Sunday, October 26, 2014

TALES OF THE TOMBSTONES


Well, well , well. A huge THANK YOU for all the nice birthday wishes from yesterday! And to my ever faithful Social Director for what seemed to be a swell party!!!!! Just how did I celebrate my birthday? No big plans as I had gotten a new car last weekend as a birthday gift, so I didn't really spurge on anything in general. Just what I did may shock you!!!!!


Friend and fellow blog reader, Preston came from Brooklyn to join me at a cemetery!!!!! He jumped at it since he had been wanting to get some photographs for a collection he wants to work on. Yes dear ones, the Mistress loves this time of year and Halloween, so I had made up my mind to go Laurel Hill Cemetery for a late afternoon visit.
Plus the foliage would be stunning!
 
 Cemeteries don't bother me as I also live next to a very old one!! The quietest neighbors I ever did have. The first photo is up at the highest point looking toward the city and zoo area. Mausoleums and cemeteries fascinate me and Laurel Hill has the most amazing I have laid my eyes on. I like to go up to them and peer inside. One of these days, I worry that a spirit resident will look back at me through the door, scare the bejesus out of me, and I'll be put in my OWN tomb. Mausoleums, by definition, are monuments erected as buildings, usually free-standing, that house a deceased's remains. Many times, they hold an entire family's remains, with niches for coffins or urns. The more costly ones may include stained glass windows . Founded in 1836 as an alternative to the overcrowded churchyards of rapidly growing Philadelphia, Laurel Hill Cemetery was the first rural cemetery for the city and the second in the United States.  With monuments designed by the era’s most prominent sculptors and architects, it served as elite Philadelphia’s preferred burial place for over a century. More than a cemetery, Laurel Hill became an outdoor art museum and tourist attraction and provided a prototype for Fairmount Park. In recent years, the cemetery was designated a “National Historic Landmark” — the first graveyard in the country to receive such a title. Many notable figures have been buried here, among them Civil War generals, Titanic passengers, the wealthiest of socialites, artists, musicians,poets and industrial magnates. So no wonder the magnificent architecture and tombs there.........
 

 
this is probably my favorite ones.....so magnificent.......

 
a view toward the Schuylkill river....
 
some of the ornate alter tombstones....
 
I would love to walk through here at night sometime!!!! Call me nuts.I had also taken some Spiced Apple Cider with a pinch of whiskey in it for the walk, you know, to keep warm!!!!. After the tour, it was back to my neck of the woods for a birthday dinner at the Doylestown Inn...
 
 
A new place had opened in the historic inn... The Hattery Stove and Sill and it was very cool and the drinks were heavenly....
 

27 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I'd be more worried just what he'd be trying to Hoover.

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    2. " Sleaze - can be very tragic
      Sleaze - but I only see the magic
      Sleaze - can be very flashy
      Sleaze - it's at it's best when trashy
      Take it, shake it, fly with it
      Do it, screw it till you're sick
      Pull a trick, get a hit,
      Love it till you're sick and tired of it
      Sleaze..."


      Indeed.

      Jx

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    3. Stop .......boys after my own heart......your making me swoon dear......

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  2. Great shots Mistress, I especially like the first and second pictures, with the weathered look of her it's very eerie looking. What a beautiful post.

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  3. some old philly family names there; glad you had a nice birthday amongst the living (and the dead), honey!

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  4. I must simply take you as my guest some year to the Grave Diggers Ball they have every year. A beautiful black tie event. Our quartet plays the event and it's a real nice time. It is a rather incredible thing to see....such architecture and your photos are so nice.

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    Replies
    1. Gravediggers Ball? That sounds like a blast!

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  5. This is by far the most fabulous & interesting cemetery I have ever seen (although the first Prague cemetery/ivy garden is also great). If you're going to be buried, do it with style I say! I think it's cool you went. A memorable birthday.

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  6. with your life, intrests and your nice, uh, asset let's say, it's beyond me why American Horror Story hasn't recruited you yet.

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  7. Thanks for sharing those amazing photographs. I'm so very impressed with the artistry and craftsmanship of that cemetery. I have been there for funerals, but it's been years. I was always also surprised by how close the plots are - everything and everyone in tight spaces. I suppose it's due to the limited availability of space.

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  8. Great tour. So enjoy all your east coast loverly-ness. And the leaves are bonus!

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  9. Wow! These are beautiful places of rest!!!! I too have never seen a cemetery so ornate and majestic, not even here in the DC area. Looks like a great fall day.

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  10. Those are beautiful pics, but nope. You won't catch me in a cemetery at night!

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  11. Some beautiful mausoleums there!

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  12. Loved your pictures and the history of the place. I would love to see this place sometime. Pretty neat to see it this time of year.

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  13. wow, what an elegant place of rest,The photos are beautiful and mind blowing with details, very haunting, but elegant none the less.

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  14. I love a good cemetery, followed by a good cocktail!

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  15. I will admit it, Laurel Hill is beautiful. The view is stunning and the mausoleums marvels, but cemeteries make me feel eerie. I don't know how you live next to one...

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  16. Cool views, looks like an interesting birthday weekend. Didn't they use to sacrifice virgins on those alter tables. Very nice post!

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  17. I think that a great fall day! Love the mausoleums there -incredible! My favorite view of Philadelphia is from that vantage point! Very cool post.

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  18. I say, since we moved south I really miss the upper east coast. With sounding odd, what a breathtaking cemetery!!!! Very nice pictures you got!

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  19. That has got to be the most beautiful cemetery I ever saw. A good to have sex in too,wink!

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  20. We have some pretty old cemeteries up this way, but none has beautiful and stunning as this joint!!!!! That fourth mausoleum could be a small house!

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  21. Stunning cemetery! But I agree with someone up there. How do you live next to one? Yikes!

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!