Sarah Winchester Mystery House

Over Spitfire's Spring Break this year, we went to the West-coast area. One of the places we visited was the Sarah Winchester Mystery House.

Who was Sarah Winchester, and why was her house so mysterious?

Source: http://beautifulbuildings.wordpress.com/tag/san-jose/

Sarah Winchester was married to William Winchester, the owner of the Winchester rifle company. Her baby daughter died at only 6 weeks old, and then later her husband died of Tuberculosis. She inherited $20 million dollars as heiress to his estate and 50 percent holding in the company, plus an income of about $1,000 per day.

A psychic medium told Sarah that her family had been cursed, and that the deaths of her husband and daughter were caused by the anguished souls of those who had perished by the Winchester Rifle. The psychic told Sarah to move West, and that as long as the home was continually under construction, it would appease the spirits, and she would be safe from the curse.

Did you know Annie Oakley used a Winchester Rifle?

I was disappointed when I found out that I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the house. You could take pictures of the outside, and of the grounds, and gift shop areas. Perhaps they want to keep up the mystery? I didn't want to risk it after what happened the last time I took pictures where I shouldn't.

The first thing I noticed, was that this gate to the property was shaped like a spiderweb and had a "W" for Winchester. We learned on the tour, that Sarah Winchester LOVED spiderwebs and thought they were good luck. She also really loved the number 13.

Hmm, 13. That got me thinking so I went back and counted how many spires are on the top of the gate...Yep, you guessed it. 13!

There were spiderweb designs throughout the house:

Guess how many spiderweb windows there were...



I started counting things all through the house. There were 13 of those spiderweb windows. In the hallway were 13 chandeliers, and each chandelier held 13 candles (which were specially made, as they usually only hold 12). There are 13 bathrooms. There are 13 holes in the sink drains. We climbed up and down several staircases (more than 13), but I promise you I counted each and every step. All the staircases had 13 stairs each!

Inside there were doors that opened up to brick walls, and a staircase that went straight up to the ceiling.



Source:  http://www.vagabondish.com/winchester-mystery-house-ghosts/
Don't try to climb this staircase, or you might hit your head!

There was a window on the floor, that looked down to the kitchen. But that was just because Mrs. Winchester liked to spy on her staff. Many of the rooms were very ornate. She had several stained-glass windows custom-made at Tiffany and Co. There was even a whole room of unused stained glass windows.

Source: http://hauntedplaces-midnightman.blogspot.com/2008/06/winchester-mystery-house.html

There was an exit into a room through the closet. One staircase had a set of stairs that went down, and at the bottom was another set of stairs that went up. Another set of stairs, called a switchback, made a dizzying zig-zag.

Source: http://www.ghosts.org/node/18

There were doors in the floor...

Source: http://www.atticmag.com/2009/10/winchester-mystery-house/

...and doors of different sizes right next to each other.

Source: http://www.packrat-pro.com/travel/WinRoom.htm
Mrs. Winchester was only 4'10"

I got some really great pictures of the outside of the house. And since I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the inside, I'm glad people on the Internet either risked it, or had permission.

The house was an 8 room farmhouse when Mrs. Winchester bought it, and had 160 rooms upon her death.

At one point the house was seven stories high, but much of it was damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, so currently it is only 4 stories high.

Here's another crazy cool thing about the house:

This door is one or two stories up.

a door that opened up to a 12 foot drop.

People may have thought Mrs. Winchester was crazy, but she was actually very ahead of her time in many ways. She had steam and forced-air heating. She had modern indoor toilets and plumbing, including a hot water shower. She also had push button gas lights, and 3 elevators, one of which was hydraulic. 

Mrs. Winchester was even using recycled water, long before everyone was concerned about being green. She would collect rainwater, then connect it to a hose inside the house in the atrium. The atrium floors could be removed, before putting all the plants on the floor. The plants were then watered with the rainwater, the floors dried, and then the over-flooring replaced.

Some say the house is haunted, and even Mrs. Winchester believed she communicated with the spirits. I was hoping to have a paranormal experience, but sadly, I did not.

