![]() ![]() We visited Yosemite and the great Sequoias. Wasn’t I styling in my RL houndstooth jacket? ( LOL) Ok, not the greatest look for me…but I’ve always had this thing for houndstooth jackets. It’s really breezy on the Golden Gate bridge. We walked across “the” bridge, visited Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square…pigged out on yummy chocolate. □ We did it all during the 2-3 days we were there. Despite the weather, I still had to get a shot of the “Painted Ladies.”ĭon’t worry…this isn’t a “vacation” post. We headed up to San Francisco and as you can see, it was a very cloudy day. Get out of my head!Ĭalendar Editor Caleb Wiseblood misses the well-intentioned ghosts of his youth, like Casper and Space Ghost.Around nine years ago, I visited California for the very first time. The overalls aren't what make this unfortunate, rather the tour guide's anecdote about various sightings of the man over the years by staff members and guests. Unfortunately, the image I remember most is a framed photo of one of Sarah's workers, an elderly gardener in overalls. Photography is prohibited inside the mansion, so I take a ton of mental snapshots. Every architectural peculiarity is bubble gum to the eyes. Luckily for me, there's just way too much to admire. The Winchester Mystery House is located at 525 S. Some of the oddities were meant to serve as secret entrances and exits for good spirits, she says, while others were intended to confuse and mislead evil spirits. The results of the continual building and remodeling of the mansion are beautiful to behold, and I'm far more fascinated than afraid, even as I hear our guide explain a theory about why so many of the doors and staircases in the mansion go straight into brick walls or gaps seven stories high. And it never stopped, not until Sarah's death in 1922. According to tabloids at the time, a spiritual medium gave Sarah very specific instructions after William's death in 1881–to continuously build a home for herself and the ghosts of Winchester rifle victims to reside in.Īfter purchasing an unfinished farmhouse in 1884, construction of the mansion began without an architect or blueprints. Throughout the tour, she tells the tale of Sarah Winchester, widow of rifle manufacturer William Winchester, in bits and pieces. The tour guide leads our group, made up of 35 or so, down a hallway to a staircase, only the first of many. The tour begins shortly and we make our way to the front of the mansion.Īn informational plaque outside the Winchester Mystery House welcomes guests onto the premises. I fill my head with snarky jabs at consumerism to keep the apparition apprehension at bay. The amount of knick-knacks available at outrageous prices calms my initial fear even more so. become my mantra as we approach the front entrance: "I ain't afraid of no ghost!"Ī gift shop serves as the portal to the outdoor patio where the house tour begins. The mentality is: If they can handle this, then so can I. How scary can this really be, right? I always get that same feeling when I see young children waiting in line for the same roller coaster as me. Even the parking lot helps a bit, seeing touristy couples and families scurry out of their vehicles like they're heading into Disneyland gives me hope. My trepidation about visiting a supposedly haunted house subsides as I realize there's a Veggie Grill and other suppliers of serenity less than a mile away. become my mantra as we approach the front entrance of the Winchester Mystery House-“I ain’t afraid of no ghost!” You can imagine my surprise upon finding the landmark among bustling streets, sharing an intersection with Santana Row, a massive, upscale shopping district located in the heart of west San Jose. Either that or in the middle of Nowhere, with a capital N (the unearthly, Lynchian wasteland in Courage the Cowardly Dog). ![]() I was expecting the Winchester Mystery House to be tucked away in a forest outside the city limits like Wayne Manor. Spirited away: Exploring the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose By Caleb Wiseblood
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