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....