Friday, October 29, 2021

TAPHOPHILES

I think I have always been a taphophile.

 I have always enjoyed a good relaxing walk in a cemetery. When I walk Buster, we sometimes go next door and visit my neighbors in the cemetery. They are a quite bunch. Some of my friends don't get it, and think I'm further nuts walking a cemetery in October, especially so close to All Hallows Eve. I recently went to an event to hear a quartet play at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in the East Falls section of Philly and got to hear our dear reader Cello Josh perform Halloween inspired music that night in a candle lit graveyard. I can't lie, it was pretty damn amazing. I decided to go earlier in the day before dark fell and take in the cemetery, like I have many times. I have always enjoyed Laurel Hill, which is the second-oldest rural cemetery in the US. It was established in 1820 by John Jay Smith when he was unable to find a respectable resting place in the city for his departed daughter. It's a glorious place, almost like a relaxing park really, and it over looks the Schuylkill River high up. I believe there are over 11,000 family plots and over 43,000 graves. But it's the tombstone, statuary and mausoleums that are huge and very ornate,  many including and adored with grand marble and granite funerary monuments, elaborately sculpted hillside tombs. The craftsmanship leaves me in awe. Laurel Hill has some of Philly's most élite buried there , in addition to signers of the Declaration of Independence, many historical figures, Civil War generals, famous sports broadcasters and more than a few survivors of the Titanic. But when ever I go it provides not only a peaceful atmosphere, but looking at all the tombs and stone work is like looking at art in a museum. Laurel Hill is one of the few cemeteries in the US that has also been declared a National Historic Site, and it's no wonder considering it's history and beauty. It's nice to take a seat and enjoy lunch there on one of the many beaches.

A small part of the concert. How cool are all the candles? 
It was a rather unforgettable night.

44 comments:

  1. What a wonderful and perfect way to celebrate Halloween!

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  2. This is fantastic.
    I have done concerts in cemeteries and the experience is very cool.
    We tried to go to a screening of Insidious because it sounded awesome. Well, about two thousand other people had the same idea. We never made it.

    XOXO

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    1. Insidious, now there is a good scary movie franchise. Although Laurel Hill would never allow movies to be played in there.

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  3. This is amazing! I don't think I ever saw such a elegant cemetery. I can see why you like to go there. Some of those mausoleums must have been a pretty penny. And the concert , what a cool idea. I to like cemeteries...I do my best thinking in them.

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  4. Wow...I want to go there just for the pictures! I would love to do close ups of certain elements on some of the tombs and statuary.

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  5. What a great post! I have never seen such a ornate cemetery or found them of interest much, until now. But I do think I could tour this place. I can imagine the views from there are spectacular. I enjoy the music clip also for the candelit evening. How apropos for the season.

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  6. I do that, too! When I worked in Boston, the most fascinating thing was walking around the cemetery looking at all the statues and headstones. Founding fathers of the Revolutionary war are interred there.

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  7. sorry, I think cemeteries are a waste of good marble.

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  8. That is so cool! I would like the concert too. You sure don't see anything like that here in the Hershey /Harrisburg area.

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  9. Cemeteries can be cool. I remember when my mother was at one time buried at Ft. Rosecrans here in San Diego. I'd visit her, and sometimes I'd walk around to see how old some of the headstones were. It always made me wonder if people who perished around the time WWI happened if their descendants visit?

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    1. It makes me wonder if people even visit cemeteries anymore. Seems to be a older generation thing. I go every Christmas to place wreaths of remembrance on my grandparents graves. And the grave yard next to me, I walk, and the earliest date on a stone I saw was from as early as 1795, and the last person interred was 1958.

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  10. As you might imagine, London is full of fascinating graveyards - not least the world-famous Highgate Cemetery (where Karl Marx, Bob Hoskins, Douglas Adams, Jean Simmons, George Michael, Sir Ralph Richardson, Lucian Freud, George Eliot and Malcolm McLaren are interred). Both Brompton Cemetery in Earls Court and Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington are, or at least were, gay cruising areas!

    Next time you're in London... Jx

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    1. Cruising amongst the stiffs!

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    2. Wouldn't surprise me if the Mistress had relations in a grave yard.

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  11. I, too, love walks in cemeteries. Laurel Hill looks stunning. And that concert. You are so lucky to have experienced that.

