nation. Reading of the Declaration of Independence July 4th - 9:00AM – Salem Common Join Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll on Salem Common at 9:00 a.m. for the reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Neil Chayet, with his articulate and powerful voice, will recite the words of this historic document.  Chayet is best known for Looking at the Law™, a daily radio feature nationally syndicated by CBS and heard locally on WBZ News Radio 1030 AM.  The program also includes the crowd being led in the singing of the National Anthem by Salem High School's award-winning a cappella group Witch Pitch and musical selections by Robert Kendall. The site of the first muster of America's National Guard, Salem Common has been a military training ground for 375 years.  This is a perfect place to commemorate the Declaration of Independence. For more information, log onto salem.com or please contact Salem City Hall at 978-745-9595, ext. 5676.

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

A "New" Look for Us

I love using a Google product called "Picasa" as a photo editor and photo sharing tool.  I recently discovered some new ways of manipulating photos there, and one of them is to be able to turn a photo into a "pencil sketch".  It happens that it worked very well with photos of the exterior of the building that I had just taken, so I thought I would share them with you here, fair blog reader.

I hope you enjoy seeing these.

Juli

Gay Pride Parade and Festival

More than 80 non-profits, local businesses, faith groups, and community organizations are set to participate in the first annual North Shore Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday, June 30, in Salem. All are welcome to attend this day-long event celebrating unity in the community.

Local news anchor and longtime LGBT activist Randy Price is the Grand Marshal of the parade, which kicks off at noon in front of the Salem Post office on Margin Street. Other special guests include openly-gay Boston sportswriter Steve Buckley, Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, and members of the North Shore Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (NAGLY), who will receive the first annual North Shore Pride Community Award.

Following the parade, the community will gather on the Salem Common for a festival where organizations and vendors will provide information, networking and shopping throughout the day. On stage, performers will keep the crowd entertained all afternoon, including R&B singer (and recent Boston Pride Idol contestant) Rolla, acoustic pop act Seth Wonkka and his band, folk singer Deb Hardy, theatrical cabaret group What Time is It Mr. Fox?, and the world's only all-female Queen tribute band Gunpowder Gelatine.

Vaudeville performer Johnny Blazes will MC, as well as perform with his band Johnny Blazes and the Pretty Boys. The music will be punctuated by drag performances, hoop dancers, and remarks from special guests, including a representative from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition explaining the state's recently-enacted gender identity non-discrimination law, and special recognition of the career-long LGBT advocacy of Congressman Barney Frank.

Revelers are invited to attend a free after-party with DJ Jodi at the Hawthorne Hotel following the festival.

North Shore Pride, Inc., an all-volunteer organization, is planning the day-long event to bring together and celebrate the LGBT community from across the north shore region.

Events:

10 a.m. Interfaith church service on the Salem Common.

12 p.m. Parade kicks off in front of the Salem Post Office.

1 - 5 p.m. Parade Festival on the Salem Common.

5:30 p.m. After-party at the Hawthorne Hotel (free admission, cash bar).

Summer Food in Nathaniel's

For the details of our new summer menu, see the blog post of last week. There you will find the complete menu and other photos. Here are the balance of the new items. I can assure you that I have tasted them all, and they are delicious.

 The chicken and the salmon were special surprises to me, as they are not things I usually order in a restaurant. The combinations of flavors on each of them were unique and delicious.

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Baked prosciutto-wrapped, goat cheese-stuffed dates

B & B Salad -- Berries and Balsamic, with herbed goat cheese and arugula

Chopped Salad with Bacon and Sunflower Seeds

Roasted Salmon with Strawberry-Walnut Relish

Panzanella Salad with Grilled Sliced Steak, Kalamata Olives

Free-Bird Chicken with Orange-Chipotle Sauce, Roasted White and Purple Cauliflower

Summer Dessert Menu in Nathaniel's 

Strawberry Shortcake

(available only after 5pm)

lightly sugared strawberries served on a country-style biscuit

topped with fresh whipped cream and fresh mint

Gingered Rhubarb Crème Brûlée

rich vanilla custard over oven-candied gingered rhubarb

topped with caramelized sugar

S’more

graham cracker base, milk chocolate mousse,

bittersweet chocolate ganache and toasted marshmallow

Flourless Chocolate Torte

dense and decadent chocolate cake

whipped cream

Tasting Trio

miniature cheesecake pop, coffee ice cream bonbon,

chocolate truffle

Prosecco Sorbet

a bubbly Italian sorbet served with fresh summer fruit

and almond biscotti

S'more-style Dessert

Dessert Trio

Rhubarb Creme Brulee

Prosecco Sorbet with Berries

I hope to see you here soon!

Juli

REVISED Hawthorne Hotel's Flags of the Week -- June 25 through July 1, 2012

If you drive by the Hawthorne Hotel and wonder what flags are flying on the front of the hotel on any given day, here is the list.  Please note the flag that will fly on Saturday June 30 is the Gay Pride Flag, and is being flown by special request in honor of Gay Pride Month here in Salem.

