graves – Travels With Ackbar

Spending the Afterlife in Key West

Looking for somewhere to spend Eternity? Look no further than the Key West Cemetery. If you’d like to preview your everlasting rest stop, start at the entrance at Passover Lane and Angela St. and pick up a free map at the office.

The cemetery was built in 1847 after the original cemetery was washed away in a hurricane a year earlier. Bodies were discharged from the sandy graves and drifted down the street. Some reported that even after the waters subsided, there were bodies stuck in trees around the city. To prevent the horrors of the flood, the new cemetery was built on the highest ground in Key West. Some of the new gravesites are above ground like in New Orleans.

Walking around the cemetery gives you the impression that this is it’s own little city. Populated by the dead, chickens and iguanas.

Here lie the graves of Key West’s famous residents. See if you can find “Sloppy Joe” Russell, Hemingway’s fishing guide and famous bartender. Popular epitaphs located around the grounds showcase the eccentricities of the Key West population.

If you “Remember the Maine” stop near the entrance where there is a fenced in area that contains the remains, known and unknown of many of the 260 sailors killed in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. An explosion occurred by accident and not a Spanish mine, as was originally thought. William Randolph Hearst and other newspapers shouted ‘Remember the Maine!’ and was the beginning of US involvement in the Spanish-American War.

Visit the grave of Norm Taylor aka Captain Outrageous. He legally changed his name to run as mayor of Key West. Visitors to the gravesite often leave offerings of Mardi Gras beads to let him know that he is remembered.

A giant Florida Conch marks the grave of Sir Peter Anderson, Secretary General of The Conch Republic. Sir Peter was one of those colorful people that made Duval Street so much fun.

As you wander among the graves and enjoy the sun bleached marble headstones, look carefully and pick out your future spot.

The Friends of Key West Cemetery website has information on the famous and infamous buried here. Check it out below…

http://www.friendsofthekeywestcemetery.com/

A memorial to Captain Outrageous can be found here…

https://captainoutrageouskeywest.blogspot.com/

October 28, 2020October 27, 2020 by janoseagle

Savannah

The city of Savannah has long been considered one of our most haunted cities.

The crisp fall air sends a shiver down your spine as we encounter some of Savannah’s residents.

The Kehoe House once was home to an unfortunate pair of twins. Their voices can be heard and on occassion, if you’re lucky, a door may open by itself.

A stately southern city, ornate and fancifully dressed, is home to legends and heroes.

Pirates once called this place home. Legend says that the inspiration for R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island came form here. Some say the demented Captain Flint died screaming for more rum.

Another city exists just outside city limits. One surrounded by majestic oaks draped in spanish moss.

The Garden of Good and Evil is a place where living and dead commune.

The residents of Bonventure Cemetaryinclude founding fathers, patriots and even composer Johnny Mercer.

Once the site of a grand southern plantation, during a racous dinner party the house caught fire. As any good host would do, the partiers grabbed their plates and silverware and moved outdoors, as the house burned down to the ground the party continued on. Listen closely and you may hear the sounds of revellers smashing their wine glasses against the trees.