Rifles weren't the only thing the Winchester's made, although perhaps the most famous. They also made:

roller skates and ice skates,

and ice boxes.

If you ever get a chance to visit San Jose, California, don't miss the chance to see this house!

Baby Sea Turtle Release in Cozumel

Inspired by a friend's recent blog post about getting to do a Penguin Encounter, (a dream come true as she has always LOVED penguins), I decided to write about one of my own dreams-come-true.

In August of 2009, Mr. Wright, Spitfire, and I took a trip to Cozumel, Mexico.

Cozumel is about 90 kilometers south of Cancun. The island of Cozumel is similar to Cancun, yet it is only about 30 miles long, and 10 miles wide. It has a very quaint, small-town feel, and not as many tourists. The landscapes are completely stunning. The ocean is an unreal color of blue.

This is an actual photo I took

I have loved turtles since I was a little girl and I used to collect little turtle figurines. Over time, the turtle became a symbolic figure, representing me as a person. Turtles have a tough exterior, yet are fragile on the inside. They only allow their true self to be shown when they are very comfortable, but if they feel threatened, they retreat. Naturally, when I heard about a Baby Sea Turtle Release program in Cozumel, I jumped at the chance.

Sea Turtles are on the endangered species list. People have killed turtles for their meat, skin or tortoiseshells. They are also accidentally killed by careless fisherman. Their eggs, and newborn turtles are carried off and eaten by predators, such as seabirds, crabs, sharks, foxes, and raccoons. Turtles can lay up to 100 eggs, but usually only 1 in 100 will survive to adulthood!!! (Can you imagine that? Only one turtle out of 100!) Changes to fishing techniques and conservationist programs are hoping to make a difference.

Conservationists prohibit trespassors on turtle nesting beaches. They mark the nesting sites with sticks and monitor hatchings. When the turtles hatch, the conservationists are nearby to count the hatchlings, and assist their assent if needed. Volunteers are then able to help release the newborn turtles toward the ocean. The theory behind this is that it not only creates awareness about an endangered animal, but the human presence prevents the eggs and hatchlings from being eaten.

Spitfire named hers "Flappy"

Here are a couple videos I took. Please excuse my poor videography.

Obviously I know that we humans often think we are doing good, and this is sometimes not the case. Just as there are volunteer programs that dig wells in third world countries, without teaching the locals how to sustain them, I have no way of knowing if our interference did more harm to this fragile ecosystem than good. But I'd like to think I made a difference in the world, and that I helped save the turtle population. Either way, it was a fantastic memory and a fun, family bonding experience. It was worth every penny I paid to participate.

My Philosophy on Life?....Live!

Recently I read a friend's blog post, in which he introduced me to the Holstee Manifesto. I had not previously heard of this, but was tickled to note that it describes my own personal philosophy on life to at tee. It states:

As I read this, my reaction was a resounding YES! I have tried to live my life this way since the death of my dad in 2006. I don't ever want to look back on my life with regret, wishing that I had done X, Y, or Z. Why should I let anything stop me from accomplishing all of my dreams and aspirations? I firmly believe that if you don't like your life, you should change it. The power to have the life we want is in our own hands!

My most popular post

I've been amused to discover that I have blog readers from all over the world, in places such as Russia, Australia, Brazil, Italy, England, and India.

My posts about Jamaica and New York get a lot of attention, with between 160-500 page views. But my most popular post by far? The post which chronicles me peeing my maternity pants. I have no idea if it's the story itself which is getting so much attention, or the picture I used from a google image search. Either way, this post to date has 1560 page views.

Is it that so many people can relate to this embarrassing event? Or perhaps it's catching the attention of people with urine fetishes....which is kind of funny.

Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so

I read an article the other day that claims the Japan Tourism Agency, in an effort to boost their local economy after the earthquake, is trying to get approval to give away 10,000 free round-trip plane tickets to Japan.  It seems travel there is down, as tourists fear more earthquakes and radiation.  To qualify, all one has to do is publish on their public blog and social media about their travel plans and what they hope to get out of the trip. The Japan Tourism Agency hopes bloggers will spread the word that Japan is a safe place to visit.

