Haunted Tour Day 5--Danvers State Hospital, Salem, MA, & Dogtown

     We spent our last full day in the Boston area.  We started off the morning with another oboe lesson for Carlie with the professor from the Boston Conservatory--whom we both liked so much better than the Manhattan professor--and while I stayed with Carlie, Chris and the others headed out to the nearby Boston Temple:

    

    Next we drove to what used to be the Danvers State Mental Hospital.  We were kinda disappointed because the city has actually refurbished/restored the entire site and turned it into a beautiful condo complex.  So not spooky at all, just quite beautiful.  But I think it would be interesting to interview some of the tenants to see if there are any crazy hauntings...

Dang...my kids are CUTE💗

    Then we headed over to Salem to tour and go through the Salem Witch Museum.  Once again, FASCINATING history.  It was kind of an interesting tour because a poor lady in our tour fainted and they had to call 911.  It added some time to our tour which we really didn't mind--and the lady was fine--but they refunded everyone in that group their full entrance fee.  

    "The Burying Point" is the oldest cemetery in Salem and is the burial ground o the judges involved in the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and Revolutionary War victims.  There is a nice memorial garden with a bench dedicated to each of the 19 people who were killed as witches during this time.

The old Cemetery Caretaker's home

    We were once again disappointed as we headed out to what we thought was going to be a cool ghost town.  Dogtown is an abandoned settlement between Gloucester and the town of Rockport, MA that was first settled in 1693.  According to legend, the name of the settlement came from dogs that women kept while their husbands were at war.  The decline of the town came when fishing industry opened back up after the war and apparently, the people did not take the dogs with them.  So feral dogs were the last residents of the settlement.  But once again, the city has swooped in and made something useful out of something that could have been really spooky--it's a Christmas tree dumping ground😞. But oh well, it was a perfect evening for a little hike:)

Tatum's softball #!

Beautiful sunset

    We decided to end our last full day at a local restaurant.  We found one called "Passports" in Gloucester.  This was a little hole in the wall place that had great reviews and we were not disappointed.  Some of the best seafood we've ever had.  It was a great way to end the day.

Haunted Tour Day 4--Fort Wetherill, Lizzie Borden House, & Freetown-Fall River State Forest

    We hit the ground running today with lots of places to go.  The first stop, Fort Wetherill, on the southeastern tip of Conanicut Island in the town of Jamestown, Rhode Island.  It served as a military outpost from the beginning of the Revolutionary War to the final days of World War II.  Nothing too significant just the occasional soldiers/dumped bodies.  We just had a great time reading all the fun graffiti and wandering all around the abandoned rooms. 

The Lizzie Borden House:  This was the BEST stop of the day!  The Lizzie Borden house is in Fall River, Massachusetts.  August 4, 1892 was the fateful day of the murders of Andrew & Abby Borden.  The history of this event is fascinating and even more fascinating that this is technically unsolved.  

Couch where Andrew was killed

Room where Abby was killed

Picture of Lizzie after the trial was over--"Crazy eyes"

The title of this song:
"You Can't Chop Your Poppa Up
in Massachusetts"

Stairs to the basement

Face on the back wall of basement

Graffiti on the basement wall😂

Blood stains form Andrew Borden
on the floorboards seen in the basement.

    

    So I absolutely believe that Lizzie killed her dad and step-mom (with help and the dad kinda deserved it) but today I learned about how she spent the rest of her life and I can't help but admire her.  She went on to move out of her childhood home and buy another (much nicer) home and live the rest of her life out in peace.  She had servants that she paid and treated well and she donated a TON of time/money to a local animal rescue.  She was a HUGE animal activist.  Apparently the animal shelter has a huge picture of her in their facility and she donated so much money that they are STILL using it today (or the tour guide joked that if it had run out, it would have only run out two weeks ago).  She had a private pet cemetery for her own personal pets and all of her animals were given first and last names--just like I do!!!  So like I said, I have mad respect for anyone who works in animal rescue. 

Lizzie with one of her dogs

Pet tombstone 
(with first/last names of her pets)

Freetown-Fall River State Forest:  This is apparently a very haunted forest due to satanic worship and horrendous murders that have happened here.  We did't have a ton of time (we had to be out by sunset and that happens at around 4:30 pm this time of year) and so we set out to find "Profile Rock" which apparently has been ruined by people who were climbing on the rocks (there are signs posted every where to NOT climb on them...). So after a brief hike, we snapped a pic and gladly headed out.