PHOTOS: Salem braves the cold for city’s first Santa Crawl

The temperature was a chilly 36 degrees on Saturday, Dec. 17, but this was not a deterrent to the approximately 75 attendees of the Santa Crawl sponsored by Travel Salem. 

Participants had the opportunity to win prizes and raffle items during the crawl for dressing up in the “holiday spirit,” registering, and following Travel Salem on a variety of social media platforms. After an initial check in at the Travel Salem Visitor Center by 6:30 p.m. to claim swag and get a group photo taken, participants were divided into three very merry groups and began to crawl towards the four sponsoring destinations downtown: The Best Goose, Venti’s Cafe + Beer Vault, Taproot Lounge and Cafe, and Ritter’s Housemade Foods.  

The groups switched out every hour at each destination, while bartenders worked furiously to create signature holidays concoctions to satisfy the crowd at every location. The erstwhile Santas were patient however, the Grinch was nowhere to be seen, and trips in between locations were sprinkled with lots of jingling, merriment, and creative holiday sweaters were on full display. As the original Saint Nick himself said … :Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected].

JUST THE FACTS, FOR SALEM – We report on your community with care and depth, fairness and accuracy. Get local news that matters to you. Subscribe to Salem Reporter. Click I want to subscribe!