Nicole and Jackie's Plane Forum SALEM

So, I am going to try my damnedest to make this trip work.  I do get my Alaska money in October, the good ol' oil fund dividend.  It's supposed to be at a historic all time low for individual payouts, but hopefully it'll be enough to cover a plane ticket.  I do want to go to Salem, now more than ever since I'm working on the YA series.  So I thought it'd be fun to have a Forum for it :)

So October in Salem, Massachusetts is the most expensive month for lodging anywhere, of course.  And as much as I would love to spend the night in a cozy B&B, paying upwards of $200/night just doesn't jive with the budget.  So I've been browsing other nearby areas for good deals on hotels.  There is a train system that runs in this area, but we could also rent a car for a couple days too.  (I'd love to spend a day in Maine as well).  Peabody, for instance,  has pretty reasonable hotel rates.  We can get a room for $140/night at the Extended Stay which includes a kitchenette so we can save money on food.  It's like 3-5 miles from all the Salem attractions.  There are bus systems too. I'd like to stay 4 nights to make the traveling worth while.  Oh, if I use my Hotels.com account, I have a free night saved up, so we'd only have to pay for 3 nights :)

The Mass Transit system :) 

We must go to Walden Pond! 

So, only one car rental company wants a stupid $600+ to rent a car for a few days from Boston.  Most of the others are right around $200 with taxes and everything for the entire length of our trip.  I can spring $100+ gas for renting a car the entire trip.  It's $25 on the train (about) to go to & from anywhere and that doesn't include getting from the train station to our intended destination.  Let's rent a car :)  It'll give us the freedom to go wherever we want whenever we want.  And that way, if we need to make a quick getaway, we don't have to wait on a train or bus!