Monday , June 25 Algeria and Arkansas

Tuesday , June 26 Andorra and California
Wednesday , June 27 Angola and Colorado

Thursday , June 28 Antigua and Barbuda and Connecticut
Friday , June 29 Argentina and Delaware

Saturday , June 30 Pride Flag * and Massachusetts*

Sunday , July 1 Armenia and Florida

And here is the why:

We post these different flags of each of the countries of the United Nations, and States of the USA as our owner's way of encouraging world peace. By understanding each country and other states a little bit more, we help to humanize the globe. I trust you will enjoy seeing these colorful standards, icons of other lands, and that it will cause you to pause and think a little more globally.  In addition to our usual alphabetical order, we also accept special requests.



If you have a special request for a flag, please give us a call at 978-825-4444 or 4322.

I hope to see you here.

Juli

What Would Nathaniel Do?

We would like to think he would travel around the area surrounding Salem.  If you think so too, perhaps you will enjoy reading our other travel blog:

Travels with Nathaniel Blog

I hope you enjoy it!

Juli

Top 5 Things to Do on a HOT Day in Salem

5.  Visit the Peabody Essex Museum to see the Ansel Adams: At the Water's Edge exhibit.  Just looking at these wonderful photos will cool you off, not to mention how great the cooling system is at PEM.

4.  Go to the Willows, get popcorn and ice cream at Hobbes, and dangle your feet in the water at one of the beaches in the area.

3.  Pop in and out of all of our great downtown shops and mini-museums.  Stay longer at the ones with good air conditioning.

2.  Come to the Tavern at the Hawthorne Hotel for lunch or dinner, or just for some great cocktails (both adult, and non-alcoholic drinks are always terrific here.)

1.  Go to the movies at CinemaSalem.  Here is the schedule for the movies that start today:

Now Playing: Brave (PG); Headhunters (R); Rock of Ages (PG13); Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted 3D (PG): This Perfect Place: A Natural History of the Massachusetts North Shore (NR); and The True 1692 3D!

Brave, featuring an independent, strong, clever heroine, arrives at CinemaSalem on Friday, and the critics are raving. New York Magazine: "In addition to being fast, funny, and unpretentious, Brave is a happy antidote to all the recent films in which women triumph by besting men at their own macho games." Variety: "Adding a female director to its creative boys' club, the studio has fashioned a resonant tribute to mother-daughter relationships that packs a level of poignancy on par with such beloved male-bonding classics as Finding Nemo." Village Voice: "The animation studio's first film with a female protagonist, a defiant lass who acts as a much-welcome corrective to retrograde Disney heroines of the past and the company's unstoppable pink-princess merchandising."

 Brave will play on Friday and Saturday at (12:00), (2:15), (4:30), 7:00 and 9:30; and Sunday-Thursday at (12:00), (2:15), (4:30) and 7:00.

New in the Screening Room this week is Headhunters, currently rated 92% positive on RottenTomatoes.com. St. Paul Pioneer Press: "The good guy in the Norwegian Headhunters looks like a bad guy, and the bad guy looks like a good guy. And that's just one of the ways this dazzling movie messes with us." Boston Herald: "This is one funny, gory, high-class crime thriller and my favorite Norwegian export since Troll Hunter." Miami Herald: "By film's end, we're deep into Coen brothers territory, with an extra splash of Sam Raimi-level gore."

Headhunters will screen on Friday and Saturday at (12:10), (2:45), (4:45), 7:40 and 9:50; and Sunday-Thursday at (12:10), (2:45), (4:45) and 7:40.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted 3D continues to dominate the box office charts in its fourth week. The Denver Post loves it: "From time to time the improbable occurs: A sequel outdoes its original." Newark Star-Ledger: "A fun and fast family entertainment." The Movie Report: "The wildly successful animated comedy series finally--and, to be frank, very unexpectedly--breaks from pleasantly watchable kid-friendly mediocrity to visually imaginative, consistently witty all-ages entertainment."

Madagascar 3 will screen on Friday and Saturday at (11:15 AM), (1:30), (4:00), 6:45 and 9:00; and Sunday-Thursday at (11:15 AM), (1:30), (4:00) and 6:45.

Entering its second week is Rock of Ages, and many critics (including some heavyweights) are rocking. San Francisco Chronicle: "No matter how you feel about Guns N' Roses, Tom Cruise's as a bandanna-headed Axl Rose type will hit you as the purest bit of genius in the man's entire film career." Los Angeles Times: "Blessed with unstoppable energy, an undeniably bawdy sense of fun and Tom Cruise in backless leather pants, it takes songs you may never have loved and turns them into a musical that's easy to enjoy." Rolling Stone: "There's no denying the party-time pow of Rock of Ages, or of Tom Cruise's performance."
ROA will screen Friday and Saturday at (11:30 AM), (2:00), (5:00), 7:30 and 10:00; and Sunday-Thursday at (11:30 AM), (2:00), (5:00) and 7:30.