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    1. It was a nice event and a wonderful needed day.

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  12. It looks so peaceful which is what the mourners need. My brother lies in his local churchyard with views over a field and surrounded by trees. The place you want to go for cemeteries is France, Italy & Spain where the cemeteries are par excellence.

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    1. My favorite cemetery to date has been the world famous La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. I've posted about that.

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  13. A nice place to visit, but wouldn’t want to live there

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  14. Being a pagan, this is time we celebrate our ancestors. I don't know if I will get chance to go up and visit. The cemetery. Darn weather.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  15. Interesting tour!!
    xoxo :-)

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  16. Perfect ambience for a Halloween concert, plus some beautifully carved memorials and gravestones to see! You're very fortunate to live in a place so rich in history.

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    1. It's in a beautiful part of East Falls too. Right up the road is the Grace Kelly house where she grew up.

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  17. They may be ostentatious and suffer from runaway one-upmanship, but some of those corpse houses are really quite stunning!

    That little snippet of the concert was delightfully spooky. Bravo to Cello Josh! (the candles are beautiful)

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    1. And I didn't even get pictures of some of the bigger corpse houses!!!!

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  18. What a gorgeous collection of photos - and the beautiful concert by candlelight is so atmospheric. I always love walking through graveyards in October. It's a perfect time of year.

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    1. It really was a great event, I can say I have not experienced that before. I find cemeteries very peaceful just like the woods.

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  19. I have always loved Laurel Hill. I have several friends buried there. Laurel Hill Cemetary was designed to be a restful place for both the living and the dead, and it continues to have that mission in the present, which is a good concept for the living and the dead to come together. You got some wonderful pictures.

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  20. One of my favorite places in Philly when I was there years ago, we were driving through Fairmount Park West. As I looked across the Schuykill River, I could see the cemetery and just had to go see it. I was reminded of the beauty as I could see some of the taller monuments from my vantage point. The statuary on the monuments is phenomenal and mausoleum row is fantastic. This place really has some of the best artwork in Philly. While the feeling is very gothic, it's a great place for a sunny afternoon stroll. And the concert looks and sounded like a wonderful night, that is awesome.

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  21. It has been years since I have walked a cemetery mainly to get an idea of how long people lived during different times in history. Turns out this was an activity I inherited from my mother. She liked to do the same thing.

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    1. I do a thing similar Todd. If it's a smaller graveyard like next door to me, I walk it to see the earliest date and when possibly the last interred.

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  22. What wonderful way to spend the evening. The music sounded fantastic. Some might argue this would be disrespectful but I think it’s great.

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    1. That thought crossed my mind too, but then I remembered that Laurel Hill was meant as a park of the living and the dead. And the places just keeps going. I was yet to walk the whole thing.

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  23. I like reading the headstones in village grave yards - the stones are a lot more crumbly than in your cemetery! But cemeteries seem to convey a genuine voice from the past.
    Have a spooky Halloween!
    Sx

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    1. The cemetery next to me is like yours. Some of the stones are so aged and crumbly, you can barley make out a name or dates and in some cases both.

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  24. I didn't know it had a Name, but my Mom also Loved visiting Cemeteries. She also always read the Obituaries... often running across some we knew who had crossed over that we didn't know had passed away. Of coarse in my Mom's Culture, Honoring the departed was a Ritualistic Practice and Tradition that they did fairly often, Honoring Ancestors and Dearly Departed Loved Ones regularly and not just on All Souls Day.

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    1. Same I and Robzllia above were talking about that. I still visit my grandparents graves at Christmas and in the summer if a get a chance. I wondered of it was a older generation thing?

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  25. Fascinating and historical cemetery. This is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen. And it is historical, too. I would probably go even though cemeteries give me the willies.

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  26. The history that lies within those grounds is probably amazing in itself. We certainly don't have any around here that ornate.

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  27. Ha You did a post and thanks for the video! It was a beautiful night. It always look forward to this each year. You should come to the Gravediggers Ball on year. You could even come in drag. I could only imagine that!!!

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  28. Loved this! I too like the art and stonework in cemeteries, but very seldom do I walk one.

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  29. Old cemeteries are like old houses/furniture etc. so much more elegant than what we do today.

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    1. I agree. I have no idea if this cemetery is even interring any more people, unless of course the plots are bough and waiting for occupants.

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!