One of my favorite things to do is visit cemeteries – old ones, or ones that have something unique about them such as statues, personality, antiquity. My family has gotten used to this and now helps look for them whenever we are on a drive. It’s a great way to get outdoors and discover a bit of history.
I love to ponder the living person that is now immortalized by a marker in the ground. I wonder about their story – who they were, what they did, were they loved. I notice the tokens left on some graves, the emptiness of others, and wonder why those names have been forgotten.
I find bits of history on the markers – people that came over on the Mayflower, fought in wars, or done something that changed our lives. I also see lives taken far too young – babies, teenagers, young adults – and I see some that lived for a century. I see simple markers and elaborate ones, groomed graves and broken ones and know that each one marks a person who had dreams, goals, family, and friends. In a way, I feel that visiting the cemeteries lets that person remain alive, remembered if by no other means than an acknowledgement of their name.
So, as a way of remembering those that have gone on, I hope to peek your interest in these places of history.
Recently I had the joy of visiting Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.
This cemetery is absolutely gorgeous! It has an old world feel to it with its giant monuments and headstones. Lake View Cemetery is the location of President Garfield’s memorial and burial place as well as many other historic figures and memorials. The cemetery even conducts tours through the grounds to ensure you see all that it has to offer.
The day we went we came across the grave of Eliot Ness, head of FBI, James Salisbury, inventor of the salisbury steak, and Henry Sherwin of Sherwin-Williams Paint. There was a grave that proudly announced when the occupant came through Ellis Island, and another grave that announced that the man had fought in the War of the Rebellion. There are large pillars topped by angels, headstones shaped like boulders, and even a headstone made to look like a jukebox.
It is truly an enormous place, the path we took was 1.7 miles and didn’t even cover it all. It’s a cemetery that you could visit again and again and see something new each time. And if all that walking begins to tire you out, you can sit by the lake and watch the swans swim about.
An added bonus to this already awesome place is the fact that a few scenes from Captain America: Winter Soldier were filmed here as well, but that I will leave for you to find on your own ;p
You can discover more about Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio at their website here.
To see more images of Lake View Cemetery visit my FaceBook page at Laura Lin’s Photo Gallery.
If you have come across some unique cemeteries or points of interest, let me know in the comments or share a photo.
Coffee Dribble 