Count me in! I LOVE to travel the world, and I have never been to Japan. It just so happens that a lot of what this blog is already about is my numerous trips around the world. I've already documented my trips to Jamaica and New York. And I have posted pictures of my trips to Cozumel, Las Vegas, Moab, Yellowstone, San Francisco, San Diego, Lake Powell, Pineview Reservoir, and Mazatlan on Facebook.

I have always wanted to visit Japan too. Know why? My grandfather (my mom's dad) was half Japanese. His mother was German and his father was Japanese.

Me and my sister, Dreamer with our Japanese grandpa

This means that my mother, aunts, and uncles are 1/4 Japanese, and I am 1/8 Japanese. Whenever I tell people I have Japanese lineage, they can hardly believe it because I am so blond. But then they say, "Oh yeah, I can sort of see it in your eyes and your cheek bones."

I can thank my Japanese genes for my almond eyes and good bone structure

My great-grandfather's name was Gentauro (Jen-TAH-roe) Tomita  (Toe-MEE-tah). Apparently the name Tomita is kind of like "Smith" in America. I think it's unfortunate that none of the Japanese language or traditions were passed on to us, so I would like to visit Japan to learn some of my family heritage.

My great-grandfather

When I was a little girl, our family hosted a Japanese exchange student, name Hidatoshi (Hee-dah-TOE-she). I remember that he ate funny snacks. Once at the dinner table, he accidentally spilled his milk. He kept saying "Sorry, sorry, sorry" over and over again, while my mother loudly exclaimed, "IT'S OKAY! IT'S OKAY!" I think he, (not knowing very much English) thought she was yelling at him. I also remember that he brought my sister and I kimonos.

Dreamer and I in our kimonos with Hidatoshi

Once I had a dream of a beautiful place. It was a city full of high rises next to the ocean, yet was nestled at the base of huge mountain peaks. Later, I learned that this is exactly what Tokyo looks like. I found it amazing that I dreamt of a place I had never been or seen. It was only after I had the dream that I saw pictures of it. Maybe I have been there in a past life!

This is similar to what I saw in my dream, minus the HUGE Tsunami

Here's hoping the Japanese government approves the free airfare, and that I win!

Broadway and the Big Apple--Part Four & Five

Catch up on the whole story by reading Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

Since Sunday was Mother's Day, we decided we would go back to Alice's Teacup for breakfast. I tried the ham and cheese scone, and I also had the Curious French Toast. This was a concoction of french toast served bread pudding style with a Vanilla glaze in it. It was delish!

We then went back to Central Park for a bit to see some things we missed while we were there the first time: Bow bridge and Bethesda fountain.

We said goodbye to Megan's brother, Aaron and went to see Anything Goes. This play is set on a cruise ship, and the music is written by Cole Porter. I wanted to like this play, I really did. I mean, this is a Cole Porter musical. I am familiar with some of the songs, it was nominated for 7 Tony awards, and my college friend Adam had worked on the production team. I was prepared to be blown away by this musical.

I found the plot line to be VERY boring. I couldn't care less if the two lovers ever got together at the end. And I found the conflict to be trivial. I kept looking at my watch the whole time.

Even as a person who likes musicals, I found the songs to be completely random. It seemed as though in the middle of a scene, the characters would just stop and break into song, though their song didn't match the action on-stage. The songs seemed to come completely out of left-field. I'm not sure whether to blame Cole Porter, or the authors of the story, Bolton and Wodehouse. Perhaps they had difficulty finding a story-line to match Porter's songs. But as a musical this just did NOT transition well. 

The only thing I DID like about it was Sutton Foster who played Reno. She was fantastic, and absolutely lit up the stage whenever she was on it. She delivered her lines with impeccable comic timing, and sung her songs with a HUGE chunk of personality.

It seems the authors wanted to tie everything up in a neat little bow. At the end of the story they paired Reno off with the most unlikely, stupid, ridiculous character, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, which again, completely came out of left-field. My friend Megan liked it a lot better than I did, so you can go read her review here.

