DH is turning 40 this year and I have been trying to think of something special for him. He isn't really the type of person who likes to be the center of attention so a party wouldn't be the best idea. I did toy with the idea of a party but after 2 weeks of thinking about it I got super frustrated. Restaurants wanted close to $1000 for a buffet for the number of people I was thinking of. Plus the 2 I wanted had limited time available in the month of October. I tried some lodges at local parks and they are all booked until next year. So I have gone back to my original idea of going to Salem.

DH LOVES Halloween. His birthday is 10/28 so every year we do something Halloweenish for his day. He has always wanted to go to Salem to see all the Witch Trial stuff so that is what we are doing. I have already booked the hotel in nearby Peabody thanks to Koppur's recommendation. I am in the process of looking at Salem's website to get a bunch of ideas for things to do. There are a ton, all Halloween related! I am planning for us to leave in the middle of the night on the 23rd, drive and come back on the 26th(middle of the night). It is about 8.5 hours from where I live but I figure it will be easier on the kids if we drive at night so they can sleep and be well rested by the time we get there.

I am so excited and anticipate that he will be excited as well. I am planning on doing some baking and freezing it so we have snacks to bring. I have $600 saved so far. From what I hear it is pretty expensive there so I will continue to save what I can before we go. My goal is to pay up front for everything.

Now the hard part is not telling him or the kids until it gets closer to the date. I am bursting with excitement-I don't know how long I can go without telling!