Skunk Baby

Dressed my daughter as a skunk for Halloween.

Is that wrong?

–The Dead Cap’n Blackjack

For Your Friday Viewing…

-Pumpkinheadboy

A Ghostly Trip around Philadelphia, Part II: City Tavern.

After my visit to the Bishop White House, it was a short stroll to another local Philly haunt: The City Tavern. Located at 138 South 2nd Street, this was a meeting place for John Adams and George Washington.

My plan was to have lunch there and soak in any ambiance, nonchalantly walk from room to room and try to get a feel for the place where wedding parties in particular have noticed the face of an unknown woman in photos taken upstairs in which she is wearing what looks like a bridal gown. Some patrons have even seen the apparition of the phantom bride in the halls and rooms of the tavern. Why? Well, because back in the day, the day being March, 1834, a fire broke out and a bride and many of the bridal party perished. Sounds like a good enough reason to haunt the place for all of eternity.

But lunch did not happen, as the large group I was meeting had already taken a look at the menu: Mallard Duck Sausage, Mushroom Toast, Braised Rabbit and Beef Pie, just to name a few. Sounds delicious to me, but I wasn’t traveling with an adventurous type.

So, after lunch nearby, I returned for a pint.

Needless to say, this was a fun place and I would have liked to look around a bit more, especially out in the gardens where, “a waiter met his untimely death in a duel around 1790 and his bloody apparition is sometimes seen falling to the ground in the tavern. He is also blamed for moving table settings and clattering silverware.”

Too much commotion and goings-on at 1:30pm on a Saturday afternoon.

-LJB

A Haunting at Poor Farm Part Six: The Angry Air Conditioner

(In case you missed it, catch up on the earlier segments right here!)

It started with an argument.  Not a vicious drag-down fight, but the sort of argument everyone has from time to time.  It was in the kitchen and between my parents.  And about three feet away an air conditioner sat in the window unused.  What was said during the dispute and what its genesis was is long forgotten.  Those points are no longer relevant.  But the elevated discourse, whatever it was, seemed to have garnered the attention of at least one unseen visitor.

Who’s Goin’ Ghost Huntin’? Weez Goin’ Ghost Huntin’!

Tomorrow’s the day, friend!  The day the Limejuiceboy, good friend Lush Here, and myself gather indisputable proof of ghosts!  We’ve got our flashlights loaded full of fresh batteries.  Our cameras are at the ready.  And we’re even going to have a video camera!  Not to mention some delicious snacks.  Can’t go ghost huntin’ without some snacks!

So if you’re in Tyngsboro, MA tomorrow, or Nashua, Hollis, or Wilton, NH, keep a lookout for three weirdos with unlicensed nuclear accelerators on their backs.  Because you’ll want to be there when we capture a ghost on film. 

Supernatural history will be made!

–The Dead Cap’n Blackjack

[image via dribblingink]

A Haunting at Poor Farm Part Five: Joshua’s Bible

(In case you missed any of the previous entries click here!)

As you know from my previous posts, an old wooden crutch was found in the attic when we moved into the house.  It was clearly for a child.  Once we determined the names of the three children who died in the fire near two centuries ago the crutch became linked forevermore to the boy Joshua.  Why, I don’t know.  The crutch could have easily belonged to Amy or Meaghan.  And perhaps it did considering we found it with an old ratty doll.  But because dolls are typically associated with girls, the crutch eventually stood for the lone boy in the group.  It got placed in the nook under the stairs beside an antique desk.  Atop the desk was an even older bible.  The tome was a giant thing, very visible on every walk through the hall, and it was always open to the same page.

That is until I found it opened to a very different page one day.

Cap’n Blackjack’s Week Thirty Three Weigh In

Going against theme here.  There’s nothing spooky about this post.  But as most of you know I’ve been trying lose weight for 33 weeks now.  (That’s 33 weeks of no delicious Larry Bird burgers.  Remember those?)  I’ve been doing it slow n’ steady in the hopes that once it’s off, I’ll keep it off.  There are ebbs and flows though.  Some weeks I’ll lose three pounds.  Some I’ll lose nothing.  While some of that can be attributed to my changing habits and responsibilities, just as often the weight loss just plateaus for no apparent reason.  I’m in one of those plateaus right now.  207.2 pounds is the current total, just about a pound and a half off of what it was two weeks ago.  Not as great as the run I was in before, but I’ll take it.

Okay, that’s about enough of that.  I’m feeling short on insight.  Let’s get back to being spooky, shall we?

–Cap’n Blackjack

[image via armchairgm]