After the show, Larissa and Megan went to the stage door to see if they could meet Sutton Foster (she didn't come out). I had a nice conversation with my daughter, husband, and mom on the phone for mother's day. I was missing my family TERRIBLY. Then we had dinner and decided we should have a girl's night in. We went back to the hotel to eat junk food and rented "The Adjustment Bureau."

The next morning was leaving day, so we packed all our stuff and brought it to the porter to hold for us while we spent our last few hours walking around New York.

Our first stop was High Line Park. It used to be an elevated train bridge that got overgrown with vegetation when it stopped being used, so they decided to turn it into a park.

Next we went to South Street Seaport to see the Brooklyn Bridge.  

Finally, we stopped at Crumbs bakery for a GINORMOUS cupcake to take back home, grabbed our luggage and went to the airport.

Broadway and the Big Apple--Part three (Central Park, Harry Potter, Night Court, and Rubix Kube)

If you missed Part One, you can catch up here.

And here is Part Two.

Saturday we walked to Central Park to meet Megan's brother Aaron, who came up from D.C. to see her. We had lunch at the Shake Shack. Now, I'm not normally a big Burger-and-Fries girl, but this food was amazing!

The fries were crinkle cut, and just the perfect amount of crispy. I also had the double cheeseburger, which was SOOO juicy and delicious, and the peanut butter shake. The shake was so good, I ordered another one!

After lunch, Megan and Aaron went to see Billy Elliot, while Larissa and I walked all around and through Central Park. We spent at least 3 hours there. Our total mileage for the day? 15 miles!!! I hoped I wasn't slowing Larissa down too much, but I think I kept up pretty well. And since I've run two half-marathons (13.1 miles), 15 miles of walking was no big deal.



Later that night, we went to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Daniel Radcliffe from Harry Potter, and John Laroquette from Night Court. This is the story of J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who reads a self-help book telling him how to move up the corporate ladder.



Notice the creepy guy in the background.



Daniel Radcliffe was adorable in the role. He sort of had a pip-squeak speaking voice, but you could tell he worked hard on his singing. There were many moments when he would read the self-help book, and something serendipitous in business would happen to help him along. The spotlight would shine on Daniel's face, the orchestra would play a little "Ding", and Daniel had a HUGE grin on his face. SOOO cute!

John Laroquette as J. B. Biggley, was a comedic genius, with impeccable comic timing. He was the perfect mixture of a stern, intimidating boss, and a giddy Old Ivy alumni with a secret passion for knitting.

Favorite songs were "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm," "Coffee Break," (picture 30 caffeine-starved employees fighting over the last cup of vending-machine coffee), "Been a Long Day," (which featured an adorable scene in an elevator), "A Secretary is Not a Toy," and "Grand Old Ivy."

"Grand Old Ivy" was a fun, very energetic number starring both Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette. Daniel did an amazing job dancing, keeping up well with the other very athletic chorus members. You could see the sweat pouring down his face, and his hair was drenched by the end. (Long sleeved costume + football helmet+stage lights=Million degree Sauna).

By the way, Daniel Radcliffe had a kissing scene is this play, and let's just say, he needs a little more practice. He looks like a HORRIBLE kisser. You can tell he hasn't done it that much. Though, that being said, what's Harrison Ford's excuse? I guess some people are naturally good kissers, and some are not. Here's hoping Daniel picks up a few tricks in his older years.

We tried to go to the stage door afterward to see if we could meet John or Daniel, but couldn't get near the stage door. Even if either of them HAD come out, we wouldn't have been able to see them over the crowd of people.

After the show, we traveled back to the China Town/Tribecca area to a dive-y little place called the Canal Room. Why on Earth were we traipsing around bad neighborhoods in the middle of the night? To see a little 80's cover band called Rubix Kube.

  

I basically went as a spy, because I am also in an 80's cover band called Channel Z. I wanted to see how good their show was, and how they incorporate their costumes and props. I spent the first 45 minutes there just studying their female singer's costume.

In this band, the female singer used her real hair, making it easy for her to just throw another wig on whenever she changed into a new costume. (I wear a wig all night, and bobby pin it on GOOD.) There is something to wearing a wig instead of your own hair (even if you CAN make you own hair look totally 80's). It helps you get into character, if you will, to become someone else, to embrace your inner rock-star.

