Join me for an A to Z Road Trip! I’m taking you on a road trip with me by sharing travel photos for this year’s A to Z Blog Challenge. So come along as we explore some of my favorite offbeat, overlooked and just plain interesting places in Texas… and beyond! Today is letter A: Ashes of the Alamo Dead What happened to the Alamo dead? A sightseeing trip to San Antonio, Texas isn’t complete without a visit to the Alamo, however, few tourists realize that the remains of the Alamo soldiers are kept in a church a couple blocks away.…
Tag: historic
FREE Cemetery Symbols Guide: Would you like a FREE guide to historic cemetery symbolism? If so, click the image below: Historic Cemetery Symbol of the Week This week’s Historic Cemetery Symbol post is about mortsafes and Resurrectionists. The topic was inspired by my friend, Teal Gray, when she told me about the mysterious Caged Graves of Catawassa. In fact, Teal and I will be discussing everything in this post during a one-hour radio show, as you can see in the graphic below: Historic Cemeteries: Who were the Resurrectionists? These days, people often make arrangements to donate their body to science…
The Tale of Annie & Sidney Saunders For Valentine’s Day, I bring you this tale of a lovelorn widow tormented by malicious gossip, who used her husband’s grave to set the record straight: In the late 1800’s, Sidney Saunders was a wealthy grocer and saloonkeeper in Monroe, Louisiana. Like any successful businessman, Mr. Saunders had detractors. In his case, many townspeople suspected that the bulk of his fortune came from illegal channels, including brothels and gambling. But the gossips really had a field day when Sidney Saunders left on business and returned with Annie E. Livingston on his arm. Although they claimed…
Stepping into History The Excelsior House Hotel in the historic district of Jefferson, Texas has quite a pedigree: Not only has this Texas State Landmark been in continuous operation since the 1850’s, but it’s also listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. If you are a history buff, you do not want to miss the Excelsior House Hotel. Sure, just like any accommodation these days, every room has a private bath, a television, and WIFI, but there’s something *special* about this east Texas venue, something I’ve never quite experienced at any other historic hotel: I truly felt transported while staying…
Quirky Surprise in Fort Worth When I tell people that Fort Worth is home to a life size wax sculpture replica of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” the response is usually, “Huh?” followed by a puzzled laugh. After all, that’s hardly what we expect from a city that bills itself as “Where the West begins,” right? In fact, when out of town guests visit, my husband and I generally take them to see the historic stockyards. Sure, some locals turn their nose up at this, just as Seattlites often scoff at the idea of visiting the Space Needle, but…
Historic Cemetery Symbols While it’s common for evergreen trees to be planted in historic graveyards, pine needles and pine cones are not symbols I see engraved on headstones as often as other trees – such as the oak tree. Pine trees: Immortality While it’s true that many coffins have been made from pine, this had more to do with practicality than symbolism. Where pine trees were widely available, they were often used to make coffins. However, as a symbol (much like other evergreens, including holly, ivy, and yew) pine trees are associated with immortality and eternal life. Rather than lose…