When She Saw What She Had Done, She Gave Her Father Forty One

Mr. Borden was killed downstairs, and about an hour after his wife, Abby was killed.  However, the tour started on the ground floor and moved upwards.  This is Abby's room.  She was changing the linens on this bed when she was attacked.

And murdered right here.

Crime scene photo

Another crime scene photo

This is the dress that actress Elizabeth Montgomery wore in the 1975 movie, "The Legend of Lizzie Borden".

Looking downstairs

Lizzie is on the left.  I can't remember if that's her sister Emma on the right.

This sick little doll is in the curio cabinet in what was Lizzie's room.  By the way, this place is a Bed & Breakfast and you can stay overnight in any of these rooms.  I would never stay there.  I admit, I'm a chicken.  

Curio cabinet in Lizzie's room

Exquisite ribbon embroidery.

Small third floor bedroom.

Also on the third floor.  I was most uncomfortable up here, especially in the maid's room.

Looking down the back stairs.

Back hallway.  This was when my camera started to spazz out.

Kitchen

Looking down at the basement from the outside of the house.  

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the famous Borden home!

Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, Gave her Mother Forty Whacks....

This angle of the house disturbs me.  It's like that creepy house that exists in sinister dreams.  I was hoping to achieve this look when I shot it.

Part of Lizzie's alibi was that she was in the barn, eating pears, because it was such a hot day.

Those aren't orbs, but sunlight dots.

Lizzie also claimed that she had been ironing her hankies in another part of the house at the time of the murders.

Those are photos of the shattered skulls of Andrew and Abby Borden (behind glass in a cabinet).

Lizzie was afforded many privileges while in jail in neighbouring New Bedford, including her own chef.  The jury deliberated an hour and acquitted her.

The furniture, carpets and wallpaper are replica pieces.  They had to use the crime photos to establish patterns.  Andrew was killed on a couch much like this one.

A photo of 'the handleless hatchet' found in the basement.  Tests revealed it had rust and cow hair on it, but it was still considered the 'suspected' murder weapon but it was never confirmed.

Crime scene photo of Andrew Borden with his head and face shattered.

And Michelle re-enacts Andrew's pose, but for the cell phone in  her hand and dramatic hand-to-forehead.

Mary

The Borden Coat of Arms is a lion holding an axe.

Looking upstairs at the 2nd and 3rd stories.

Bay State Oddities and Hauntings

I never truly appreciated all that my home state had to offer when I grew up here.   We have a lot of rich history, as it pertains to the birth of our nation.  Plymouth, Boston, Lexington-Concord, Bunker Hill, etc. I blew it off when I was young, and rolled my eyes whenever out-of-towners would arrive and want to see the tourist attractions in and around the Cape and Boston (don't get me started on the "I wanna see the Kennedy Compound" requests...).

In addition to the historical stuff, Massachusetts is home to a lot of weird phenomena as well.  And like the Pilgrims and Revolutionary War stuff, I knew of the ghost stories and the whole Lizzie Borden thing, but I never paid much attention to it.  The Dillingham House in Sandwich is allegedly haunted by the 9 orphaned Dillingham children, whose parents died in 1813 (the house itself, however, dates to the late 1600s).  My dad did the plumbing there for years and years, and as a non-ghost-believer, he never encountered any hauntings that I know of (or that he would admit to anyway).   

A few years ago, I'd scored a book called Weird Washington, with the intent of visiting as many of the attractions as possible.  But I put it off, figuring that I'd get there eventually and could "always go". Well, that didn't quite work out the way I'd planned!  Weird WA was an offshoot of the original Weird U.S. book that came out a few years ago, and I believe it was also a documentary, because I recall watching it several years back.

But lo and behold!!!!  I was strolling through the giant Stop & Shop in Wareham, and saw this in their modest book section:

I made a mental note to purchase it from Amazon.com because let's face it, they have the best prices around and I do try to avoid the cover price for books when I see them in stores or catalogs!! My new book arrived on New Years Eve (along with a bunch of movies, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini and a Carolina Liar CD), and I eagerly started poring over it.  I had no idea that Mass had so much to offer in the way of unusual sites!!  My squeeze is much less enthused about visiting these places than I am, as he does not, and I repeat, does not, like ghosts, ghost stories and haunted places at all.  That's OK, I don't mind going on my own and maybe I'll see if any of my friends are game for a day trip out to one of the many places mentioned in this book.  

Stayed tuned for photos of Weird Massachusetts adventures!  My most probable first stop will be the Borden house & cemetery plots in Fall River!