I'm a bit of an art nut, and I've already gone over my obsession with photography. The thought of walking around, virtually alone amidst a sea of beautifully sculpted mausoleums and monuments was just too good to be true.
I was more excited about the actual art than the possibility of anything being haunted. I hadn't even heard any actual haunting stories (aside from the Garfield myth) from the place until I got home (a roommate informed me of his late night visit once, but I'll get to that later).
After a short drive along 90E, down Chester and up Euclid, I arrived at the gates to Lake View. I'd studied the place to pick out points of interest, but I had no idea where any of this stuff was, so I decided to follow the signs to the absolutely gorgeous Wade Chapel. The office was closed for whatever reason, so I figured someone would have to be there that could tell me where to find a few things. Oh, click on the pics here for a larger version, it opens up in a new window.
The interior to the little chapel is absolutely maginificent. Being the pauper I am, I'd never seen real Tiffany glass, I can understand what all the fuss is about, now. The mosaic inlays were breathtaking, along with the huge stained glass windows and wooden pews. Even the floor was beautiful and I understand that even the floor tiles themselves were designed by Louis Tiffany. I made a joke to the curator about that being as close to Tiffany as I'd ever get and asked if she knew where I could find the Haserot angel. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember but her friend could tell me, she'd be back in about half an hour.
As a side note, they still perform weddings in the chapel, one was going on today.
While I waited, I decided to take a walk around the back to the gigantic pond. I'm glad I did, it was inhabited by the biggest (and friendliest) koi I've ever seen (at the least two feet long). They'll come right up to the shore and follow you.
Before I headed back to the chapel I drove around for a bit, checking out places for photos. I hopped the chain blocking the dam entrance to get a better look, only to realize later the real view is from the bottom.
After I got the section and rough directions for Haserot, I realized I'd driven straight past it on my way to the dam. Once I knew where to look it stood out like a sore thumb. I dunno why, but this statue just has a feeling about it. Could be the creepy stains underneath his eyes which make it appear as though he'd been crying, could be that the statue is just plain gorgeous and from a time I couldn't possibly understand any further than the pages of some history book.
Either way, it's pretty awesome and for the record, it's located in section seven just straight up the road from Wade's Chapel and a bit past Eliot Ness's memorial on the right hand side of the road, if you're going slow and looking you cannot miss it. If you pass the Hanna marker on the side of the road with a path that leads back into the woods, you've gone too far.
I visited some of the more famous graves about the cemetery (Rockefeller, Eliot Ness, Ernie Ball, Glidden, Chapman), I randomly ran across countless statues, monuments and mausoleums that struck me as particularly amazing. These are just a few of the 103 pics I took:
Towards the end of the trip, I made my way up to the Garfield Monument. It's a beast of a building complete with gargoyles (nice touch!). The crypt is especially creepy, especially with the musty smell and humid atmosphere. It's very surreal to stand next to the resting place of a president who lived 126 years before today, especially one with such a tragic ending. It's pointedly reminiscent of the feeling I got on my visit to the JFK gravesite in Arlington.
I was too late to visit the roof today (the third level closes at 3:45), so I didn't get to see the best view of the lake and downtown. I'll save it for the inevitable day when I return to this beautiful and calming bit of Cleveland.
Also, just because it's cheesy enough to share, I did some audio recordings at Haserot and a strip of mausoleums in which I did actually catch some odd sounds. Click on the links to download the mp3's and listen closely.
EVP #1 at Haserot (you keep a' knockin' but you can't come in).
In this part, you can hear a loud knock after I ask whatever to move something. I think it came from the tree behind me, I could actually hear this myself. Most likely a squirrel, but it's still amusing.
EVP# 2 at Haserot (male and female voices).
Shortly into this you can hear a male voice speaking, after I talk a bit you can hear a feminine voice. The tone in the voices makes me think it's radio commercials that somehow got mixed up in my audio. I have no idea what they're saying, but they sound excited.
EVP #3 at the mausoleums next to the dam, (church bells).
The video I took of this was over six minutes long, I isolated the audio from these since I don't have a digital tape recorder. You can hear a church bell underneath my talking throughout the entire video. It's just one chime over and over again. I didn't hear any chimes while I was there, but it was at the dam, towards the back wall of the cemetery (I think, from the general layout, it must have been close to the back or side wall). I need to go back and see if there's a church nearby. As I approach the Lawrence crypt to "peek in", it actually appears to get louder.
Also, I said I'd get to my roommate's story. He told me about this when I returned home this evening and talked about where I'd been today. In any case, it was interesting, here it is:
One night he and his friends hopped the wall to Lake View and decided to check out the cemetery at night (which is NOT recommended, you're only looking to land yourself in jail or a gain hefty fine for trespassing). At one point, he thought he saw shadowy figures atop a hill, in front of a mausoleum. He said it looked like a funeral gathering and at the time, he was too scared (and modest) to say anything to the others about it.
However, a short time later one of his friends who'd gone on up ahead started booking it back to the rest saying someone was coming and to hide. As they ducked down into the bushes, every single person there saw two people, a man and a woman, both dressed in period clothing strolling down the gravel pathway. As they approached, he said they were not see through, but that they were not made of "matter." He and his friends watched them walk down the road a ways and they faded into nothing just as suddenly as they'd come.
Spooky. Maybe it was President and Mrs. Garfield out for a walk? Who knows?
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