I noticed there were a couple of songs sung by the male lead, when the female lead was completely off-stage. When his songs were finished, she would come on-stage in a new costume. This band had a little room off Stage Left, in which she could sneak to change costumes. Some of her costume changes were so quick, I think she must have had a dresser back there to help her. Logistically speaking this would be very difficult for our band to pull off, since the places we perform don't have a room off the stage.

This band had amazing energy, particularly the male and female leads. It made me wonder if they weren't under the influence of drugs. I'm not sure how long their set is (how late they play). They didn't start the show until 11:45 p.m., but they played straight through until 1:00 a.m. when we left. Perhaps they only play until 1:30. Our band starts around 9:00, 9:30-ish, and we play 45 minute sets with 10-15 minute breaks, until 1:00 a.m.

I did get a lot of ideas from watching them play. And their show was FANTASTIC! I liked their use of props, so I think I'll be incorporating some into our show. They even had some dance moves performed in-sync by the whole band, which is something that we have talked about doing as well.

I felt the male lead was very good, and had a lot of stage presence and charisma. That being said, our harmonies are a lot tighter and more interesting. The female singer did weird things to manipulate her voice to sound like the original artists, but it didn't work for me. She came across like a cartoon character. I have a better voice than she has, if I do say so myself. :)

At the end of the night, we were all pleasantly exhausted. It was a very good day!

Keep reading on to Part Four and Five.

Broadway and the Big Apple--Part Two (a.k.a. Food Coma)

If you missed Part One of my trip, you can catch up here.

On day two of my trip to New York, Larissa took us to see Grand Central Station. Boy is it grand! You really can't get a good feel for what it looks like by seeing it in the movies. Even the pictures we took don't do it justice.

Next we went to Macy's department store to ride on the wooden escalator. This thing is OLD!! As in 109 years old! It's original, and still being used today.

Then we went to lunch at Patsy's, for some white pizza. What is white pizza, you ask? It has Riccotta cheese, Mozarella slices, and fresh Basil on top. It's pretty darn good!

Our next stop was to Serendipity for dessert, even though we were already full from Patsy's. We each had Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, which was worth the overinflated stomach.

They had something unusual on the menu at Serendipity:

Did you notice what was in it? GROSS!! I wouldn't eat that, but I bet my husband would. He likes to try strange foods, especially while on vacation.

We then took a jaunt over to China Town for some shopping. I was a little disappointed. It seemed like when I went to New York 9 years ago, there were wall-to-wall vendors. This time, there were very few shops to browse. But I DID buy a new suitcase to haul all my souveniers home. (I went a little crazy on the shopping, and couldn't fit my purchases into the suitcase I brought.)

That night, we went to see Catch Me If You Can. If you're not familiar with the story, there's a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Hanks. It's about a teenager named Frank Abagnale, Jr., who forges millions of dollars worth of checks, meanwhile posing as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer. You watch in disbelief at how much he gets away with, while at the same time pulling for him to succeed.

I especially enjoyed the character of Hanratty, the detective who is determined to catch Abagnale. The actor playing him was able to convey a sense of frustration and yet a certain sort of respect and admiration for Abagnale.

In the story, he would begrudging go along with the song and dance and faldaral put on by Abagnale. He would shuffle his feet as if he was being made to dance against his will. His dancing successfully looked as awkward as if he wasn't a Broadway trained actor.



There was another surprise in this musical. It starred Tom Wopat as Frank Abagnale, Sr. Don't remember who he is? See below:

p.s. He's the dark haired one. After the show, we went to the stage door, and look who we saw:



We were finally hungry enough to eat dinner, so we headed over to the StarDust Diner. Here, the wait-staff sing and dance on the tables to entertain you. The food was decent, the service was terrible. I guess you can't expect your waitress to bring your food or your check in a timely manner, when she's too busy singing Les Miserables. The entertainment was a bit over the top, although enjoyable.

Stay tuned for the next installment in the series,  Part Three...