Haunted Tour--Day 2 (NYC)

     We only had one haunted stop to make today before doing just plain fun/cool stuff on our one day in NYC--the Morris-Jumel Mansion!  We seriously only learned about this place while driving home from Idaho.  Carlie and Chris were listening to "Haunted Places" podcasts and there was one on this place.  It was built in 1765 by Roger Morris, a British Military officer.  He was forced to abandon it during the American Revolutionary War when the mansion was taken over as military headquarters for both sides.  Famous Americans such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton stayed here.  It was then purchased and remodeled in 1810 by Stephen and Eliza Jumel that intended to use it as a summer home to get them out of the city.  It sat on 100 acres of farmland and had a nice view of the river.  Obviously the city grew up all around it and it is now Manhattan's oldest surviving residence.  It is rumored to be haunted by a Hessian soldier and by Eliza Jumel.

    We then headed to our hotel to park our car and not drive anymore while in NYC.  We made sure to hit a few places that most of us had never before been/seen such as the New York Public Library:

And Grand Central Station:

    Then we separated for a bit.  Carlie had a lesson set up with the Manhattan School of Music Oboe Professor this afternoon.  She has started the research on possible graduate programs she is hoping to apply to in the next couple of years.  So today we were able to see the campuses of the Manhattan School of Music and Julliard School of Music.  She's got a lot of work in front of her but I can't wait to see all she will do.  It blows my mind that I have a daughter this talented that schools like these are viable options for her.

    While I was with Carlie at her lesson, Chris and the other three walked all over the place.  They met up with an AZ friend (David M.) that just happened to be here as well.  They saw the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and went to Central Park.

Max & David

Max & David were asked by these girls to 
be in their picture...

    We of course had to squeeze in a show--my personal favorite play--"The Play That Goes Wrong."  It was so fun to see this play again.  They've changed it up a bit and it was as hilarious as ever and I laughed until I cried again.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this show!

    Then we had to walk in Times Square at night.  Such a fun/happening place that I want to be far away from by New Year's Eve:). It sure is fun to visit here but I'm always glad to not have to live here.  Not for me but Carlie may be living here someday soon...

Ethan's Haunted Tour--Day 1

     To celebrate Ethan's graduation from college, we suggested we take a family trip--our last trip with all 6 of us was in 2018--and we left the decision on where to him.  (Truth be told, I was really hoping he would choose somewhere warm or a cruise😂)  He asked, "What is off limits?"  We were a little afraid but answered, "Nothing."  Then he proceeded to tell us that he had always wanted to do a haunted New England Tour.  So we ran with it.  Chris came up with an AWESOME week-long itinerary and here we are!

Spiderwick Cemetery:  Leicester, Massachusetts

    We took a red-eye flight on Christmas night to Boston and then hit the ground running.  We got our van and headed out to "Friends Cemetery" also known as "Spiderwick Cemetery."  (The gates that used to be at the entrance resembled a spider web which is where the cemetery got its nickname).  This is an old cemetery located in Leicester, Massachusetts that was created in the early 1730s and is maintained by the Quakers and known as "the 8th gate to hell."  It has so many stories and legends around it:  there was at one a time a stone altar that sat in the middle of the grounds that may have been used for satanic sacrifices--it is no longer there--and to this day, no grass grows where the alter once stood.  There was a 6 year old boy that was beaten to death in a cellar nearby and dumped into the nearby river in the 1980s and also another story of a boy who hung himself on a tree here.  The most famous grave is that of "Marmaduke Earle"--it has a barren circle around it as a result of all the attempts to contact him.  There are also coins on the top of his grave marker that are for him to use as "payment for the ferryman's toll to cross the River Styx on his way to hell."  We just enjoyed the beautiful scenic walk and historic cemetery.   

Partially frozen river

Here we are at the entrance with the 
"Hanging Tree" just to the left of us.

Maraduke Earl's grave--with coins on top!!!

Seaside Sanatorium:  Waterford, Connecticut

    Our next stop was the Seaside Sanatorium.  This was a tuberculosis hospital located in Waterford, Connecticut originally built to treat children with TB that opened in the 1930s.  It was later used for elderly and mentally disabled until 1996.  It was purchased by the state and now just sits in ruins fenced off.  So you can go look at the building but should not go in--I say "should not" but my boys just could no help themselves as there were huge holes in the fencing😟

See the spray-painted penis on the roof?
This pic was for Max😂

The "good" girls who stayed outside the fence

Naughty boys...(encouraged by dad...)

Pics of the nearby ocean
(with a possible green orb at the bottom left side of pic...)

(Green orb on the move???)

Ethan was the only one brave enough to 
test the water temp--it was COLD!!!

Covered bridge on the way out

Ed & Lorraine Warren's Home/Graveside:  Monroe, Connecticut

    The Meeker family most favorite horror movies of all time are the Conjuring series--based on  Ed & Lorraine Warren cases.  There was once a time that you could go to their home in Monroe, Connecticut and visit the "Occult Museum" they have in their basement.  This room in their home is blessed weekly by a Catholic priest and is home to several cursed objects such as the real "Annabelle" doll.  Well, sadly, you are not able to do this anymore.  But we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least drive by and see the home where they lived (and their daughter and son-in-law currently still live) and see where the real Annabelle is kept.  Their home is tucked back in a cute little neighborhood and we quickly drove by--really not wanting to be a nuisance to their neighbors as "No Trespassing" signs are everywhere.  I rolled down my window and snapped this pic as discreet as possible and CHECK IT OUT!!!  ONE PICTURE and I caught this!  We were all amazed and kinda freaking out: (big green orb at the base of the house).  We decided that it was Ed & Lorraine just saying "hi" to us as we are huge fans of their work they did while on the earth and we meant no disrespect whatsoever.

    We then drove over to the cemetery that they are buried at just down the street from their home.  Their graves were easy to find and we felt like we should do something for them.  We didn't bring anything to leave so we straightened up their gravesite.  There was a candle that had blown over, some flowers out of place, and a pinwheel that had blown off it's base.  We cleaned up everything and fixed the pinwheel.  Max stayed a little longer at the grave and watched the pinwheel spinning but there was no wind.  As he began to walk away, the pinwheel stopped spinning which he noticed.  At this point, we were all watching as he walked back towards the grave, as he did, I swear, the pinwheel began to spin AGAIN!!!  This caught us all off guard--we would have NOT believed Max if we hadn't seen it ourselves.  It was very cold but there were NO breezes blowing at that point.  So once again, we like to think it was Ed & Lorriane saying "Hello" again and "Thank You" for straightening up their gravesite.  Seriously such a cool experience we all had together.  

See the pinwheel on the bottom right 
side of the grave???

Union Cemetery: Easton, Connecticut

    Well there was no way to top the Ed & Lorraine part of our day but we decided to hit one more cemetery on the way to our hotel for the night.  The Union Cemetery dates back to the 1700s and is considered one of the most haunted cemeteries in the United States (Ed & Lorraine wrote a book on it and have video/picture evidence in their Occult Museum).  The most famous haunts there are "the white lady" and "red eyes" but sightings range from soldiers on horseback to giggling children. There are signs all over suggesting to not be in the cemetery past sunset and we were sure to obey this.  But once again, just a really amazing, historic place to be in (during the daylight) and we sure enjoyed it.

The sun was setting and we were leaving!

    

What a great start to our tour.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!