This Perfect Place is wowing viewers with its beautiful vistas of the North Shore, and its clear and fascinating description of the animals with whom we share this beautiful place. The film will screen on Friday at 12:00, 1:00, and 2:00; Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 and 1:00; and Monday-Thursday at 12:00, 1:00, and 2:00.

The True 1692, our historically-accurate 3D film about the Salem Witch Trials, will screen everyday at 11:00, 2:00, and 6:30. The 2D version of 1692 will screen on Friday at 3:00; and Monday-Thursday at 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00 pm.

A scene featuring Merida from Brave.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Stay cool out there, or come on in here and stay cool with us.


Juli

Activities to Calendar

5th Annual Reading of the Declaration of Independence on Salem Common

• • Wednesday, July 4, 2012
  • 9:00am until 9:30am

• A "must do" in Salem on July 4th!!! The Reading of the Declaration of Independence Reading by Attorney Neil Chayet National Anthem sung by SHS Witch Pitch? America the Beautiful accompanied by Robert Kendall. Wednesday July 4, On the Common 9:00-9:30AM Everyone welcome! Bring a chair or just stand or sit on the grass. I hope to see you here. Juli

The Ferry is Back!

With much appreciation to Destination Salem, I hereby share their blog post about the Salem Ferry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We love our cars, and we love the train, and both have very valuable places in our lives. However, the Salem Ferry operates on an entirely different level. And that is why we are very excited to welcome Salem-to-Boston (and back again) Ferry service to the 2012 summer season this weekend.

The Salem Ferry has a new operator, Boston Harbor Cruises, a new schedule, and new ticket prices. The Ferry will be connecting Long Wharf (on the Aquarium side of the Marriott) in Boston, and Salem Wharf at Blaney Street in Salem. If you missed the shore-side improvements at Blaney Street last year, you should definitely check them out this year. There's a new terminal (with restrooms!), a paved parking lot, free parking, and room to hang out and relax while you wait for your ship to come in.

An excursion aboard the Salem Ferry is a great way to start a day-trip or a weekend. Parking in Salem is free, and the BHC captains will provide a worry-free trip into Boston that is much more scenic than Route 1 or I-93, not to mention traffic-free! Enjoy the shoreline as you cruise comfortably along Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant, and past the Boston Harbor Islands. Wave to the cruise ships and pleasure craft traveling in and out of Boston harbor, and arrive just steps from Faneuil Hall, the Freedom Trail, and Boston's North End.

Salem Ferry at dock in Boston

The trip between Salem and Boston takes 55 minutes. The ferry has enclosed, protected-from-the-elements, seating as well as deck seating, a galley and bar, and restrooms.

View of Boston from Salem Ferry

Visit BostonHarborCruises.com/Salem-Ferry for information, schedules and tickets.

Link to Ferry Schedule and Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope to see you here.




Juli

More Photos of Nathaniel's New Summer Dinner Menu

 I wish my photos could capture the flavors of food and convey them directly to your taste buds.  Unfortunately that technology just does not exist (and let's hope it never does, because that might put a lot of restaurants out of business!)

Hopefully these photos will at least whet your appetites, and you will make plans straightaway to come to Nathaniel's for dinner.

Warm Grilled Shrimp, with Chilled Noodle Salad, Curry Sauce

Watermelon "Sundae" Appetizer

Stone Fruit and Candied Lemon Peel Salad with Jicama

Mahi Mahi with Modern Succotash

Grilled Eggplant and Heirloom Tomato Stack

Local Flounder Stuffed with Tomatoes

Pork Blade Steak with Harissa

To make reservations, call us at 978-825-4311.  Or go to our website, and make them on our reservations system powered by "OpenTable".  Here is the link:

Dining at the Hawthorne Hotel

I hope to see you here.

Juli

Kristen Doucette Receives Award

On Thursday afternoon the managers who were on duty all walked over to the Peabody Essex Museum to seek out Kristen Doucette.  She was beginning a shift over there as part of our Banquet Team, and we wanted to award her the Part-Time Employee of the Month Award for May, 2012.

Here are the photos to show that we did exactly that:

Kristen being surprised by the management team.

Liz Dube telling Kristen and all assembled why she was selected for this award.

Left to right:  Juli Lederhaus, General Manager; Kristen Doucette; Liz Dube, Banquet Manager; Claire Kallelis , Assistant General Manager and Director of Food and Beverage

 Interestingly we all had on black and white and shade of grey this day, and so we posed in front of the giant representation of the Ansel Adams photo in the Atrium of PEM.

This poster in the entryway of PEM looks fully like the photo it is, but you can see through it as well, which is what my camera decided to do.

Kristen has been with us for a few years, and she has certainly grown and developed over that time into a very strong member of the Banquet Team.  We are thrilled to have her working with us.  Please join me in congratulating her on this well-deserved recognition.

Juli