Heartfelt Thanksgiving Gratitude: Our Top 5 Blessings from Salem Maritime

With Thanksgiving just a few hours away, we want to accept the thoughtful invitation of Salem Maritime National Historic Site to create a gratitude list. We are thankful for so many things, but here are five that bubble to the top of the list.

We are thankful for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who travel from near and far to visit Salem, especially those who put Salem on their “bucket list,” and worked hard to make their trip to Salem a reality. It is an honor to be held in such high esteem by travelers.

We are thankful for the 150+ businesses in Salem that collaborate with us throughout the year to make Salem a rich and interesting destination. Some of you are hundreds of years old, some just opened your doors in 2019, most are small businesses with owners who invest both time and treasure into the success of the business. Small business isn’t just a job, it’s a passion, and you all inspire us.

We are thankful for Salem Main Streets for giving us quintessential Salem programming including Santa’s arrival, Launch! New Year’s Eve, Salem Arts Festival, and the Haunted Happenings info booth. Kylie Sullivan and her team of volunteers are intrepid and dedicated and they make Salem a better place to visit and live.

We thank the travel writers, lifestyle media, and influencers who wrote about and photographed Salem this year.  Your compelling pieces about Salem’s many stories, perspectives, history, and future remind us how much we love this city by the sea!

Finally, we thank our tourism partners throughout the region. Salem is one of many destinations in Massachusetts and New England and we love being a part of the bigger picture. We tip our hats to destinations throughout the North of Boston region, to our friends in Plymouth, Gloucester, Quincy, and Weymouth who are preparing to celebrate their 400th anniversaries between 2020 and 2030, and to our colleagues at the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism and Discover New England who help us tell our stories.

What are you thankful for? We invite you to make your own list of five things you are grateful for and share them at your Thanksgiving celebration.

We thank you for reading, and wish you the best for a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving!