Spooky Adventures

Because Halloween was approaching Jake and I embarked on a couple of 'Spooky Adventures'. We don't have pumpkin patch or hayride money, or a functioning DVD player and we certainly don't have Busch Gardens money so we decided to try and invent our own Halloween thrills. I borrowed a book about all the various hauntings and legends in Virginia from Jake's Grandmother and one night after midnight we set out to find some of the places listed from the area. Unfortunately the spookiest story in the book was about a haunted toll road and the rest of the spots were either closed at dusk or remarkably well-lit. We ended up cruising around Richmond late late at night while Jake pointed out all the innocent points of interest.

A couple days later we headed to Hollywood Cemetery during the day. Hollywood is a very old and historic cemetery right on the James River. Two presidents are buried there (three if you count Jefferson Davis) and lots of other historic figures. The layout is amazing and the stones, plots and crypts are beautiful. You can get a map at the front office, which we did, and go on a self-guided tour of the highlights, or you can show up at 10am and have a guided tour. We happened to visit the cemetery in the late afternoon during a tornado watch so the sky was a deep threatening grey. The atmosphere was amazing and so were the views, so although it was technically daylight it was a successful spooky adventure. I had a fantastic time photographing the cemetery too. Here are some of my favorite shots:

This is President Monroe's Grave

President Tyler's Grave with Monroe's in the background