I wish we would have had more time in Mansfield to explore and investigate the Bissman Building. This is a private building, though, and not generally accessible to the public. They have a website up now that would seem to indicate they let teams come in and ghost hunt.
Legends talk of a murdered child spirit, and her alleged murderer who was later decapitated by an elevator.
http://www.hauntedbissmanbuilding.com/The_Bissman_Building/Welcome.html
Summer in Salt Lake City. Park City was just a few miles away, so I jumped at the chance to do something I will probably never do again the rest of my life. That’s see the mountain without snow. I rode a ski lift up Park City’s main lift! Due to time constraints, I did not hike back down, though.
Ruth’s Diner is a must, nestled down in the valley and just perfect even if the mountains don’t compete to steal the show.
Red Iguana was another great place to eat. This time we were after local Mexican fare, and this joint was just the ticket.
Lastly, before going in for our ghost hunt at Tooele Hospital we explored a nearby ghost town, Ophir. This is a for real abandoned mining car, but I was not allowed anywhere near it. No one ever lets me do anything.
http://www.enjoyutah.org/2010/10/ghost-town-ophir.html
I can’t even tell you how great Iowa is. You won’t believe me until you smell it and see how green it is for yourself. Until you make it out, let this short report suffice.
I began the day shopping and exploring Historic Valley Junction. Then, I took in the free Des Moines Art Center. (Yes, it’s free. But don’t be that guy). I walked in the park and took a drive downtown to see what I could see.
The Capitol:
I ate at Skip’s two times that day, I think, and you would too. The next morning, on our way to Farrar School, we saw John Wayne’s birthplace, and every single bridge of Madison County.
That was my one perfect day in Des Moines, just prior to ghost hunting at Farrar School for Chapter 6 of Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums.
http://www.valleyjunction.com/
http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/
Yorktown Hospital, featured in Chapter 5 of Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums, is about 75 miles outside of San Antonio, so we flew in a day before the ghost hunt to play tourist.
For one thing, I saw all of the missions, and of course, the Alamo.
Mission San Jose – San Antonio, TX
Mission Espada – San Antonio, TX
The Alamo – San Antonio, TX
I sauntered right up and got on a boat that took me all around the riverwalk (I walked it later, okay).
It was great touristy fun. Anytime I see something like this, I want to know how many drunk people have fallen in and drowned, but everyone I asked swore up and down that this type of thing never happens.
I especially enjoyed exploring La Villita, the historic arts village, just off the riverwalk. I’m not going to name names, but there is a fantastic salesperson/proprietor/artist in one of these shops. She really got me good. It involved a rather expensive pin for an alleged festival later that evening, and I’m embarrassed to tell you that much. Oh well, such is life. I will leave you with this piece of advice – Don’t drink and shop.
http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/
http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm
We arrived in Pittsburgh for Chapter 4 (Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum) of Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums on a Saturday and had a quick return flight the next morning.
Weston has a beautiful old library downtown. This is the sort of place you want a library to be. I come from a town where all the libraries are square, concrete buildings, and if you’re lucky the main branch will resemble some sort of space ship motif. It is just not right at all.
But here, in Weston, they know what a library should be.
While we were traveling in Virginia for official Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums business for Chapter 3 – St. Albans, I came across what I swore up and down was the Addams Family House. This is important, because the last time I thought I had found the real house I was five and at Disney World. Fast forward twenty seven years and I am still no further along in my search for those elusive Addamses. According to Sam, there is no REAL Addams Family, no hairy cousin Itt, and decidedly no Thing T. Thing. Right about now is when he likes to compare me to those people who pleaded so passionately to their congressmen when the first episode of Gilligan’s Island aired. “For God’s sake, why don’t we send someone out there to save those people?!”
Whether or not he’s right about the above, what I saw was actually the Major Graham Mansion, so I will have to continue the search for the Addams Family.
As we were turning around I thought I spotted a sign on the gate. “Beware of the Thing.” That’s what that sign said.
Oh, and I also liked this ramshackle, falling in upon itself place:
Further Reading:
Formerly known as the Buffalo State Asylum, this site is undergoing renovations to become a boutique hotel, conference center, and visitor’s center. This is one of the few Kirkbride buildings still standing in America, and to have it preserved for reuse is nothing short of a miracle. Frederick Law Olmsted designed the grounds. They have been offering tours, but unfortunately I have not gotten to take one yet.
This part of Buffalo is so much fun to me too. Within walking distance you have the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, all the antique, funky shops, coffee shops, restaurants and bars of Elmwood Avenue, and Delaware Park. It’s a great cultural getaway from all the touristy Niagara Falls type stuff.
Further Reading:
http://www.richardson-olmsted.com/project.php
http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/buildings/
This was a stumble-upon discovery from a Buffalo, New York run. The hospital was not accessible to us, it was completely fenced in and we are too chicken to be any good as urban explorers. Mostly, we’re scared of falling through a ceiling and dying. Also, I would like to point out that it’s very difficult to travel commercially with proper urban explorer tools. Might I point out the obvious fact that security is going to completely freak out when your carryon bag contains the following items: rope, infrared camera, duct tape, and pocket knife. It just isn’t going to work out.
So, alas, we had to photograph from behind the fence and dream of what it would be like to access the hospital and grounds. Maybe one day it will be restored and ghost hunters and photographers will be allowed to come visit. This place is definitely on my dream list of locations to see!
Further Reading:
Chapter 2 took us to Waverly Hills Sanatorium. I was torn between staying at The Brown Hotel and 21C Museum Hotel, but opted for The Brown. Getting in around 9:00 p.m., we were booking it to the English Grill to find out for ourselves what all the fuss was about these hot brown things. This is one of those cases where the hype is right. You don’t want to miss this dish. I’ve considered planning an entire future weekend about this meal. It’s that good.
http://www.brownhotel.com/dining-hot-brown.htm
Gorgeous opulence inside the historic Brown Hotel:
We had some time to kill before our ghost hunt Saturday night, and the first thing I wanted to see was the Speed Art Museum. It was closed and I almost shed irritation tears over it. But I’m a professional, so we adapted and found some other ways to piddle around and occupy ourselves while the sun was shining.
For one thing, we discovered the North End Café along Bardstown Road, and from there some funky shops and galleries by driving around a little. I can pretty much promise you that if you put a gorilla and a dinosaur outside your store, I’m going in. It’s happening.
Of course, I had to pay my respects to the Colonel over in Cave Hill Cemetery (this is where I refer you to my previous post about chicken money), and from there I fit in a walk over at the Waterfront Park.
I did not take in any Louisville Slugger or Derby attractions, and I realize this may result in hate email.
But I did see an awesome haunted mansion. I could tell by looking at it. There’s some spooks hiding out in this joint. I know it.
Further Reading:
Jamie Davis Writes 